Duolingo S-1 IPO
I really like Duolingo. It's not my favorite way of learning a language§, but they do a good job of pounding vocabulary into your head over and over. I will never forget that jeruk is "orange" in Indonesian.However, taken from "Risk Factors" on this S-1:> •users feel that their experience is diminished as a result of the decisions we make with respect to the frequency, prominence, format, size and quality of ads that we display;Duolingo has a big problem with both their ads and how they promote their Plus plan. (I hope to never see an owl flying through space again)Primarily, the quality of the ads I see are those stupid fish games or the "pull this pin to drop lava on the knight" that you see advertised on Facebook. I'm sure they're making money off of views, especially since you can't proceed in your lesson until you watch the video, but it cheapens the brand name of Duolingo (at least for me).If they had ads for anything language, travel, or even food related, it would feel more on par with their branding. But so many other dollar grab apps do the same thing [regarding those kinds of video ads] that it feels like I'm just looking at another cheap app.Secondly, how they promote their Plus plan. You are limited in how long you can access their platform by how many hearts you have. Miss enough questions, your hearts run out. Run out of hearts, you're restricted from proceeding further in your studies. You must buy hearts to stay on their platform. This feels counter intuitive, as you are now kicking users off of your platform and lose the ability to sway them towards other things you have to offer.I have found that between carrot and stick approaches, it is usually better to use a carrot where you can.§ - For my style of learning, I've found Pimsleur to be one of the better approaches. Breaking sentences into phrases, phrases into words, and down words into syllables really helps me grasp the langauge more, especially with the context that goes around in the "story".