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

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Oct 19, 2023

Guest

Gina Gotthilf

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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ANECDOTE

Early Career B-Sides

Gina Gotthilf's early career was marked by setbacks like visa issues, layoffs, and unpaid work.
Despite these challenges, she persevered, landing roles at Tumblr and eventually Duolingo.

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ADVICE

Consumer App Success

Focus on mission, lean operations, and retention for consumer subscription app success.
Prioritize product value over user acquisition, as true value drives retention.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

The Badge Experiment

Duolingo's growth team initially dismissed badges, but later found them highly effective.
This highlights the importance of dogfooding and prioritizing gut instincts.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

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

04:28 • 5min

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Resilience in the Tech Landscape

09:35 • 15min

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The Growth Journey of Duolingo

24:24 • 24min

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Crafting a Lovable Brand

48:02 • 6min

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Humor and Brand Identity in Duolingo

54:30 • 13min

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Leveraging Privilege for Socioeconomic Impact in Latin America

01:07:54 • 2min

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Navigating Startup Challenges in Latin America

01:09:26 • 18min

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Navigating Health and Personal Growth Through Technology and Wisdom

01:27:17 • 3min

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Exploring Identity Through the Ship of Theseus

01:30:45 • 4min

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Building Community and Engaging Content

01:35:09 • 2min

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#868

• Mentioned in 41 episodes

The Design of Everyday Things

Revised and Expanded Edition

Don Norman

In this book, Don Norman discusses how design should be centered around the user's needs, emphasizing the importance of visibility, natural relationships between controls and functions, and the intelligent use of constraints. He argues that poor design, rather than user ineptness, is often the cause of frustration with everyday objects. The book covers various aspects of design, including affordances, signifiers, and the seven stages of action, providing a comprehensive guide to creating user-friendly products.

• Mentioned in 683 episodes

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl

The book is divided into two parts. The first part recounts Frankl's harrowing experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, between 1942 and 1945. He describes the inhumane conditions and the psychological and emotional struggles of the prisoners. The second part introduces Frankl's theory of logotherapy, which posits that the primary human drive is the search for meaning, rather than pleasure. Frankl argues that meaning can be found through three main avenues: work (doing something significant), love (caring for another), and suffering (finding meaning in one's own suffering). The book emphasizes the importance of finding purpose and meaning in life, even in the most adverse conditions, as a key factor in survival and personal growth.

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/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Gina’s background

(04:34) The Vamos Latam Summit

(07:22) Gina’s “A and B sides” framework

(09:34) Her B side

(16:27) Lessons from working on Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign

(20:40) How Gina was able to 3x the conversion rate on a campaign site in one day

(24:34) 4 areas Duolingo leaned into to have success in the difficult world of B2C subscriptions

(36:39) B-side lessons from Duolingo

(42:05) The importance of trusting your gut

(44:54) Organic growth tactics and the importance of branding

(48:01) What makes for remarkable branding

(52:01) Duolingo’s process for keeping copy on-brand

(52:45) How Duo’s passive-aggressive messages led to a movement

(55:19) How Latitud uses niche humor as part of their branding

(56:31) Duolingo’s TikTok

(59:02) Lessons from internationalizing Duolingo

(1:03:51) Why Gina was drawn to the tech industry in Latin America

(1:09:26) What Latitud does

(1:17:20) Opportunities in emerging markets

(1:20:45) Lightning round

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Referenced:

• The Vamos Latam Summit 2023: https://www.latitud.com/vamoslatamsummit

• Ben Horowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behorowitz/

• Rappi: https://about.rappi.com/

• Reed College: https://www.reed.edu/

• Marcus Aurelius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

• Mike Bloomberg’s website: https://www.mikebloomberg.com/

• How Duolingo reignited user growth: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-duolingo-reignited-user-growth

• Burr Settles on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/burrsettles/

• Nubank: https://nubank.com.br/en/

• Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/navigating-comms-and-pr-lulu-cheng-meservey-substack-activision-blizzard/

• 47 Duolingo Memes That Are Equal Parts Funny and Extremely Concerning: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/duolingo-memes-jokes

• Latitud: https://www.latitud.com/

• Brian Requarth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrequarth/

• On Deck: https://www.beondeck.com/

• Leadsales: https://leadsales.io/en/crm-for-whatsapp/

• Pomelo: https://pomelo.la/latam/

• The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654

• Man’s Search for Meaning: https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/1663607982/

• Succession on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/succession

• The Rehearsal on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-rehearsal

• The White Lotus: https://www.hbo.com/the-white-lotus

• Bo Burnham: Inside: https://www.netflix.com/title/81289483

• “How is the best-case scenario Joe Biden?” song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltg9ohuh0KM

• How to with John Wilson on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-wilson

• Viome: https://www.viome.com/

• Levels: https://www.levelshealth.com/

• Andrew Chen’s blog: https://andrewchen.com/

• The ship of Theseus: https://www.philosophy-foundation.org/enquiries/view/the-ship-of-theseus

• Gina Gotthilf on 20VC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M7XsTicrY0

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

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