Luis Von Ahn

And now they may not be millionaires, but they're, you know, people that live in countries like the US that are wealthy countries that have salaries like 100,000 bucks a year kind of thing. Like good, good, stable job in a wealthy country. That is who pays for Duolingo. The people who use Duolingo for free are usually in poor countries. They may not have a stable job, et cetera.

And now they may not be millionaires, but they're, you know, people that live in countries like the US that are wealthy countries that have salaries like 100,000 bucks a year kind of thing. Like good, good, stable job in a wealthy country. That is who pays for Duolingo. The people who use Duolingo for free are usually in poor countries. They may not have a stable job, et cetera.

And now they may not be millionaires, but they're, you know, people that live in countries like the US that are wealthy countries that have salaries like 100,000 bucks a year kind of thing. Like good, good, stable job in a wealthy country. That is who pays for Duolingo. The people who use Duolingo for free are usually in poor countries. They may not have a stable job, et cetera.

So it is true that we're getting the wealthy people to subsidize the education for everybody. That is the case, and that'll probably always be the case. Now, on our end, we also need to get better as a business to get more people in some of these developing countries to pay. I mean, a really good example, Netflix has done a really good job at getting people in Brazil or India to pay.

So it is true that we're getting the wealthy people to subsidize the education for everybody. That is the case, and that'll probably always be the case. Now, on our end, we also need to get better as a business to get more people in some of these developing countries to pay. I mean, a really good example, Netflix has done a really good job at getting people in Brazil or India to pay.

So it is true that we're getting the wealthy people to subsidize the education for everybody. That is the case, and that'll probably always be the case. Now, on our end, we also need to get better as a business to get more people in some of these developing countries to pay. I mean, a really good example, Netflix has done a really good job at getting people in Brazil or India to pay.

We have not done as good of a job. And part of the issue is that we're freemium. And again, I grew up in a poor country. In a poor country, Even if the price is scaled down to match the GDP per capita, which is much cheaper, the problem that you have is that in a poor country, the attitude is, I won't pay unless I have to. That's just the attitude. Like, it doesn't matter if it's just a dollar.

We have not done as good of a job. And part of the issue is that we're freemium. And again, I grew up in a poor country. In a poor country, Even if the price is scaled down to match the GDP per capita, which is much cheaper, the problem that you have is that in a poor country, the attitude is, I won't pay unless I have to. That's just the attitude. Like, it doesn't matter if it's just a dollar.

We have not done as good of a job. And part of the issue is that we're freemium. And again, I grew up in a poor country. In a poor country, Even if the price is scaled down to match the GDP per capita, which is much cheaper, the problem that you have is that in a poor country, the attitude is, I won't pay unless I have to. That's just the attitude. Like, it doesn't matter if it's just a dollar.

And I do happen to have a dollar. I just won't pay unless I have to. So what you see is extreme tolerance for, for example, we can put 10 ads at the end of a lesson. You still, they still won't pay. And so this is why, for example, Netflix does so well in some of these countries, because in Netflix, there's just no free. They're just like, look, whatever you got to pay.

And I do happen to have a dollar. I just won't pay unless I have to. So what you see is extreme tolerance for, for example, we can put 10 ads at the end of a lesson. You still, they still won't pay. And so this is why, for example, Netflix does so well in some of these countries, because in Netflix, there's just no free. They're just like, look, whatever you got to pay.

And I do happen to have a dollar. I just won't pay unless I have to. So what you see is extreme tolerance for, for example, we can put 10 ads at the end of a lesson. You still, they still won't pay. And so this is why, for example, Netflix does so well in some of these countries, because in Netflix, there's just no free. They're just like, look, whatever you got to pay.

And people are like, fine, fine, I'll pay. So we have to figure out what to do as a freemium product in these countries. And, you know, we have some ideas, but the reality is we have not really succeeded at, you know, strong monetization in countries like India. We haven't.

And people are like, fine, fine, I'll pay. So we have to figure out what to do as a freemium product in these countries. And, you know, we have some ideas, but the reality is we have not really succeeded at, you know, strong monetization in countries like India. We haven't.

And people are like, fine, fine, I'll pay. So we have to figure out what to do as a freemium product in these countries. And, you know, we have some ideas, but the reality is we have not really succeeded at, you know, strong monetization in countries like India. We haven't.

For sure. We are spending a lot of effort on that. And it is growing, which is nice, but it's a massive opportunity. I mean, language learning is another funny thing where... You know, most markets, not language learning, but most markets, the largest market is, you know, a country like the U.S., like rich countries.

For sure. We are spending a lot of effort on that. And it is growing, which is nice, but it's a massive opportunity. I mean, language learning is another funny thing where... You know, most markets, not language learning, but most markets, the largest market is, you know, a country like the U.S., like rich countries.

For sure. We are spending a lot of effort on that. And it is growing, which is nice, but it's a massive opportunity. I mean, language learning is another funny thing where... You know, most markets, not language learning, but most markets, the largest market is, you know, a country like the U.S., like rich countries.

Turns out language learning as a whole, not Duolingo, but language learning as a whole, the largest market is actually developing countries. Yeah. I mean, the Indias, Vietnams, Brazils, Mexicos of the world. They're learning English, and that's the largest language learning market, but we have not cracked it.

Turns out language learning as a whole, not Duolingo, but language learning as a whole, the largest market is actually developing countries. Yeah. I mean, the Indias, Vietnams, Brazils, Mexicos of the world. They're learning English, and that's the largest language learning market, but we have not cracked it.