Duolingo’s CEO is siding with founder mode amid disagreements in Silicon Valley about how to actually run the company, but he’s not the only person at the company who could take on that role.
in interview Louis von Ahn said on The Verge’s Decoder podcast that he can “see it all,” but that he doesn’t want to talk to vice president of product management Jem Kance or chief design officer Ryan Sims. He and other executives said they can “see everything” as well.
“Yes, I’m in that mode, but there are a number of people who could probably fill that role as well,” von Ahn said.
The recent debate over management styles in the technology industry was first sparked the following September. paul grahamfounding partner of startup accelerator Y Combinator and author, published an essay titled “Founder Mode” that got leaders excited.
Graham is inspired by Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, who believes that companies should be run with a hands-on approach, rather than delegating tasks to direct reports. he claimed.
He describes this as a way of running a company that involves a highly hands-on approach, rather than delegating to a small number of direct reports or isolating executives through management, or “manager mode.” Explained.
Von Ahn, who co-founded Duolingo in 2011, uses the saying, “If you’re going to go with ours, go with mine” when disagreements arise among the three executives. He said he was there.
“Generally, when we disagree, I find out how deeply they believe in themselves, but sometimes I just disagree and agree,” he said. said. “But if we believe in something with equal strength, I’m going to follow my lead.”
Although this pick-your-own approach feels very much in founder mode, discussions rarely occur among the three executives, von Ahn said in an interview.
Von Ahn said Duolingo is very much a “metrics-based company” so the majority of its decisions rely on data rather than opinions.
“Even if I run an A/B test and the metrics show something, unless it’s something that I think is really like a dark pattern or something, my opinion doesn’t really matter.” he said.
Duolingo did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Von Ahn also said in the interview that Kans and Sims, who are in their eighth and sixth years at the company, respectively, have worked together for so long that they are “pretty much on the same page on everything.” .
“But in general, my opinion or their opinion doesn’t matter that much,” he said.
