🍿 The $6.5 Billion app Duolingo

Hi, Guy & Farzan here,

Today, we have a tonne of interesting founder stories and playbooks. Let’s get into it.

Read time: 7 mins

In the mail:

1. Founder story: How Kim is revolutionizing women’s workwear 🚀

2. Founder playbook: The $6.5 billion app founder story ⚡️

3. Video playbook: The kids who’s making $1M with Chat GPT 🔥

4. Video playbook: How Oliver built a $7 Billion shoe company 🍿

5. Video short: One thing Codie wishes she did in here 20’s 💪

6. A quote: A quote on courage ❤️

1. Founder story

🚀 From a small mango farm to revolutionizing women's workwear: Kym O'Leary's journey with COgear.

"Will this be my life for the rest of my life?"

🚗 Picture 17-year-old Kym driving her green Ford Laser, contemplating life's big questions and yearning for more than the farm and law firm backdrop she was accustomed to.

🌱 Milestone 1: Grew up on a mango & tomato farm in Bowen, North Queensland.

📚 Milestone 2: Took a bold leap at 17 to further education against all odds.

⛏ Milestone 3: Gained experience in the mines, where the seeds of COgear were sown.

💡Milestone 4: Inspired by women's struggles in the mines, she pioneered women's hi-vis workwear.

🚀 Milestone 5: Launched COgear, blending comfort with functionality. Their game-changer? The Alison Hi Vis cargo pants innovatively designed for the contours of a woman's body.

🔧 Milestone 6: Introduced HMZ, a groundbreaking solution to effortlessly adjust workwear length.

💡 Golden Lesson: Engage deeply with your customers BEFORE launching. Kym learned this the hard way after a $30K misstep. But that stumble, rather than being a setback, became a stepping stone to refining and perfecting COgear's offerings.

🌈 "Being a founder means embracing the power of your unique perspective and trusting yourself. Solutions emerge when we least expect - during school drop-offs, playing with toddlers, or even doing dishes!"

Curious to delve deeper into Kym's incredible journey? Dive into the full story on Founderoo.

2. Founder playbook

⚡️ The story of how Luis von Ahn built a $6.5billion app called Duolingo

Luis von Ahn: A journey from Guatemala's streets to global ed-tech's elite.

1️⃣ Roots in Reality: Growing up in Guatemala, Luis witnessed the immeasurable power and disparity of education firsthand. His mission? Bridge that gap. 📚

2️⃣ CAPTCHA Craze: Those "I'm not a robot" checks? Yup, that's him. And reCAPTCHA? His genius method of digitizing age-old books. 📖

3️⃣ Language Dreams: Alarmed by pricey English courses, he imagined a world where language learning was free and for everyone. Duolingo was born. 🌎

4️⃣ Dynamic Partnership: At Carnegie Mellon, he met Severin Hacker. Together, they transformed their tech vision into the gamified reality of Duolingo. 🎮

5️⃣ Monetization Masterstroke: Duolingo grew, and so did its costs. Their solution? Ads for a free experience and a premium, uninterrupted option, ensuring learning remained free at its core. 💸

6️⃣ Global Growth: From a few languages to a vast spectrum, and an innovative Duolingo English Test. All this, culminating in a groundbreaking 2021 IPO. 📈

Luis's Legacy: In the entrepreneurial sea of challenges, remain anchored to your mission. Adapt, grow, and always aim for impact above all. 🚀

For an in-depth look at Luis's captivating trajectory, don't miss the full story on Founderoo!

3. Video playbook

🔥 Meet the kids who’s making $1M with Chat GPT

In this video, we watch Pat Walls travel out to meet Joe Popelas - one of the only kids who ACTUALLY made $1M with ChatGPT. Joe shares everything about how he came up with the idea, how he got started, his advertising strategies, and how anyone can capitalize on the goldmine that is AI automation and ChatGPT-generated ebooks. This is one of the most intriguing business ideas we've come across recently. Enjoy.

4. Video playbook

🍿 How Oliver built a $7 Billion shoe company called ‘On’

Discover the remarkable journey of 'On', a Swiss running shoe sensation, birthed by the legendary six-time Ironman champion, Olivier Bernhard. In just over a decade, witness how this revolutionary brand skyrocketed from obscurity to a whopping $7 billion valuation. Dive in to unravel the intriguing tale of how a world champion teamed up with tennis icon, Roger Federer, catapulting 'On' as one of the world's most rapidly expanding shoe phenomena. Don't miss this epic story – watch the full video now!

5. Video short

💪 One thing Codies wish she did when she was in her 20’s

6. A quote on courage ❤️

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Until next week
Guy + Farzan 👋 
Founderoo