In this episode, we break down the ad strategy behind Duolingo, the world’s most downloaded language-learning app with over 500 million downloads.

Using BruteForce AI, our proprietary ad intelligence system, we analyzed 70 top-performing Duolingo ads to uncover how the brand combines humor, habit-building, and aspiration-driven storytelling to create ads that feel effortless, yet convert at massive scale.

From guilt-powered streak culture and playful mascot-led pressure to travel fantasies and research-backed credibility, this teardown reveals how Duolingo turns language learning into a daily habit users don’t want to break.

🔍 What you’ll learn:

• How Duolingo directly addresses the “I’m too busy” objection with relatable user proof
• Why stacking a single authority signal across every ad builds instant trust
• How funny guilt trips outperform preachy motivation
• The role of travel and life aspiration in selling language learning
• How Duolingo makes learning feel free, fast, and frictionless
• Why research-backed messaging reinforces legitimacy without killing fun
• How Duolingo promotes premium upgrades by framing them as unlocks, not upsells

Whether you’re building a learning app, a productivity tool, or any habit-forming product — this breakdown gives you a repeatable creative playbook you can adapt to your own ads.

🔗 Learn more:

🌐 rocketshiphq.com - Creative for high-spend advertisers

🌐 intelligentartifice.net - Podcast hub

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter: intelligentartifice.kit.com

🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Lomit Patel, a growth executive and the bestselling author of Lean AI. Lomit was pioneering AI automation strategies for user acquisition years before ChatGPT made headlines. In this conversation, he breaks down how his approach has evolved from the era of predictive machine learning to the generative AI landscape of today.

Lomit shares his specific, high-level workflows for getting "production-ready" output from LLMs, explaining why he treats AI models like a debate team rather than a search engine. He also gives a counter-intuitive take on why AI is actually increasing the headcount and importance of human designers, rather than replacing them.

If you are looking to move beyond basic prompts and build an AI-first growth engine, this episode provides the tactical playbook you need.

🎙️ What we cover in this episode:

✅ Lean AI vs. LLMs: How AI strategy shifted from predictive ML (LTV/bidding) to generative workflows.

✅ The "AI Debate" Strategy: Pitting ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity against each other to fix average outputs.

✅ Overcoming the "People Pleaser" Bias: Why LLMs tell you what you want to hear and how to force them to critique instead.

✅ The New Role of Designers: Why designers are becoming "Creative Strategists" and the ultimate QA layer for brand authenticity.

✅ Due Diligence Acceleration: Using AI to manage investor queries and speed up company exits/acquisitions.

✅ Executive Efficiency: Automating reporting and analysis to cut weeks of work down to minutes .

Whether you're a growth marketer, creative director, or startup founder, this conversation offers a masterclass in operationalizing AI beyond the hype

🔗 Learn more:

🌐 rocketshiphq.com — Growth systems for high-spend advertisers

🌐 intelligentartifice.net — Podcast hub

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter: intelligentartifice.kit.com

🚀 In this episode, I’m joined by Evelin Herrera, the founder of Reflect Place and an expert who has seen hundreds of mobile app acquisitions up close. Evelin breaks down the exploding AI app market — what’s working, what’s failing, and why valuations have shifted dramatically in just months.

She explains why many AI apps feel like simple “info products with a paywall,” why retention is collapsing across categories, and why buyers are now extremely skeptical of AI products.

If you're building AI apps, investing in software, or planning an exit, this episode is packed with real data, blunt truth, and insider perspective.

🎙️ What we cover in this episode:

✅ Why AI apps are collapsing in valuation (Q2 → Q4 shift explained)

✅ Why AI products are struggling with subscriber retention + usage depth

✅ Copycat crackdown: Apple App Store’s new anti-clone policies

✅ Info-product AI design traps (scan-face apps, skin scoring apps, etc.)

✅ How investors evaluate AI app revenue vs. user base

✅ Building for exit: which metrics actually raise multipliers

✅ Why audiences matter more than revenue (in early-stage deals)

✅ Future-proofing through niche AI + proprietary databases

Whether you're a founder, investor, UA leader, or PM — this conversation gives clarity on what it takes for an AI product to survive beyond hype cycles.

🔗 Learn more:

🌐 rocketshiphq.com — Growth systems for high-spend advertisers

🌐 intelligentartifice.net — Podcast hub

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter: intelligentartifice.kit.com