Taking the Long View: How Duolingo’s Principles Can Rescue You from Survival Mode
Have you ever felt like your back was against the wall—every quarter, every month, sometimes every single week? Like you’re lurching from one short-term priority to another, never having time to consider a real long-term plan?
I kept thinking about that when I read through Duolingo’s company handbook. A theme jumped out: They intentionally invest in a 100-year brand. They’re not chasing every possible revenue trick or short-lived gimmick. There’s a principle they repeat called “Take the Long View.” And as obvious as that might sound, it runs counter to the default survival mindset in most startups.
Why Survival Mode Is So Common (and So Harmful)
When you’ve got a million fires to put out—funding worries, hiring crunches, product crises—of course it’s tempting to only focus on next week’s tasks. You can get addicted to urgency. Sometimes it feels like you have no other choice.
But living in that constant “urgent” lane doesn’t just stress you out; it also forces your team into decisions with little long-term payoff. That’s where companies end up:
Building short-term product hacks that repel users down the road.
Rushing hires that don’t fit the culture and end up causing friction.
Missing the deeper strategic opportunities that only show up when you have mental space to look for them.
The irony? Even though you’re moving fast in the moment, your lack of strategic clarity can slow down true progress. You keep reacting to fires instead of building a company that doesn’t ignite them so often in the first place.
What Duolingo Does Differently to Avoid the Frenzy
There’s a reason Duolingo soared past a lot of other edtech companies. They committed from Day One to a few core ideas that, in hindsight, seem simple:
Hire Slow, Build Strong
They’ll leave roles unfilled rather than hire someone who’s not a cultural or skill fit. “Better a hole than an a**hole,” as they put it. This protects their mission, team chemistry, and brand for the long haul—even if it means a short-term inconvenience.
Focus on a Forever Product
They won’t push too many ads or gimmicks to bump quarterly metrics. They know that might degrade trust with users. Instead, they obsess over user retention, delight, and real value—because the longer someone sticks with Duolingo, the more the brand grows sustainably.
Test and Learn Without Destroying Trust
Duolingo runs hundreds of experiments at once (like A/B tests in the product), but they watch for any sign that an idea might undermine the user experience. If it does, they cut it fast. They prioritize brand integrity over short-lived wins.
It’s not that Duolingo ignores near-term problems. But they balance daily fires with a deep commitment to where they want to be in five or ten years. If you look closely, that’s the real antidote to the frenzy: a willingness to guard your mission, product, and culture even when it’s tempting to do otherwise.
How Chiefs of Staff Can Drive a Long-View Mindset
As a Chief of Staff, you’re often the behind-the-scenes force that keeps teams aligned. You watch how decisions get made, which priorities slip, and who’s risking burnout. That vantage point is invaluable. If anyone can inject “long-term thinking” into the conversation, it’s you.
Here are four ways to make it happen:
Spot Short-Term Traps Early
Because you sit in on leadership meetings, you’ll notice when the group opts for “quick fixes.” If those fixes jeopardize the broader strategy, don’t stay silent. Even a well-timed question—“How might this play out a year from now?”—can prompt a more balanced approach.
Facilitate Priorities That Actually Matter
Duolingo zeroes in on a handful of metrics (like Daily Active Users). That laser focus helps them sidestep the chaos of 20 competing KPIs. As Chief of Staff, you can guide leadership to define two or three crucial objectives and guard them from distraction. If a proposed project doesn’t move one of those objectives, question whether it’s worth doing now.
Protect the Culture from Self-Inflicted Harm
Hiring misfires and internal misalignment can sink a company faster than any external threat. You’re close enough to see issues that might not be obvious to the CEO or other execs. If a potential new hire could damage trust or if an existing process is causing burnout, raise the flag. Don’t just patch it over—work with leadership to fix it for the long term.
Champion Experiments but Clarify Guardrails
Experimentation is a must, but it shouldn’t become a Wild West free-for-all. When launching new initiatives, define “this is success,” “this is failure,” and “this is when we quit.” That discipline keeps you from doubling down on a doomed idea just because of sunk costs. And it reassures your team that leadership isn’t just throwing spaghetti at the wall.
The takeaway? You don’t have to wage war on short-term needs. But you do need to remind your org that short-term moves should still serve a bigger vision—one that’s actually written down, shared, and understood by everyone.
Long-Term Plans Aren’t About Rigidity or Perfection
Don’t confuse “long-term planning” with “never changing course.” One of Duolingo’s biggest strengths is how quickly they iterate. They might pivot features, design, or marketing strategies regularly based on new data. The difference is that every pivot still orbits around that main mission: building a forever product that puts user learning first.
You can adopt a similar approach—whether you’re in a seed-stage startup or a bigger organization in scaling mode. It’s not about locking the future in stone; it’s about having an intentional direction that helps you filter out the noise.
Your Next Steps: Shift from Reactivity to Resilience
If you feel stuck in perpetual crisis mode, take one small step this week:
Schedule a leadership session that’s purely about goals six to twelve months out.
Ask team leads to detail their “top 3 big initiatives,” then question how each ties to the company’s long-term success.
Review your hiring pipeline to ensure you’re not bringing in the wrong people just because you need bodies now.
Yes, real-world pressures exist. Funding runs out. Markets crash. But the companies and Chiefs of Staff who survive—and thrive—are the ones who start building a framework that absorbs these shocks. When you invest in the right people, processes, and product pillars, near-term problems don’t knock you off-course. If anything, they reinforce why taking the long view matters so much.
Final Thoughts
Duolingo’s story is a powerful reminder that you can experiment aggressively, move quickly, and still respect the big-picture trajectory. For most startups and scale-ups, the Chief of Staff is the secret ingredient that keeps everything tied together under that long-term vision.
So the question is: Will you protect the long view when everyone else is stuck fighting fires?
If you want to explore how to break free from survival mode—or just need a thought partner who can help you shape a sustainable path—reach out. Let’s figure out how to inject a dose of Duolingo-inspired thinking into your chaotic day-to-day. Because if they’ve proven anything, it’s that what feels “too distant” or “too idealistic” might be the very thing that gets you through your next crisis.
