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Chapter 1: What inspired Luis von Ahn to create Duolingo?
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Täällä Pekka Palvikenkku, ja tänään tutkitaan ruoka-alan kotimaisuutta. Lastauslaiturille on juuri saapunut Valjo Aimon tukkutoimitus. Hei kuljettaja, minne teidän tuotot menevät?
Valjo on suomalaisten maidontuottajien omistama, ja siksi Valjo Aimon tuotot jäävät Suomeen. Olen Aimo, ruoka-alan ammattilaisten kumppani. Kun valitset minut, tuet kotimaisia maitotilallisia. Valjo Aimo. Onnistumisen ainekset. Kyllä, kyllä.
Chapter 2: How did Luis von Ahn's childhood in Guatemala shape his views on education?
Klaas Olssonin asiakaskuulutus. Moikku, mä kuulutan tän. Tiesitsä, että Klaas Olssonilta löytyy superpaljon siistei säilytysjuttuja meikeille ja koruille. Ja just nyt niistä kaikista saa 30 prossaa alennusta. Siis sairaan hyvä diili. Ja lahjavinkki kans. Vaikka niinku mulle. Klaas Olsson.
Welcome to Founders from Business Daily on the BBC World Service. I'm Leanna Byrne and today I'm talking to Louis van Aan, founder of Duolingo.
Chapter 3: What motivated Luis to transition from academia to entrepreneurship?
Millions use the app every day, but the idea behind it began long before the Green Owl. Luas, you grew up in Guatemala. Education is a huge part of your story. So 15 years ago, you co-founded Duolingo. And today the company's mission is to give people free and high quality education. Now more than 100 million people use it every month.
And it's a multi-billion dollar public company and a global cultural phenomenon. So Luas Van Allen, chief executive and founder of Duolingo, it's a pleasure to welcome you to Meet the Founders.
Thank you for having me here.
Do you ever just spot people using Duolingo on the street and smile a bit?
Chapter 4: How did the concept of CAPTCHA evolve into reCAPTCHA?
All the time. And yeah, I mean, a lot of times I see them in... There's a lot of them in airports preparing for their trip. I look at people's phones to see if it's Duolingo. But I also just hear... Whenever you get an answer right, there's this... The ding sound. I hear it all the time. And sometimes I'm not sure if I actually heard it or if it's just in my mind, but I hear it all the time.
So you think you're like possibly you're just like paranoid.
Where is this going on? Yeah, but I do see it quite a bit.
Chapter 5: What led to the founding of Duolingo after selling reCAPTCHA?
Of course, like you have a target of hitting 100 million daily active users by 2028. How do you even come up with a target like that?
Well, at the moment, we have north of 50 million daily active users. So every single day, more than 50 million people use Duolingo. But I believe that in the next couple of years, we can double that. And so it was basically doubling where we were at.
Now, you began as an academic solving problems. Do you still feel like you're that academic at heart and you're just trying to solve problems out here?
Yes, I feel like, I mean, ever since I was about 13 years old, I wanted to become a university professor. I ended up becoming a university professor.
Chapter 6: How did Duolingo's mission change the landscape of language learning?
I was one for several years. So I do think that I am an academic at heart.
You grew up in Guatemala City. What were you like as a child? What subjects were you drawn to?
I liked math. I think that should tell you a lot. I was basically a math nerd. I was very lucky that I had a computer very early. I got a computer when I was age seven because I asked my mother for a Nintendo and somehow she got a better price on a used computer.
Chapter 7: What challenges did Luis face as a CEO regarding conflict and decision-making?
And she thought it was the same thing. And she gave me that and I had to learn how to use it. So that was, I mean, that made me also a computer nerd. But other than that, I played in the streets a lot with my friends. I mean, this was, these were different times. It was okay to be a child unsupervised in the street.
Yeah. You mentioned your mom, obviously. Yeah, she brought you that computer. But she also, she was a public sector doctor, wasn't she?
Chapter 8: What lessons has Luis von Ahn learned about leadership and company culture?
And she spent most of her money she earned on your education. Did that give you a sense of responsibility that you wanted to make something of yourself?
It did. So first of all, I was an only child, which is rare in Guatemala. People usually had a lot of kids. So I was an only child, and my mom was a single mother, and she was a doctor, and all her extra money she spent on my education. So what that did is I went to the fanciest school in Guatemala, even though we were not rich. So I went to school with a bunch of rich kids.
But the people that lived in my neighborhood went to – Usually, you know, either public schools or not as fancy of a school. And it was very clear how much more I was learning than they were. From then on, I remained wanting to do something that would give equal access to education to everybody because I just saw the difference.
I mean, some of the kids that were living in my neighborhood barely learned how to read and write. I mean, they could read and write, but it was not very good at it. And meanwhile, I was learning, I don't know, whatever, advanced math. So later in life... So what ended up happening is, of course, you know, I went to the US, I've made a lot of money, etc. And these people didn't.
So I think that's a huge thing. A lot of people talk about education as something that brings equality to different social classes, but I always saw it as the opposite.
You spoke about Guatemala City and growing up there and that you were able to play on the street, but it was also a time of political upheaval. There was...
There was a civil war. There was a civil war going on. Yeah, there was a civil war going on. But fortunately, Guatemala City was pretty isolated from the actual war. The war was more in the countryside. So we just all knew, don't go to these regions. And that's what it was. But if you went to those regions, you probably would get either kidnapped or killed or something.
But I just never went there. So I didn't really see much.
It did affect your family, though, didn't it? Your aunt?
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