Duolingo company presentation

1. The best new way to learn a language
By Ken Zhang (jianbinz)

2. Problem & Product
 Everyone learns in different ways
 Learning online could be distracting
 Learning a language could be expensive and inaccessible
Duolingo for School Duolingo English test

3. Persona
你好！
Hello!
Matt Jason
Only if I
spoke
English!
Only if I
spoke
Chinese!

4. Financials
0.125
5
10
30
25
30
42
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2012 2013 2014 2016 2018 2019 2020
Monthly Active Users in Million
 “Can You Say Unicorn? Duolingo Raises $30 Million at $1.5 Billion Valuation”
6
13
36
100
140
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
2014 2017 2018 2019 2020
Revenue in $ Million

5. Business Model
 Freemium business model for Duolingo App (3% users pay premium)
 B2B with Duolingo for School, Duolingo English Test
Duolingo for School Duolingo English test

6. History
 Project started in 2009 at CMU
 Co-founded by Luis von Ahn (Right) and Severin Hacker
(Left) in 2011
2009, Project
Started
2011, Private
Beta
2012, Launched
in App Store
2013, Launched in
Google Play Store
2017, Unicorn!
2019, Valued
at $1.5 Billion

7. Hot Stuff
 Free to use
 36 languages
 Esperanto? How about Klingon?
 Great for casual users

8. Secret Sauce
 Simple, colorful interface
 Short, game-like exercises
 Committed to testing different business models
 Aggressive notifications --> Meme culture

9. Competition
 Online language learning industry is very competitive
 Duolingo is a mover/shaker to the industry
 Most (?) popular platform

10. Comparison

11. Comparison (cont’d)
36
28
14
16
12
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Duolingo
Rosetta Stone
Babbel
Memrise
Busuu
Languages Offered
0
8
6.95
6.67
10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Duolingo
Rosetta Stone
Babbel
Memrise
Busuu
Cost ($ per month)

12. Future Prediction
 Bright future ahead
 COVID-19 boost
 IPO soon?

13. References
 https://www.duolingo.com/
 https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2019/07/16/game-of-tongues-
how-duolingo-built-a-700-million-business-with-its-addictive-language-
learning-app/#6e38b43c3463
 https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/29/duolingo-ceo-explains-language-apps-
surge-in-bookings/
 https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-12-04-can-you-say-unicorn-duolingo-
raises-30-million-at-1-5-billion-valuation
 https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/33809133/The-History-of-Duolingo
 https://www.cnet.com/news/duolingo-vs-rosetta-stone-how-to-choose-the-
best-language-learning-app/

14. Questions?
By Ken Zhang (jianbinz)