How I Built A $6.5 Billion App Called Duolingo | Founder Effect

By the time Luis von Ahn turned 24, he was already a millionaire several times over.

The 43-year-old may not be a household name, but I'm willing to bet you’re one of the hundreds of million people who use his technology everyday.

Luis isn’t your average Unicorn tech founder. He actually pays his drivers to give feedback on their interactions with potential executive level hires on their way to the office from the airport to weed out toxic personalities.

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How I Built A $6.5 Billion App Called Duolingo | Founder Effect

[jomoeiviem]

CAPTCHA? Didn't expect that lol what an insanely talented guy

[TheDyingPlant]

This man had multiple 'once in a lifetime' ideas and was talented enough to make them a reality. I'm in awe.

[jokerandthethief]

The fact that he made all this things and he isn't as known as many CEOs....

Props to him

[AaronandAsh]

I’m Guatemalan and I work at Google as a software engineer! When my uncles and aunts found I was into code they sent me an interview of Luis. He made me think it’s possible to strive for more!

[donle]

His taxi driver interview is genius. People who don't know how to treat the little people don't deserve a high paying job!

[DiamondFlame]

He has such an employee centric approach to running a company that is hard to find in this current corporate culture. Kudos to him.

[ZzRaideMzZ]

A CEO that doesn't brag about his share price, yet constantly improves his business is a trait of a GREAT CEO

[dktran]

I love the airport driver interview piece. Reminds me of how people treat servers at restaurants.

[Dhi_Bee]

The BEST mistake I ever made was accidentally subscribing for a year to Duolingo. And when it expired I subscribed once again. I’ve now been using it for almost 2 years without missing a day. And I’m actively studying 3 main languages, while being on the top 20 user XP for 15 weeks on the diamond league. Edit: I know it can be free, but I’d rather pay for the small perks & now knowing it’s a great company & workplace, I feel better too

[i]

I didn’t know Duolingo went public...wow, billion dollar company...I’m not surprised...an app that provides free education? There will always be a demand for this

[learninmachine]

Thank you so much for creating it. I became fluent in Spanish in 6 months with this app. Now learning French, this app is magical!

[dralfred]

What a talented young man, your story is just like mine. Most times, it amazes me greatly how I moved from an average lifestyle to earning over $63k per month. Utter shock is the word. I have understood a lot in the past few years to doubt that opportunities are bound in the financial markets. The only thing is to know where to focus.

[chadflpo]

Where has this guy been hiding, lol, super talented.

[mateodluna]

Never heard of him yet he has made so much stuff that people use every day, such an amazing guy.

[lisaheron]

Thank you for creating this app! It has been fabulous learning another language and doing on my own time!! Have been doing now for 8 months and still going strong!!

[Jaegi_]

An inspiration, not in the money he has acquired but how useful his ideas are for other people and how he actually cares

[SoKelly]

Not gonna lie, I really like Duolingo. I forgot to cancel my free trial before I got charged for the year subscription so I’ve been making sure I keep my streak going and I’m not even mad about it. haha

[Captain_Flakes]

Making the Duolingo app feel like a game is definitely one of the best and most successful things about it! It honestly has really helped me become engaged and sort of addicted to learning more and more routinely.

[noodlepoodleoddle]

Unbelievable. Out of all the successful entrepreneurs featured on MI this guy is clearly his own class; His ability to scale good business ideas into blueprints that actively impact the world is priceless, and befitting the title genius.

[StreetSmartMillionaire]

Makes you wonder how much exception talent goes un-nurtured.