In 2000, Luis von Ahn was starting his PhD in computer science when he attended a talk and happened to learn about one of Yahoo's biggest problems: automated bots were signing up for millions of free Yahoo email accounts, and generating tons of spam. Luis' idea to solve this problem became CAPTCHA, the squiggly letters we type into a website to prove we're h ... Show More
Aug 17
Bobbie: Laura Modi. How a Baby Formula Startup Took Market Share From Two Industry Giants
Laura Modi set out to build a better infant formula. What followed was years of setbacks: a crippling dispute with the FDA, a frustrating search for a manufacturer, and the constant fear that the company would run out of money before it reached customers.But today, Bobbie generat ... Show More
1h 19m
Nov 2024
Why Duolingo Worked (with Luis von Ahn, CEO)
Duolingo has fundamentally changed the landscape of self-guided education, starting with language learning. It is now a $9B publicly traded company in a space where everyone thought you could never build a large and exciting company. We’re joined by Duolingo founder and CEO, Luis ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2025
S8E8: Luis von Ahn Is Making Screen Time Count
<p>Luis von Ahn was a tenured professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who had sold a company to Google. “You were pretty set, a lot of us would say, so why were you so hungry to build something new with Duolingo?” asks Ayesha Karnik, MBA ’25. </p><p>“For ... Show More
57m 51s
May 2020
A masterclass in crowdsourcing, w/Duolingo's Luis von Ahn
Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale further than you could have ever imagined. No one knows this better than ... Show More
39m 13s
Oct 2021
A masterclass in crowdsourcing, w/Duolingo's Luis von Ahn
Crowdsourcing is more than a group of people interested in the same cause, it’s a way to tap skills – and scale – that you don’t have. And when it works, it can be the rocket fuel that launches you to scale further than you could have ever imagined. No one knows this better than ... Show More
39m 13s