Duolingo CMO Manu Orssaud on What Gets Destroyed When the Street Decides Your Strategy
From Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins by Seth Matlins
September 1, 2026 · 58 min
About this episode
Manu Orssaud discusses Duolingo's strategic decision to prioritize user growth over revenue, revealing insights about brand consistency and momentum.
In Q425, Duolingo's CEO told the Street the company would accept slower revenue growth and lower profitability in order to prioritize growing the number of people who use the product every day. This is a strategic decision that runs counter to what most enterprises do under pressure from analysts and investors. In this conversation, Duolingo's CMO, Manu Orssaud, walks Seth through why the company made that bet and what it reveals about where value actually comes from. They also talk about why brand consistency and brand sameness are two very different things that most companies confuse; why 40% of Duolingo's growth in China can't be explained by any attribution model and the company's strong conviction that what they're seeing is brand momentum; and why, after building one of the most irreverent brands in tech, Manu's now wrestling with how Duolingo evolves without letting shock value become the brand. Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins is produced by The Wisdomous Company and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Seth Matlins
Guest: Manu Orssaud
Topics covered
- marketing strategy
- brand consistency
- revenue growth
- investor pressure
- brand momentum
Keywords
- Duolingo
- CMO
- Manu Orssaud
- brand consistency
- revenue growth
- marketing strategy
- investors
- brand momentum
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Duolingo, The Wisdomous Company, Vox Media Podcast Network
More episodes of Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins
- Musa Tariq on How Short-Term Growth Can Disguise Bad Strategy · August 25, 2026 · 1h 19m
- LVMH’s Mathilde Delhoume-Debreu | From Diapers to Dior: Value Creation Across Industry · August 18, 2026 · 57 min
- JPMorganChase CMO Carla Hassan on What Happens When the Product Doesn't Speak for Itself · August 11, 2026 · 1h 11m
- Bose CMO Jim Mollica on The Number One Predictor of Value Creation · August 4, 2026 · 1h 3m
- Rocket Companies CMO Jonathan Mildenhall on The Business Case for Creating an Iconic Brand · July 28, 2026 · 1h 1m
- LinkedIn CMO Jessica Jensen on The True Math of Value Creation · July 21, 2026 · 56 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins podcast page.