<p>In this episode, we're talking to Steve Rideout, founder of ReadLang, who turned his own struggle with learning Spanish into a successful language learning product.</p> <p>We dive into his journey of building ReadLang from a simple translation tool to a $10K+ MRR business, including its unexpected detour through Duolingo - where Steve not only sold his company but also helped create Duolingo Stories, before buying ReadLang back at a quarter of the original price.</p> <p>Other topics include how Steve achieves growth purely through word of mouth, his experience with freemium pricing from $10/year to $48/year, and how he's managing to thrive in an increasingly AI-dominated language learning space.</p> <p>We also talk about the challenges of being a solo founder, when to focus on product versus marketing, and the surprising observation that his best revenue months coincide with when he works the least.</p> <p>___</p> <p>Steve's Website: <a href="https://steveridout.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://steveridout.com/</a></p> <p>Steve's Twitter: <a href="https://x.com/Steve_Ridout" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/Steve_Ridout</a></p> <p>Readlang Website: <a href="https://readlang.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://readlang.com/</a></p> <p><br /></p> <p>My own website: <a href="https://icebearlabs.com" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://icebearlabs.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p> <p>You can find this podcast on: <a href="https://codeandconquer.fm" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://codeandconquer.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p> <p>Find our product here: <a href="https://www.repodcasted.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.repodcasted.com/</a></p>