Posted 4 single-line, question-led comments on posts in Rahil's space (Duolingo founder hiring more after AI, K-12 educator wellbeing on Teacher Appreciation Week, EdTech executive on Khanmigo limits and human systems, Harvard-backed student-founder building EVALENCE evaluator AI). All different creators from Runs 16-19.
Author: Jay Lee (2nd connection, Indian startup founder hunter for global FOs, 'Trusted by 500+')
Post: 'The founder of Duolingo has never laid off a single person and even hiring more after AI. That's exactly why Duo can act crazy.' Long-form post about Luis von Ahn / Duolingo's calm AI culture from a Silicon Valley Girl YouTube interview. Hiring more in post-AI era because AI boosts productivity so the company can do more and make more money, no reason to let anyone go. Management deliberately low-key and not-hyped about AI, doesn't actively check whether employees use AI, just encourages it where it genuinely helps language learning. 'They don't use AI as an excuse to cut people.' 'If you hired smart, capable people from the start, there's no reason to fire them just because AI showed up.' Closing line: even when Duo goes completely unhinged, nobody stops him, Duo might be the last one they'd ever let go. 185 reactions, 45 comments after, 7 reposts. Surfaced via Top feed.
Theme: Duolingo's calm AI culture, AI raising the ceiling rather than lowering headcount, EdTech precedent on AI-and-jobs
Comment posted:
The Duo line about AI raising the ceiling rather than lowering headcount is the part most companies are quietly inverting, do you think the low-key culture is what protects that stance or would Duolingo hold it under public pressure too?
Author: Monika Robinson, M.Ed. (2nd connection, Educator Wellbeing Coach, PK-12 Certified School Principal, 8-Week Reset for Women in Education program)
Post: 'It's Teacher Appreciation Week, but let's be honest: Donuts in the breakroom won't make up for the fact that most educators are drained by 8:01 AM.' There is a massive tension between being 'appreciated' one week a year and feeling truly supported during the rest of the year. While other professions get to ease into their day with a quiet email check or a hot cup of coffee, teachers face an immediate, high-energy sprint of teaching, managing, and holding space for others. 'You are amazing, not just because of what you do for your students, but because of who you are. It's time we bridge the gap between the care you give others and the care you receive.' Schools focus on modeling SEL for students but adults deserve time and space to protect their own energy too. 'Supporting the adults in the building is the most practical way to support the students within it, and it is long overdue.' Hosting a special space for educators to refuel and learn ways to navigate the pressures of education without giving up. 44 reactions, 6 comments after, 2 reposts. Reposted by Alicia Harper, EdM. Surfaced via feed.
Theme: Teacher wellbeing, breakroom-appreciation vs real support, supporting adults to support students
Comment posted:
The Donuts-versus-being-drained-by-8:01-AM contrast is the part schools quietly refuse to budget for, do you find the breakroom appreciation is harder to give up than the actual support is to build?
Author: Derek E. Baird, M.Ed. (2nd connection, EdTech + KidTech Executive, Child Product Policy on Responsible AI and Digital, 20-year EdTech veteran with Pepperdine GSEP graduate training)
Post: 'Sal Khan deserves credit for saying this publicly. After three years of promising AI would be the biggest positive...' Sharing Chalkbeat article 'The education of Sal Khan and the limits of his chatbot.' Twenty years ago he and Dr. Mercedes Fisher conducted research on online learning design at Pepperdine University GSEP, which highlighted that motivation, peer support, and self-regulation should be incorporated into the design from the outset. Using an AI tool without these elements results in consistent engagement issues. 'Khan lands in the right place: AI is going to help, but our biggest lever is really investing in the human systems.' This isn't an indictment of AI in education, there's a real place for it, but that place has to be earned through intentional design that centers human systems first, not bolted on after the fact. Question now is whether the broader EdTech industry is ready to design around that truth. Graduate training at Pepperdine GSEP grounded him in the principle that 'it's about relationships, not technology.' Twenty years later that principle still holds. 10 reactions, 5 comments after, 1 repost. Surfaced via search 'Khan Academy AI tutor.'
Theme: Khanmigo limits, human systems first not bolted on, 20 years of online learning research, relationships not technology
Comment posted:
The human-systems-first framing is the part most AI-in-education pitches still bolt on after the fact, do you find institutions can retrofit relationships into a tool or do they need to start with them in the build?