Reflection
This process of exploring Duolingo’s value from an EVA’s perspective, through the lens of ETEC522’s “Cube”, helped me to realize that venture analysis is much easier said than done. Looking at the facets of “The Cube” (Type of Market, Type of Offering, Buyer, Global Target, Market Status, Competition) might suggest that compiling an analyst report is to follow a simple, well-defined defined method, but I found the process anything but simple. In many cases I found it complicated to differentiate between what information would best be placed within each category. This was in part due to Duolingo presenting a “new” form of ed tech, whose business model is quite radical, in comparison to the most popular language learning businesses a decade ago. I also came to realize that while venture may be the result of a great idea from one or two people, one or two people can’t take on a venture. It takes a huge effort from many others to keep the business afloat and ensure all its varied moving parts are functioning correctly.
This process also opened my eyes to the importance of choosing a business model that both matches your company’s mission and, of course, makes money. The choice of Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker to leverage a freemium business model with crowdsourcing features is, in a word, genius. It provides free education to all its users while generating enough revenue to reach profitability, expand the business to entice new users, and - most importantly for their freemium model - retain paying ones.
Finally, my time spent exploring articles and videos led me to truly appreciate the power of a tagline. Duolingo’s tagline eloquently summarizes everything you need to know about their product and their goals: “To bring free language education to the world”.
Looking forward to my upcoming opportunity pitch, while my topic has not been finalized I expect to spend a significant amount of time trying to perfect a tagline for my venture. To accomplish this I will have to seriously consider my venture, through the lens of “The Cube”, in order to distill it down into its most absolutely essential components. This assignment has pushed me to seriously consider all aspects of a given venture, leaving no stone unturned; it’s an experience that will serve me well in preparation for my own work to be scrutinized by other EVAs.
This process also opened my eyes to the importance of choosing a business model that both matches your company’s mission and, of course, makes money. The choice of Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker to leverage a freemium business model with crowdsourcing features is, in a word, genius. It provides free education to all its users while generating enough revenue to reach profitability, expand the business to entice new users, and - most importantly for their freemium model - retain paying ones.
Finally, my time spent exploring articles and videos led me to truly appreciate the power of a tagline. Duolingo’s tagline eloquently summarizes everything you need to know about their product and their goals: “To bring free language education to the world”.
Looking forward to my upcoming opportunity pitch, while my topic has not been finalized I expect to spend a significant amount of time trying to perfect a tagline for my venture. To accomplish this I will have to seriously consider my venture, through the lens of “The Cube”, in order to distill it down into its most absolutely essential components. This assignment has pushed me to seriously consider all aspects of a given venture, leaving no stone unturned; it’s an experience that will serve me well in preparation for my own work to be scrutinized by other EVAs.