Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Scaling Duolingo, embracing failure, and insight into Latin America’s tech scene | Gina Gotthilf (Latitud, Duolingo)

Oct 19, 2023

Gina Gotthilf, co-founder and COO of Latitud, previously drove Duolingo's growth from 3 million to 200 million users. She shares invaluable insights into Duolingo's expansion strategies and the critical balance between successes and failures in the tech world. Gina discusses the robust opportunities within Latin America's tech scene and how community and PR can catalyze startup growth. Her journey highlights the importance of resilience, effective branding through humor, and the role of privilege in fostering educational advancements in the region.

01:36:49

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Episode guests

Gina Gotthilf

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Quick takeaways

Duolingo's success was driven by their strong mission and values, providing free language education and solving a problem for millions of people.

Duolingo prioritized organic growth through retention, creating a valuable product and relying on word-of-mouth.

Data-driven experimentation and continuous improvement were key to Duolingo's sustained growth.

Building a strong brand with personality and purpose helped drive word-of-mouth referrals and positive PR for Duolingo.

Deep dives

Focus on the Mission and Values

One of the main factors behind Duolingo's success was their strong focus on their mission and values. They were obsessed with solving a problem for millions of people and believed in the importance of providing free language education to the world. This mission drove their marketing, product design, and hiring decisions. It created a sense of purpose and helped them build a loyal user base.

Focus on Organic Growth and Long-term Sustainability

01:15

Creating Skimmable Landing Pages

00:30

Focus on Commonalities Across Borders

03:03

The Importance of Testing and Dogfooding for Growth

01:23

Intro

4min

Unveiling the A-side and B-side of Latin America's Tech Landscape

5min

Resilience in the Tech Landscape

15min

The Growth Journey of Duolingo

24min

Crafting a Lovable Brand

6min

Humor and Brand Identity in Duolingo

13min

Leveraging Privilege for Socioeconomic Impact in Latin America

2min

Navigating Startup Challenges in Latin America

18min

Navigating Health and Personal Growth Through Technology and Wisdom

3min

10.

Exploring Identity Through the Ship of Theseus

4min

11.

Building Community and Engaging Content

2min

Gina Gotthilf is a co-founder and the COO of Latitud, a startup platform supporting the next generation of iconic tech startups in Latin America. Previously, Gina led growth and marketing at Duolingo, which she helped grow from 3 million to 200 million users. She was recently named one of the 500 most influential people in all of Latin America by Bloomberg. In today’s episode, we discuss:

• Behind the scenes of Duolingo’s early growth

• How to balance the “A and B sides” of life

• Stories from Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign

• Lessons from Duolingo’s international expansion

• Tactical tips for driving organic growth

• How to use PR, brand love, and community as growth levers

• Why Gina is passionate about investing in Latin America

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/scaling-duolingo-embracing-failure-and-insight-into-latin-americas-tech-scene-gina-gotthilf-la/#transcript

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Where to find Gina Gotthilf:

• X: https://twitter.com/ginag

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginafrombrazil/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/