The Community Growth Engine: How Duolingo Scaled to 90 Courses and 300M Users | Laura Nestler

More than 300 million people all over the world have used Duolingo, and our community has been the secret sauce for much of our growth. While many might view “community” as merely a fuzzy buzzword, Laura Nestler will demystify that misperception by illustrating how community-driven strategies like language course creation and global in-person events have fueled Duolingo’s growth — all while making the world just a little bit smaller. A flag-flying industry OG (raise your hand if you built communities pre-smartphones and social media), Laura Nestler helped craft Yelp’s community playbook in 2007 before moving abroad to launch Yelp globally. Joining Duolingo in 2016, she leads the team that connects 300M learners and empowers ambassadors, aka Duolingo’s community growth engine responsible for 85+ courses, 550+ weekly IRL events, and 1M+ daily visited forums. Laura now lives in Seattle with her husband, three kids, and ever-present wanderlust.