The epidemic has just pushed edtech into the mainstream, but language-learning startup Duolingo has already spent the last decade deciding how to build a successful edtech application. In our latest installment of the EC-1 series, Natasha Mascarenhas went deeper with the company to discover how it suits the product market, then figured out how to grow like a tech startup and monetize like a sauce startup.
After Record 2020, the Pittsburgh-based company also published its plans for the future, with a focus on speaking a new language (in addition to listening, reading and writing). Here’s more from Natasha about what’s inside:
- New Initiatives and Future Perspectives “Duolingo can’t teach you how to speak a language, but wants to try it now” (3,100 words / 12 minutes) – How Duolingo launches new business lines, the potential for success and how By adding speaking skills to the combination, companies are trying to improve its core product from basic language fluency to mastery.
- Monetization “How Duolingo Became Easy to Monetize” (2,800 words / 11 minutes) – Examines how Duolingo experimented with different business models to match his unique community and why he chose the subscription.
- Original story “How a bot-fighting experiment turned into edtech’s most iconic brand, Duolingo” (3,300 words / 13 minutes) Left? It’s edtech great success story.
- Product-led development strategy “Product-led growth behind edtech’s most downloaded app” (3,000 words / 12 minutes) – An edtech organization that analyzes strategies and trade-offs to assess the growth of thousands to 500 million registered students.
Want this kind of coverage in a different organization or sector. Check out our growing list of EC-1, which includes recent profiles of Klaviyo, StockX, Tonal and more.
If there has ever been a golden age for fintech, it must be now. As of Q1 2021, the number of fintech startups in the U.S. has exceeded 10,000 for the first time – more than double if you include EMEA and APAC. There are three fintech companies worth more than $100 billion (PayPal, Square and Shopify) with three more of the $50 billion-Pay $100 billion clubs (Stripe, Adyen and Coinbase).
