EO $1Billion Edu Giant backed by OpenAI | Speak | EO
Oct 29, 2025
Andrew Hsu, CTO of Speak and a Stanford dropout with an impressive academic background, discusses the revolutionary language learning app they created with CEO Connor, a Harvard dropout. They explore their challenging journey to product-market fit and share breakthroughs in AI-driven speech recognition that outperform human tutors. Andrew explains how Korea became the perfect test market, revealing deep insights about user behavior. They envision a future where AI tutors enhance language fluency globally, making speaking practice accessible to all.
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Speaking Is The Unsolved Language Problem
- Language speaking remains an unsolved problem that current classroom models can't fix at scale.
- Connor and Andrew believe ML can replace expensive human time to democratize speaking practice.
Early Exit Funded Focus On AI
- Connor built Flashcards Plus in high school and sold it around age 21, which freed him to pursue AI.
- That exit let him focus on passion projects rather than immediate revenue.
A Fast Educational Trajectory
- Andrew raced through school, entered college at 12, and later started a PhD at Stanford before leaving for startups.
- His unusual education accelerated his technical depth and readiness for research-focused work.