Luis Von Ahn

Okay. For the company, the decisions are very much tied to return on investment. Most things are, there's a return on investment calculation. Even if we don't sit there and write the numbers down, there's a, you know, how much effort you're going to put in something and how much you're going to get back. That drives most of our decision making.

There's another thing that is not unique to Duolingo, but I think it is not the norm in most companies. But it is what happens to Duolingo. But it's not unique to Duolingo, which is usually when you're doing a project, there's kind of three things that matter, which is how much does it cost? How fast are you going to do it? And what's the quality?

There's another thing that is not unique to Duolingo, but I think it is not the norm in most companies. But it is what happens to Duolingo. But it's not unique to Duolingo, which is usually when you're doing a project, there's kind of three things that matter, which is how much does it cost? How fast are you going to do it? And what's the quality?

There's another thing that is not unique to Duolingo, but I think it is not the norm in most companies. But it is what happens to Duolingo. But it's not unique to Duolingo, which is usually when you're doing a project, there's kind of three things that matter, which is how much does it cost? How fast are you going to do it? And what's the quality?

And at Duolingo, and usually there's trade-offs between these, at Duolingo, the most important thing is quality. The second most important thing is speed. And the third most important thing is whether we're on budget or not. That is different than many companies. In many companies, it's the other way around, where it's just the most important thing is budget, then speed, then quality.

And at Duolingo, and usually there's trade-offs between these, at Duolingo, the most important thing is quality. The second most important thing is speed. And the third most important thing is whether we're on budget or not. That is different than many companies. In many companies, it's the other way around, where it's just the most important thing is budget, then speed, then quality.

And at Duolingo, and usually there's trade-offs between these, at Duolingo, the most important thing is quality. The second most important thing is speed. And the third most important thing is whether we're on budget or not. That is different than many companies. In many companies, it's the other way around, where it's just the most important thing is budget, then speed, then quality.

Here, just quality is the most important thing. And so that's another thing in our decision making. That's for the company. For me, it's very gut feeling. And I have found myself, you know, I used to try to justify that. I have stopped. At this point, I'm like, look, This is what I think we should do.

Here, just quality is the most important thing. And so that's another thing in our decision making. That's for the company. For me, it's very gut feeling. And I have found myself, you know, I used to try to justify that. I have stopped. At this point, I'm like, look, This is what I think we should do.

Here, just quality is the most important thing. And so that's another thing in our decision making. That's for the company. For me, it's very gut feeling. And I have found myself, you know, I used to try to justify that. I have stopped. At this point, I'm like, look, This is what I think we should do.

I can tell you reasons that I can probably coming up with after the fact, but the reality is my gut says we should do that. And at this point, because I've been at this for, you know, I've been working on Duolingo for like 13 years. My gut's pretty good. It's not 100% correct. Like surely I make mistakes, but it's pretty good. And so...

I can tell you reasons that I can probably coming up with after the fact, but the reality is my gut says we should do that. And at this point, because I've been at this for, you know, I've been working on Duolingo for like 13 years. My gut's pretty good. It's not 100% correct. Like surely I make mistakes, but it's pretty good. And so...

I can tell you reasons that I can probably coming up with after the fact, but the reality is my gut says we should do that. And at this point, because I've been at this for, you know, I've been working on Duolingo for like 13 years. My gut's pretty good. It's not 100% correct. Like surely I make mistakes, but it's pretty good. And so...

I mainly do things with gut feeling, and then I tell people a justification afterwards. But everybody around me knows that these justifications are after the fact. They're not rational thoughts.

I mainly do things with gut feeling, and then I tell people a justification afterwards. But everybody around me knows that these justifications are after the fact. They're not rational thoughts.

I mainly do things with gut feeling, and then I tell people a justification afterwards. But everybody around me knows that these justifications are after the fact. They're not rational thoughts.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's, again, the majority of decisions that we have to make. There's a clear answer. The majority of things is just like, well, look, this is going to lose us money. Let's not do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's, again, the majority of decisions that we have to make. There's a clear answer. The majority of things is just like, well, look, this is going to lose us money. Let's not do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's, again, the majority of decisions that we have to make. There's a clear answer. The majority of things is just like, well, look, this is going to lose us money. Let's not do that.

No. It's been very fortunate. First of all, we hired an amazing CFO before we went public, Matt Scarupa. And fortunately, he kind of deals with most public company stuff. I mean, I... I don't do a lot of that. And I'm very thankful for that because that's just, you know, I don't have a finance background. I have a PhD in computer science. That's what I'm good at, not finance. So there's that.