‘Don’t be a jerk’: Duolingo boss's 5 tips for new hires

Duolingo’s CEO has five key pieces of advice for its 42 freshly graduated hires. Rule number one? "Don’t be a jerk." 

In a post on LinkedIn, the language app’s chief executive Luis von Ahn said he shares these five tips every fall when Duolingo opens its doors to “a big batch” of new graduates. 

Rule #1: ‘Don’t be a jerk’

Von Ahn’s leading piece of advice for Duolingo’s cohort of college graduates turned employees is to leave the ego at the door: 

“No massive egos, and no telling different people different things to get what you want. Duolingo has an allergic reaction to toxic behavior, and our culture quickly identifies and rejects it.”

Rule #2: ‘Build the Solution’

Instead of spending “months complaining” about a problem, von Ahn told new hires they’ll do a lot better at Duolingo if they come up with solutions to the problem: 

“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.”

One LinkedIn user wrote that von Ahn’s second point resonated with them, saying “problem-spotting is common, but problem-solving is scarce” — and that those who “self-initiate solutions usually rise fastest.”

Rule #3: ‘Company Mission First’

According to von Ahn, new hires should make decisions in exactly this order: “what’s best for the company’s mission, what’s best for your team, what’s best for you.”

For the new hires who might’ve seen flashing red, von Ahn said this doesn’t mean they should “work [themselves] to death” — phew — but rather “focus on what’s good for Duolingo’s mission.” He said people who do this “tend to do better” than those who are “purely selfish.”

Rule #4: ‘Use Our Product’ 

“Actually use Duolingo,” the language app’s boss said, adding this rule may be “obvious” but it's still “important.” 

“I still report bugs. How else can you improve something you don't understand?” he wrote. 

Some LinkedIn users even got ahead of the new hires by adding their own report of bugs in the app, with one saying they’ve been “waiting for Duolingo to adapt to the learner.” Ouch. 

Rule #5: ‘Success = Luck + Hard Work’

What do you need to succeed at Duolingo? Apparently 65% luck and 35% hard work “for about two decades.” 

Von Ahn was given the advice by a friend on how to create a successful company — adding that the formula for success matches his own experience.   

“You don't have to be the most brilliant person. You just have to show up and keep going until luck finds you,” von Ahn said. “If you stick with it, you’ll surprise yourself with how far you can go.”

Investing in the company’s future

In a separate post on LinkedIn a month ago, von Ahn boasted about Duolingo's internship and new-graduate programs.

“Hiring new grads is one of the best investments you can make,” he wrote in regards to the desire to build a long-term product and company. 

Von Ahn wrote that new graduates don't know what’s “impossible.”

“Our best features often come from new grads who haven't learned industry 'best practices' yet. They haven't been told certain things can't work, so they make them work.”

Graduates understand “culture and product instinctively" and become “some of our best leaders,” he added. 

“A few of our most senior leaders across the company started here as new grads years ago,” von Ahn said. “The institutional knowledge they've built? You literally cannot hire that externally.”