On the podcast: the month they went from $1M to $12M ARR, selling Brazil on career upgrades instead of English lessons, and why you shouldn’t tell influencers how to do their job.
Top Takeaways:
🔍 Filter creators by reach, not following
Under 5,000 followers but tens of millions of views means the algorithm has already picked them and nobody else has priced them yet.
🙅 Don't tell influencers how to do their job
The creator video the CEO didn't like did 30M views across three platforms and took ARR from $1M to $12M in a single month.
🧱 Keep the creator program and paid acquisition as separate streams
Creators keep generating angles the in-house team has run out of, and paid reproduces whichever video goes viral.
🎓 Staff the program with ex-creators, not managers
The influencer lead and the country coaches were all making videos first, and each coach now rotates a roster of 20 or 30 creators.
💼 Sell the outcome, not the activity
A $100-a-year subscription sold in a market with weak purchasing power because the claim was a better job, not better English.
🚧 Growth can be unhinged; the product can't
Cursing avatars went viral upper-funnel, then users rejected them inside the app, so product rules now live on a one-pager whilst creators keep almost unlimited freedom.
About Adam Turaev:
🗣️ Co-founder of Praktika, an immersive language learning app with generative AI Avatars, empowering the next billion learners to overcome language barriers and seize new opportunities.
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Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Introducing Adam Turaev of Praktika
[01:26] Why Adam Left Enterprise Chatbots for Language Learning
[04:22] Betting on Conversational AI Before the LLM Boom
[06:45] How Early Chatbot Experience Shaped Praktika
[08:53] Competing With Duolingo by Targeting Career Growth
[10:03] Why Brazil Became Praktika’s First Target Market
[12:23] Selling Better Jobs Instead of English Lessons
[14:07] Building AI Language Tutors Before the Technology Was Ready
[18:41] Will Real-Time AI Translation Make Language Learning Obsolete?
[21:07] Why Speaking a Language Is About More Than Translation
[23:09] What Separates an AI Coach From ChatGPT Voice
[26:10] Why the Job to Be Done Should Drive Product Decisions
[29:16] How AI Could Help Human Tutors Reach More Students
[30:51] Why Praktika Uses Animated Avatars to Reduce Speaking Anxiety
[34:19] Finding Micro-Influencers With High Reach and Low Followings
[37:15] The Correction Video That Took Praktika From $1M to $12M ARR
[40:19] Replicating a Viral Format Across Countries and Creators
[41:49] Hiring Gustavo and Giving Creators Freedom
[43:58] Building an Influencer Program With Over 100 Creators
[46:41] How Praktika Pays Creators and Turns Wins Into Paid Ads
[48:47] When Unhinged AI Avatars Backfired Inside the App
[50:36] Setting Different Creative Boundaries for Growth and Product
[52:25] Reaching $50M ARR With a Team of Just Over 40
[53:14] Building Proactive AI Coaches Beyond Language Learning
[55:13] Balancing AI Inference Costs With Product Quality
[58:04] Why Switching From Flutter to Native iOS Improved Conversion
[01:00:03] Praktika’s Biggest Failed Experiment With AI Avatars
[01:00:35] Why Copycat Competitors Make Growth Harder