Louis von Ahn, CEO of language learning platform Duolingo, said the company has hired 42 Juners since the beginning of the fall. He shared the advice he gives to new employees who ask him how to succeed.
Louis von Ahn, CEO of language learning platform Duolingo, said the company has hired 42 Juners since the beginning of the fall. He shared the advice he gives to new employees who ask him how to succeed.
Business Insider reports that von Ahn’s first piece of advice is that new employees shouldn’t come in with «huge egos» or be hypocritical in their relationships with colleagues.
«Don’t be a jerk. Duolingo has an allergic reaction to toxic behavior, and our culture is quick to detect and reject it», — notes von Ahn.
He said Duolingo employees also need to be proactive in finding solutions when they encounter any problems. He gave the example of Duolingo’s company blog, which was started by one of their engineers.
The executive recalled that Duolingo didn’t have a company blog at first. One engineer complained to von Ahn about it for months, and another just took the plunge and created one. The latter engineer «has had much greater success at Duolingo», von Ahn says.
«If something bothers you, you usually have the freedom to fix it. We’re still figuring out a lot of things, and if you see a problem, you can actually do something about it,» says the head of Duolingo.
Third, von Ahn said new employees should approach their work with a mentality that puts the company and mission first.
«When making decisions, think in this order: What’s best for the company’s mission? What’s best for your team? What’s best for you?», he asked.
According to Louis von Ahn, this doesn’t mean that employees «should work themselves to death.» But people who focus on what’s good for Duolingo «tend to achieve better results than people who are selfish».
The manager also advises new employees to use Duolingo themselves.
«Obvious but important: actually use Duolingo. I still report bugs. How else can you improve something you don’t understand?», he said.
Finally, von Ahn noted that it is important for new employees to realize that a successful career requires luck and hard work.
«You don’t have to be the smartest person. You just have to show up for work and keep working until luck finds you. If you persevere, you’ll be surprised how far you can go,» Louis von Ahn assured.
Recall that previously, the co-founder and CEO of Duolingo announced in an email to employees that the company would stop using contractors to perform work that AI can handle.
