A COMPANY IN PROGRESS. THE WHOLE STORY.BY ALI ABOUELATTA · WRITING IN PUBLIC
Building Lazyweb (a16z Speedrun)
I spent years asking founders how they got their first 1,000 customers. Now I’m building my own company—and telling you exactly how it’s going.
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Building Lazyweb backed by a16z SpeedrunPreviously at Duolingo retention & monetization128 published issues research, stories & real experiments
THE NOTEBOOK
All issues From the current chapter
WHERE THIS STARTED
The reader’s guide Before my story, I studied theirs.
RESEARCHER. PRODUCT MANAGER. FOUNDER.I used to study
I used to study
other people’s beginnings.
Now I’m living one.
I’m Ali. I’ve spent my career in growth. At Duolingo, I worked on retention and monetization, turning obsessive product research into experiments with measurable results.
During COVID, I interviewed founders, talked to early employees, and dug into how companies got their first customers. In January 2026, I took my own leap with Lazyweb. Now you get the good, the bad, and the ugly as it happens.
A little more about meTHE WORKSHOP / 2012 — NOW
One thing led to another.
The good. The bad.
The next chapter.
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