From Opera Singer to Founder of the Most Successful App Kickstarter Ever - Gabriel Wyner / Founder of Fluent Forever

Tech In Chicago

Gabriel Wyner is the Founder and CEO of Fluent Forever, a startup that aims to help anyone learn a language quickly and remember it forever. He launched a bestselling book 4 years ago and now has the most successful app Kickstarter of all time for his Fluent Forever app. As of this episode, he has raised over $430,000 and he still has another week left.

Gabe is not your typical founder. He is a former opera singer/engineer who has a passion for learning new languages and just recently got thrown into the tech and startup world. He has a lot of great advice and brings a unique perspective to not only learning languages, but also building products.

In This Episode You Will Learn:

• Why Gabe had to learn multiple languages to become a better opera singer
• How lying on a french test led to his discovery of spaced repetition
• Why starting by translating a language is the wrong approach to learning new languages
• Gabe speaks eight languages but doesn't believe he has an innate skill for it
• The importance of learning pronunciation at the start
• How he decided to make an app after having a successful book and flashcards
• The value in making flash cards yourself
• How he thinks about budgeting and spending the Kickstarter money
• How Gabe approaches bootstrapping vs raising money for his company
• Gabe's view on the future with translation services and whether the desire to learn languages will ever wane
• Why founders need to develop a circle of advisors

Favorite Books:

• Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen