Category: Media

Duolingo’s Next AI Opportunity is with What’sApp

Today’s post looks at Duolingo — a DTC ed-tech brand with a massive global user base and a freemium model that’s become the standard for language learning apps. The stock has pulled back roughly 65% from its $545 peak this past May, and while this isn’t an investment breakdown, it’s obvious that the market now values one thing above almost everything else: Duolingo’s AI engine and how it scales.

I see two product-led partnership opportunities that could help accelerate that engine:

  1. A WhatsApp integration that brings Duolingo’s AI Roleplay experience directly into the world’s most-used messaging app
  2. a fintech-driven rewards program with platforms like PayPal or Revolut to improve LTV/CAC by incentivizing consistent learning behavior.

The WhatsApp idea is the core focus here. The concept is simple: enable language learners to practice short, AI-powered conversations inside WhatsApp — where people already spend a significant portion of their daily screen time. This turns messaging into micro-practice, strengthens daily engagement, and meaningfully improves the value of their emerald customers in Duolingo Max.

Given Duolingo’s scale and WhatsApp’s dominance in markets like India and Brazil (~1B combined users), an initiative like this could drive engagement for ~20M learners and potentially generate $25–30M in incremental annual bookings through Max upgrades.

If Meta platform access, data restrictions, or the OpenAI agreement make that difficult, the fintech rewards angle offers a lighter-weight alternative that still deepens habit formation.

Both directions support Duolingo’s broader mission: make learning “fun and universally accessible,” increase daily engagement, and build differentiated, durable product experiences through partnerships.

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The New Rules of Brand Discoverability in the Age of AI Agents

Every brand, from a scrappy startup to a Fortune 500, faces the same fundamental problem: How do you get discovered in a sea of consumer choices?

For decades, the answers shifted: first it was getting shelf space at brick and mortar retailers, then Amazon search as online sales took off around 2010. Then Google SEO. In every era, the challenge was the same — being visible in a world where gatekeepers decide who gets surfaced and who gets ignored. Now, the gatekeepers are AI agents.

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AI Business Models

AI is moving fast, but the business models behind it are even harder to decode. I’ve been spending time mapping out who the key customers are and how money flows through the system. Foundational providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc), wrappers (Harvey, Jasper, etc) — each plays a different role in the value chain, and investors and operators alike are still figuring out how to navigate the commercial landscape.

I’ve built and scaled growth models at companies like Newell Brands, Casper, Blue Apron, and Lime, and today I advise startups, investors, and corporates on how to navigate this shifting landscape. To cut through the noise, I created this AI Business Model Guide — a simple framework to understand where opportunities lie and where risks emerge.

If you’re building in AI or exploring partnerships, this guide is a starting point. The presentation is embedded below.

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Ad Agencies Need to Innovate to Win in Retail Media

Total digital ad revenue in the US climbed 10.8% to nearly $210b last year, despite a slowing economy and a myriad of other challenges. While the growth rate is a far cry from the 35% figure in 2021, it still shows that marketers continue to spend online to drive purchase consideration. But there was an interesting stat included in that $210b spent last year – 20% was on retail media advertising. 

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Utilizing AI to Help Build/Frame Partnerships 

One of the most difficult aspects of doing partnerships or business development regardless of industry or sector is clearly understanding why two parties should get “married.” In my experience building numerous JV’s/partnerships, one theme continues to resonate, and that is how do you construct a winning partnership where each side feels as if they have gotten equitable value. Oftentimes, initial discussions tend to be more tactical or acutely focused on a very specific asset that one side seeks access to, when the focus should be framing the outcome from inception. This entails being able to articulate clearly the ‘gives’ and ‘gets’ of a deal and not jumping right into the weeds. Jeff Bezos has said, at Amazon, before any work is done on a new partnership, the press release is written. This accomplishes a couple key things. 

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Disney: Centralization Doesn’t Always Work

As I was reading last week about how McKinsey was hired to help Disney streamline costs this year, it drew similarities to my time at Jarden when we merged with Newell in 2016.  MK is a great firm, don’t get me wrong, but I continue to see this playbook applied that doesn’t always work. Centralization is not invariably the answer, especially in businesses with strong IP and nuanced relationships.  

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Disney+: Another Unprofitable Direct to Consumer Concept

With news today that Bob Iger is returning to Disney as CEO after a roughly 3 year hiatus, it’s pretty clear that one of the main motives for this move has been the highly un-profitable Disney +, the company’s streaming arm, or as some call it, the new ‘cable’ bill. Like many companies that have legacy wholesale relationships, Disney is trying to make the economics of selling content directly to consumers sustainable. There are a lot of similarities between all the DTC brands today (Warby Parker, Casper, Away, AllBirds, Blue Apron, etc) and Disney+. 

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Disintermediation is Eating the World

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen coined the term “Software is eating the world” nearly 10 years ago. His argument that software would be at the heart of every business moving forward could not have been more astute. For example, Amazon’s not a retailer; their primary capability is their software technology enabling sellers around the world to get their products to consumers. The same could be said for their AWS cloud business; again a software play. Uber, Google, Facebook, Netflix, and to some extent Apple’s app store business, are all examples of companies that are fundamentally software first. Interestingly, this same software has empowered a foundational shift in business model. It has enabled disintermediation. The complex network of intermediaries that have existed historically have been circumvented which has led to the world of everything being direct-to-consumer (D2C) or direct to source. Many think of D2C as mainly having an impact on consumer goods, but the theme permeates into numerous industries.  Here are some examples:

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Paying the Toll

As tech companies descended on Capitol Hill this week, the ongoing debate around antitrust continues. Startups have long lamented about the anticompetitive business practices adopted by the big 4:  Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. If you build a business that relies on the Apple or Google app stores then you automatically know you’re going to pay a ~30% toll to access consumers. The debate has further been heightened as some startups like Classpass have been hit with this toll as they roll out virtual classes due to COVID. The founders argue that they are forgoing their normal take rate from providers (gym’s, etc) they work with during COVID so why is Apple charging them 30%. Apple is in an interesting situation, because if they make exceptions for one business, they need to make for others. They also would face potential legal battles from previous customers that did have to pay. 

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