TIVP062: DUOLINGO (DUOL): GENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITY OR FAD?

W/ DANIEL MAHNCKE & SHAWN O’MALLEY

TIVP062: DUOLINGO (DUOL): GENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITY OR FAD? W/ DANIEL MAHNCKE & SHAWN O’MALLEY

08 March 2026

Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O’Malley take a deep dive into Duolingo — the leading language learning app with over 50 million daily active users and the chaotic green owl as a mascot. Since its IPO in 2021, Duolingo has expanded beyond language instruction to include math, music, and chess. The vision is to create the world’s largest learning platform. 

Some people believe Duolingo will succeed and become a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars, dominating one of the largest and most profitable markets – education. However, the stock has fallen 80% from its highs, as the market views Duolingo as a potential target for AI disruption.

Join Daniel Mahncke and Shawn O’Malley as they assess whether Duolingo has a sustainable moat, an attractive valuation, and whether Duolingo therefore deserves a spot in The Intrinsic Value Portfolio.

SUBSCRIBE

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • Why Duolingo was founded
  • About the mission of the CEO and Founder, Luis von Ahn
  • Why Duolingo works better than other apps
  • About Duolingo’s user numbers and growth
  • Why the stock dropped 80%
  • Whether AI is a threat or an opportunity
  • What the bull and bear cases look like
  • Whether Shawn and Daniel add Duolingo to the portfolio 
  • And much, much more!

Disclosure: This episode and the resources on this page are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. For full disclosures, see link.

TRANSCRIPT

Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors and slightly off timestamps may be present due to platform differences.

[00:00:00] Daniel Mahncke: The disconnect between the current market cap and the value many investors see in this company couldn’t be larger. Duolingo trades at a market cap of $5 billion while some project that it will be the leader of a trillion dollar industry.

[00:00:14] Shawn O’Malley: I was surprised to see it at such reasonable valuations. Honestly. I mean, only 20 times free cash flow and growing by more than 30% a year. I mean, that’s just something you rarely see.

[00:00:23] Daniel Mahncke: And you still have the founder on board, which is something that we love to see. So if Duolingo comes even close to becoming the world’s largest learning platform, it’ll be a multibagger. Today we find out whether that’s realistic.

[00:00:41] Intro: You are listening to The Intrinsic Value Podcast by The Investors Podcast Network. Since 2014 with over 180 million downloads, we’ve learned directly from the world to best investors. Now we are applying those lessons to analyze businesses and investment opportunities every week, helping you uncover intrinsic value. And now here are your hosts, Shawn O’Malley and Daniel Mahncke.

[00:01:12] Shawn O’Malley: Today we will talk about a company that is dividing Investors. Some argue this is the uncatchable leader of an industry that will be worth trillions of dollars one day. Others argue that it is nothing more than a language app that is actually pretty ineffective at teaching people languages. And that company is none other than Duolingo.

[00:01:34] Shawn O’Malley: For anyone who’s on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen the company’s very iconic green owl before their social media marketing is certainly pretty special, I think you could say. But tell us, Daniel. Yeah. Why did you decide to pitch this company today?

[00:01:50] Daniel Mahncke: Well, I want to cover this company because it’s one of those situations where I just don’t want to look back and realize I have missed the most obvious next big thing.

[00:01:59] Daniel Mahncke: I’ve been using the product for quite some time, although that was two or three years ago and I actually had a streak of 300 days of studying Spanish and spoiler, I can’t speak Spanish anymore and I actually never really could. To be fair though, that says less about Duolingo and more about my personal effort I put into Spanish practice.

[00:02:17] Daniel Mahncke: And I’m also playing chess from time to time, although I haven’t done so in a while. And you can certainly see that in my game if we just discussed. It’s pretty terrible. I was one of those people, you know, who started after watching the Queen’s Gambit. I wish that wouldn’t be the case, but unfortunately that’s how it is.

[00:02:32] Daniel Mahncke: In case anyone asks, why are you talking about chess? Well, Duolingo has used the last couple of years and quarters to expand into verticals beyond just languages, and they now have courses on math, music, and chess too. And I know you have used Duolingo for quite some time too, Shawn. So I think there should be a company where we can combine our typical deep investor research with our impressions as users.

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