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

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—Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Hex— Helping teams ask and answer data questions by working together | Mercury—the powerful and intuitive way for ambitious companies to bank —Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/scaling-duolingo-embracing-failure-and-insight-into-latin-americas-tech-scene-gina-gotthilf-la/#transcript—Where to find Gina Gotthilf:• X: https://twitter.com/ginag• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginafrombrazil/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gina/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—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—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—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe