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- Luis von Ahn is the cofounder and CEO of Duolingo, a language learning platform.
- Von Ahn shared with new hires five tips on how to succeed at Duolingo.
- New hires should be proactive in identifying and solving problems on their own, he said.
Luis von Ahn, the CEO of the language learning platform Duolingo, says he’s got 5 tips for new hires.
Von Ahn wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday that Duolingo welcomed 42 new graduates this fall. He said the company’s fresh hires would always ask him for advice on how to succeed.
First, von Ahn said new hires should not come in with “massive egos” or be duplicitous in their dealings with colleagues.
“Don’t be a jerk,” von Ahn wrote.
“Duolingo has an allergic reaction to toxic behavior, and our culture quickly identifies and rejects it,” he added.
Second, von Ahn said Duolingo employees should be proactive in coming up with solutions when they encounter any problems. He cited the example of Duolingo’s company blog, which one of their engineers started.
Von Ahn said Duolingo didn’t have a company blog at first. One engineer complained about it to von Ahn for months, while another engineer went ahead and made one. The latter engineer “did way better at Duolingo,” von Ahn said.
“If something bothers you, you generally have the freedom here to fix it. We’re still figuring lots of things out, and if you see a problem, you can actually do something about it here,” von Ahn wrote.
Third, von Ahn said new hires must approach their work with a company and mission-first mentality.
“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?” von Ahn wrote.
“This doesn’t mean work yourself to death. But people who focus on what’s good for Duolingo’s mission tend to do better than people who are purely selfish,” he continued.
Fourth, von Ahn said new hires should 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.
Fifth, von Ahn said it was important for new hires to recognize that luck and hard work are necessary for a successful career.
“You don’t have to be the most brilliant person. You just have to show up and keep going until luck finds you. If you stick with it, you’ll surprise yourself with how far you can go,” von Ahn wrote.
Representatives for von Ahn at Duolingo did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Von Ahn isn’t the only tech CEO who said that companies welcome hires who take the initiative to solve problems independently, instead of being told to do so.
Lovable CEO Anton Osika told Business Insider last month that he wants “builders, not talkers” at his vibe coding startup.
“We’re biased toward people who show they can ship, iterate, and make something real—whether that’s a product, a project, or even just a hack that proves a point,” Osika said.
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