Episode

#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career
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2:00:41
Published: Wed Jul 13 2022
Description

Brought to you by Athletic Greens all-in-one nutritional supplement, Helix Sleep premium mattresses, and LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 800M+ users. Luis von Ahn (@LuisvonAhn) is an entrepreneur and consulting professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who is considered one of the pioneers of crowdsourcing. He is known for co-inventing CAPTCHAs, being a MacArthur fellow, and selling two companies to Google in his twenties.He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, a language-learning platform created to bring free language education to the world. With more than 500 million users, it is now the most popular language-learning platform and the most downloaded education app in the world.Luis has been named one of the Brilliant 10 by Popular Science, one of the 50 Best Brains in Science by Discover, one of the Innovators Under 35 by MIT Technology Review, and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. Luis also won the 2018 Lemelson-MIT prize, the largest cash prize for invention in the U.S.This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.Using LinkedIn’s active community of more than 800 million professionals worldwide, LinkedIn Jobs can help you find and hire the right person faster. When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit LinkedIn.com/Tim.*This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1 by Athletic Greens, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. Right now, Athletic Greens is offering you their Vitamin D Liquid Formula free with your first subscription purchase—a vital nutrient for a strong immune system and strong bones. Visit AthleticGreens.com/Tim to claim this special offer today and receive the free Vitamin D Liquid Formula (and five free travel packs) with your first subscription purchase! That’s up to a one-year supply of Vitamin D as added value when you try their delicious and comprehensive all-in-one daily greens product.*This episode is also brought to you by Helix Sleep! Helix was selected as the #1 overall mattress of 2020 by GQ magazine, Wired, Apartment Therapy, and many others. With Helix, there’s a specific mattress to meet each and every body’s unique comfort needs. Just take their quiz—only two minutes to complete—that matches your body type and sleep preferences to the perfect mattress for you. They have a 10-year warranty, and you get to try it out for a hundred nights, risk-free. They’ll even pick it up from you if you don’t love it. And now, Helix is offering up to 200 dollars off all mattress orders plus two free pillows at HelixSleep.com/Tim.*[05:03] Why the Duolingo owl is green[06:47] The core cause behind Duolingo’s creation, and how Duolingo has evolved over the years[12:48] Duolingo’s monetization efforts that didn’t quite pan out[21:06] After initial reluctance, how was the Duolingo workforce convinced monetization needed to happen?[25:06] As machine-driven translation services get more sophisticated, will human beings still seek to learn other languages via Duolingo?[29:31] The most pursued/influential languages in the Duolingo system currently[39:14] The development of Duolingo’s org chart[45:40] Why Duolingo uses a daily metric[48:33] Book recommendations[50:26] Luis’ most worthwhile investments[52:20] New beliefs, behaviors, or habits[55:20] Recent life-changing purchases[1:02:39] What Luis’ updated 2022 billboard might say[1:06:14] What Luis means when he refers to Duolingo’s “mission,” and how the company’s long view affects decision making[1:12:34] How Duolingo hires good candidates for the long haul[1:18:50] Why and how Duolingo went public[1:25:42] The biggest challenges Luis faces as CEO of a public company[1:30:50] Duolingo is expanding to teach more than languages[1:36:18] The Duolingo English Test: proficiency testing from home accepted by 4,200 academic programs across the world[1:39:51] How Luis’ expertise at catching cheaters during his time as a professor at Carnegie Mellon makes Duolingo products more trustworthy as accredited sources[1:43:39] The brief conversation with Luis’ personal trainer that changed his routine breakfast — to a different routine breakfast[1:44:38] Advice to young, driven people entering the working world[1:48:07] How Luis has become better at saying “No.”[1:49:56] Luis’ request of the audience and parting thoughts*For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim’s email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chapters
Helix Sleep offers a customized mattress that will give you the best sleep of your life with a two-minute sleep quiz to match your body type and sleep preferences.
00:00 - 02:08 (02:08)
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Helix Sleep
In this podcast, Luis von Ahn talks about the value of education as a tool for social mobility and how he developed his language learning platform, Duolingo, to provide free access to language education.
02:08 - 08:40 (06:32)
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Education/Entrepreneurship
Summary

In this podcast, Luis von Ahn talks about the value of education as a tool for social mobility and how he developed his language learning platform, Duolingo, to provide free access to language education. He also discusses his previous success with ReCAPTCHA, a technology that verifies human users online and was sold to Google in 2009.

Episode
#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
The co-founder of Duolingo shares their initial growth strategy, which did not involve marketing or making money, and how they eventually pivoted to generating revenue.
08:40 - 13:18 (04:37)
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Duolingo
The co-founder of Duolingo discusses the challenges they faced in monetizing the language-learning app and their journey to finding successful revenue streams.
13:18 - 17:18 (04:00)
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Duolingo
The podcast platform began to search for ways to monetize their platform and decided to show ads that were not similar to the ads shown by Google and Facebook.
17:18 - 20:52 (03:33)
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Podcasts
While joining a mission-driven startup may align with personal values, it often means taking a pay cut and risking the value of equity.
20:52 - 25:29 (04:36)
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Startups
Summary

While joining a mission-driven startup may align with personal values, it often means taking a pay cut and risking the value of equity. It’s important for both the company and employees to consider the balance between mission and financial returns.

Episode
#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
Recaptcha is crowdsourcing images for mapping software and self-driving cars.
25:28 - 32:11 (06:42)
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Crowdsourcing
Despite the prevalence of Chinese language learning among educated and tech-focused circles, there is a greater interest in French language learning, as evidenced by the number of people who learn it on platforms such as Duolingo.
32:11 - 36:53 (04:42)
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Language Learning
This podcast discusses the advantages of metric-based teams for start-ups, in which teams are focused on a specific and measurable goal, and the benefits of micromanagement for small companies in the early stages of growth.
36:53 - 44:21 (07:27)
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Start-ups
Duolingo's founder shares practical advice for work and life, such as doing performance reviews after talking to the person, dropping everything when someone tells you they want to quit, investing in things that may seem counter-intuitive, and incorporating strength training into your fitness routine.
44:21 - 53:41 (09:19)
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Practical advice
Summary

Duolingo's founder shares practical advice for work and life, such as doing performance reviews after talking to the person, dropping everything when someone tells you they want to quit, investing in things that may seem counter-intuitive, and incorporating strength training into your fitness routine.

Episode
#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show
While Duolingo could potentially make a lot more money by introducing a paid subscription model, it would hinder the app's growth, which has so far come from word of mouth.
53:41 - 1:56:54 (1:03:13)
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Duolingo, corruption, immigration
Summary

While Duolingo could potentially make a lot more money by introducing a paid subscription model, it would hinder the app's growth, which has so far come from word of mouth. Additionally, some countries in Latin America, such as Guatemala, are suffering from high levels of corruption, and the United States could use their foreign policy to help combat this issue which would have an impact on illegal immigration.

Episode
#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career
Podcast
The Tim Ferriss Show