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Cem Kansu
Head of Product at Duolingo • Hiring
Cem Kansu is the Vice President of Product Management at Duolingo, where he has been working since September 2016.2 He leads the product management organization and has played a significant role in Duolingo's growth, helping the company reach over 100 million monthly active users and $500 million in annual revenue.34
Career Background
Before joining Duolingo, Kansu's professional experience includes:
- Product Manager at Jawbone (May 2015 - August 2015)
- Account Manager at Google (April 2010 - July 2014)2
Education
Kansu has a strong educational background:
- MBA from the University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
- Master of Engineering in Financial Engineering from Cornell University
- Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University2
Achievements at Duolingo
Under Kansu's leadership, Duolingo has implemented several innovative strategies:
- Embracing an "unhinged" product culture, including creative updates to the Duolingo owl mascot
- Developing effective user retention tactics, such as passive-aggressive push notifications
- Guiding the company's monetization efforts and the development of Super Duolingo13
Kansu is known for his expertise in product management, growth strategies, and user retention in the language learning app industry.34
Highlights
Our new office in NYC is 🔥 It's hard to choose my favorite part of the new space, but I think it's our Duolingo art gallery, with moving pictures of all of our characters in the style of famous historical paintings.
The office also has so many different spots for working—whether you want to work with your team or go heads-down by yourself. This was very intentional: we want to encourage innovation among Duos by building an office that is as supportive and engaging as our product.
Check it out (and more) in Fast Company: https://lnkd.in/dpc_zfiC
Product managers know that inspiration can come from anywhere in your daily life. I can’t tell you how many tiny moments in my day have inspired something we test on Duolingo. Here’s an example…
I have a trainer, and at the end of one of our sessions he asked:
“Am I going to see you tomorrow?”
That nudge really clicked with me. I sent the idea over to a few of our PMs to test that kind of message on our “streak nudge” screen (which happens after you do a lesson that extends your streak). The copy we tested encouraged users to “come back tomorrow” and keep their streak.
The simple change was a success—with a 3% increase in day 14 retention for new users and a significant increase DAUs 🔥🔥🔥
This was such a fun win for us, and our PMs make these kinds of connections every day.
If this is the way you think, too, check out our job openings: https://lnkd.in/dPuRX7Zf
#onlyatduolingo #productmanagement
