We’re excited to bring you Connor Zwick, CEO and cofounder of Speak, on the podcast this week! Speak helps people learning a language have conversations with an AI speaking partner, which is critical to gaining fluency. It’s backed by OpenAI and most recently raised at a $500M valuation. Since launching in its inaugural market of South Korea in 2019, Speak has grown to over 10 million users and now has customers in more than 40 countries. 

We learned so much about how language works and how Connor has built this startup. Some of our favorite bits:

[0:00] Intro 

[0:38] Connor's Entrepreneurial Journey 

[3:40] Diving into AI and Language Learning 

[6:07] The Evolution of Speak 

[9:30] Building Specialized Models and Overcoming Challenges 

[18:17] User Experience and Interface Design 

[24:18] Future of AI in Language Learning 

[35:38] Comparing Duolingo and Speak 

[38:00] Challenges in Translation and Human Connection 

[41:18] Specialized AI Models and Their Impact 

[47:41] Opportunities in Professional and Personal Learning 

[53:38] The Evolution of Education with AI 

[59:31] Final Thoughts and Reflections

With your co-hosts: 

@jacobeffron 

- Partner at Redpoint, Former PM Flatiron Health 

@patrickachase 

- Partner at Redpoint, Former ML Engineer LinkedIn 

@ericabrescia 

- Former COO Github, Founder Bitnami (acq’d by VMWare) 

@jordan_segall 

- Partner at Redpoint