Luis Von Ahn

Yes, we were the biggest fish in this pond. That was good. That helped us. And then the last thing that helped us, I think, is when we started in 2011, Education has never been hot in terms of, you know, funding or whatever. It's just what it allowed us to do here in Pittsburgh is it allowed us to not get distracted by the latest fads.

I'm pretty sure that had we been in Silicon Valley, we would have... Quickly, at the time it was like hyper local apps and then it was like social apps and then it was like crypto. And then it was like, I'm pretty sure that we would have gone through all of this.

I'm pretty sure that had we been in Silicon Valley, we would have... Quickly, at the time it was like hyper local apps and then it was like social apps and then it was like crypto. And then it was like, I'm pretty sure that we would have gone through all of this.

I'm pretty sure that had we been in Silicon Valley, we would have... Quickly, at the time it was like hyper local apps and then it was like social apps and then it was like crypto. And then it was like, I'm pretty sure that we would have gone through all of this.

And, you know, it's not that it's that obviously Silicon Valley is amazing. There's all kinds of good things about it. But for something like education, I think you want to stay for a long time just concentrated on what you're doing and growing it and growing it and growing it. And I think being outside of Silicon Valley helped us for that. Of course, there are many downsides.

And, you know, it's not that it's that obviously Silicon Valley is amazing. There's all kinds of good things about it. But for something like education, I think you want to stay for a long time just concentrated on what you're doing and growing it and growing it and growing it. And I think being outside of Silicon Valley helped us for that. Of course, there are many downsides.

And, you know, it's not that it's that obviously Silicon Valley is amazing. There's all kinds of good things about it. But for something like education, I think you want to stay for a long time just concentrated on what you're doing and growing it and growing it and growing it. And I think being outside of Silicon Valley helped us for that. Of course, there are many downsides.

I mean, sometimes hiring here was slow. I mean, we couldn't hire. We couldn't find the right person. Most of the people that we've hired didn't. to work here in our Pittsburgh office. We've moved from other cities to work here, which is why we've opened an office in New York.

I mean, sometimes hiring here was slow. I mean, we couldn't hire. We couldn't find the right person. Most of the people that we've hired didn't. to work here in our Pittsburgh office. We've moved from other cities to work here, which is why we've opened an office in New York.

I mean, sometimes hiring here was slow. I mean, we couldn't hire. We couldn't find the right person. Most of the people that we've hired didn't. to work here in our Pittsburgh office. We've moved from other cities to work here, which is why we've opened an office in New York.

I mean, we have a few offices, but we have a relatively large one in New York, and that actually helped us hire quite a bit. We're pretty happy with our location strategy at the moment, which, by the way, our location strategy at the moment seems to be to have offices in gray places. Not great, gray. LAUGHTER Like Seattle, we have an office in Seattle. We have an office in Berlin.

I mean, we have a few offices, but we have a relatively large one in New York, and that actually helped us hire quite a bit. We're pretty happy with our location strategy at the moment, which, by the way, our location strategy at the moment seems to be to have offices in gray places. Not great, gray. LAUGHTER Like Seattle, we have an office in Seattle. We have an office in Berlin.

I mean, we have a few offices, but we have a relatively large one in New York, and that actually helped us hire quite a bit. We're pretty happy with our location strategy at the moment, which, by the way, our location strategy at the moment seems to be to have offices in gray places. Not great, gray. LAUGHTER Like Seattle, we have an office in Seattle. We have an office in Berlin.

We have an office in Detroit. We have an office in Pittsburgh. We're masters of great places. And that was not on purpose. That's just what ended up happening.

We have an office in Detroit. We have an office in Pittsburgh. We're masters of great places. And that was not on purpose. That's just what ended up happening.

We have an office in Detroit. We have an office in Pittsburgh. We're masters of great places. And that was not on purpose. That's just what ended up happening.

We don't, but we may as well. We may as well. It really is. And we also have an office in Beijing, which is great for different reasons because of pollution. Basically, we have an office in great places. So very quickly, we became the most downloaded app in education. This is even before we became iPhone app of the year. We were the most downloaded app in the education category.

We don't, but we may as well. We may as well. It really is. And we also have an office in Beijing, which is great for different reasons because of pollution. Basically, we have an office in great places. So very quickly, we became the most downloaded app in education. This is even before we became iPhone app of the year. We were the most downloaded app in the education category.

We don't, but we may as well. We may as well. It really is. And we also have an office in Beijing, which is great for different reasons because of pollution. Basically, we have an office in great places. So very quickly, we became the most downloaded app in education. This is even before we became iPhone app of the year. We were the most downloaded app in the education category.

I just didn't know we were here to stay, but we became the most downloaded app in the education category. And it was because it was free and it was fun and you could actually learn some languages with it. And so that made us kind of stand out, mainly that it was free and fun. And so we were the most downloaded app in the education category. But the next big thing that happened was around 2017,