The Best One Yet
Exclusive 🦉 “Education Super App” — Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announces next product on TBOY
22 Apr 2025
How do you get someone to learn everyday? Make it addictive… in a good way. Luis von Ahn has mastered engagement with Duolingo, transforming it into the largest education app on earth with over 40M daily users. And in our exclusive interview, Duolingo CEO announces the next product: Chess.In this episode, you’ll hear…Why the CEO (proudly) calls Duolingo “addictive”Why he will never open an office in Silicon ValleyThe psychology behind push notifications, streaks, and the unhinged owlDuolingo’s viral super bowl commercial (aka “The Growing Butt”)Using fire to fire fight in the fight against social media “If it’s not fun, it won’t work”Why “screen-time” isn’t a problem — it’s inevitableWhy artists will beat nerds in the age of AIHow millionaires on Duolingo subsidize migrantsWhy Duolingo employees didn’t want to make money (at first)Watch the extended version on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod —-----------------------------------------------------Subscribe to our new (2nd) show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. It’s The Best Idea Yet.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
Well, the biggest thing I keep telling people and nobody seems to listen to me, first person I ever had to fire, we're adding another subject. And it is not one that many people have expected. You could see his butt crack. And then it started growing, like his butt started growing. Started really realizing, okay, we can be a little more savage.
I actually believe that as AI matures, what's going to be most valuable, the only thing he wants in life is for you to do your lesson. And the obstacle is that you're lazy.
Our guest today can say hello in every one of those languages.
True.
Probably Dothraki too. Because Duolingo is the largest language app on the planet used by 40 million people every day. But Louise Von Ahn aspires for more than just language learning. because he wants his app to become the world's first super app for all things education. Our guest today, Luis Van An, was born in Guatemala, but launched this tech business in Pittsburgh, PA.
Although his app uses all the growth hacks that were invented in Silicon Valley. He created a mascot so popular Dua Lipa is trying to date it. An unhinged owl mascot. That's such a meme. It got its own skit on SNL. And on today's show, Luis will announce Duolingo's next product. That's right. Duolingo's next new thing will be revealed right here on T-Boy.
Yetis, today we are sitting down with the lord of the language. The sultan of streaks. The baron of being bilingual. Luis Von Ahn is the co-founder and CEO of Duolingo. There ain't any subtitles in today's episode, yetis. Nope. But watch out for that unhinged owl. Because that thing is a raptor with some major boundary issues. Today's interview with Luis of Duolingo is the best one yet.
Luis, thanks for being with us. Thank you for having me. That's quite an intro.
Welcome, man. Great to have you. Really great to have you. Although, we have been doing extensive research on you for weeks, and we did discover you're a people pleaser. Is that true?
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