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

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: www.lennyspodcast.com/scaling...
Where to find Gina Gotthilf:
• X: / ginag
• LinkedIn: / ginafrombrazil
• Instagram: / gina
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / 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: www.latitud.com/vamoslatamsummit
• Ben Horowitz on LinkedIn: / behorowitz
• Rappi: about.rappi.com/
• Reed College: www.reed.edu/
• Marcus Aurelius: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_...
• Mike Bloomberg’s website: www.mikebloomberg.com/
• How Duolingo reignited user growth: www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ho...
• Burr Settles on LinkedIn: / burrsettles
• Nubank: nubank.com.br/en/
• Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard): www.lennyspodcast.com/navigat...
• 47 Duolingo Memes That Are Equal Parts Funny and Extremely Concerning: www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartine...
• Latitud: www.latitud.com/
• Brian Requarth on LinkedIn: / brianrequarth
• On Deck: www.beondeck.com/
• Leadsales: leadsales.io/en/crm-for-whats...
• Pomelo: pomelo.la/latam/
• The Design of Everyday Things: www.amazon.com/Design-Everyda...
• Man’s Search for Meaning: www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Me...
• Succession on HBO: www.hbo.com/succession
• The Rehearsal on HBO: www.hbo.com/the-rehearsal
• The White Lotus: www.hbo.com/the-white-lotus
• Bo Burnham: Inside: www.netflix.com/title/81289483
• “How is the best-case scenario Joe Biden?” song: • How is the best case s...
• How to with John Wilson on HBO: www.hbo.com/how-to-with-john-...
• Viome: www.viome.com/
• Levels: www.levelshealth.com/
• Andrew Chen’s blog: andrewchen.com/
• The ship of Theseus: www.philosophy-foundation.org...
• Gina Gotthilf on 20VC: • Gina Gotthilf: Lessons...
Production and marketing by penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [e-mail].
Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[@feliciaromano1144]

Awesome episode. Gina Gotthilf is passionate and inspirational. She models excellence. My most important takeaways are: keep asking questions, fail forward, do what works for you not what's popular, and keep checking to ensure your actions align with the vision.

[@xueying9458]

Listening to Gina describing her B sides is so touching and inspiring. I'm so afraid of my any-kind-of failures and worried this is gonna look bad on my resume. But Gina really encouraged me about "getting back on the horse when you fall on your face". Thank you Lenny and Gina.

[@Vistobio]

It's rare to find a Brazilian A Player like her

[@segunagbaje6823]

Thanks for this episode Lenny & Gina. As someone who lost their first tech role in a YC- backed company in July, it has been pretty hard coming to terms with things. The A side, B side approach to viewing life experiences (and Gina's stories/experience) were really helpful. This is definitely an episode I'll be coming back to every now and then. ❤

[@JesusChecaC]

Wow, it is clear you are special Gina. Total respect for your commitment with Latin America.

[@valerii8]

such an interesting episode, thanks Gina and Lenny

[@lagcisco]

she's a treasure, would love to hear more from her or other duolingos

[@AndiSzilagyi]

Great thoughts on people tend to be similar. Something we experience too with our SaaS.

[@hratzbrain7446]

Great episode!

[@ishitasharma4770]

Thanks Gina and Lenny, interesting episode and useful insights!

[@zzzggg388]

Gina Round 2!

[@zzzggg388]

Oh! Got mixed up with 20vc :D

[@LennysPodcast]

🤣