- Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn only hires people with five qualities: those who “take the long view,” show and don’t tell, and bring fun into the office. Gen Z “personality hires” bringing good vibes to work have one trait ticked off of the executive’s hiring checklist.
Not every Gen Z is an AI wiz with advanced skills—many are set on being the company’s “chief vibes officer,” and bringing fun back into the office. Their personalities might be the perfect fit for one CEO, who is laying out which qualities every new hire must have to work at his $16.7 billion company.
“We’re looking for people who have fun working,” Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, tells Fortune. “That really matters [because] we want both our products and our company culture to be fun.”
The learning app giant has just nailed down five characteristics that it looks for when picking new employees—and they’re not just a nice-to-have guidance. Von Ahn says they’re critical principles that he set into stone a month ago when revamping the company’s handbook. Writing down a clear sense of direction when it comes to hiring and culture is essential—especially after Duolingo’s knockout 2024 success, with overall revenue growing 29% year-over-year and subscription revenue skyrocketing 48% year-over-year.
“I’m very proud of our culture,” von Ahn says. “But as companies scale, culture gets diluted, because you just hire a lot more people. It’s hard to make sure that everybody is on the same wavelength.”
“The most important thing was trying to codify our culture as much as possible. The way we codified it is by writing down five principles. They are not aspirational—they are what actually happens.”
Workers without these 5 key qualities need not apply
If you move slow and mull over the grunt work, von Ahn probably won’t be knocking at your door with an opportunity. But he’d rather potential hires decide for themselves if they’re a good culture fit before throwing their hat into the ring.
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“I’m hoping that [these requisites] will do self-selection for people who apply here,” von Ahn adds. “There are people who probably don’t like these principles, and I’m very happy for them not to apply here.”
Bringing positive vibes to the office is just one of his five non-negotiables; the CEO spells out four other qualities every candidate must possess to get into the pearly gates of Duolingo.
“We try to look for people that satisfy all of these,” he says.
- Don’t do quick hacks to make money. Von Ahn says Duolingo wants to be a long-term company—so he looks for people who “take the long view” too.
- Show, don’t tell. This is critical to Duolingo’s communication style; Von Ahn doesn’t want employees to “spend a long time talking about the effort of what they did,” and instead show the results. The proof is always in the pudding.
- Raise the bar. The CEO seeks staffers who always strive for excellence—every year, they’re improving the craft and expanding into new arenas of learning.
- Ship it. Duolingo values workers who “act with urgency,” and try to put quality products in front of users as fast as possible.
- Make it fun. Von Ahn wants company culture to be as fun as their products, so he looks for employees who bring that same joy and energy to the job.
The company’s one ‘unofficial rule’ in hiring: no assholes
Aside from the candidate checklist, Duolingo also espouses one unwritten guideline in hiring to keep company culture healthy and happy.
The tech world is full of characters—and just like most offices, you’re sure to run into loud-mouths, gossips, snitches, and bullies. Von Ahn has a spidey sense for unsavory characters in hiring, and is happy to keep a position unstaffed until he finds the right pick.
“We have an official rule: When you’re hiring, it’s because you have a hole in the organization that you’re trying to fill,” he says. “Our unofficial rule: it’s better to have a hole than an asshole.”
The chief executive says that the company, boasting nearly 900 staffers, has done a pretty good job at weeding out unlikeable people. A part of this has to do with the business’ hiring strategy—most junior staffers are hired from Duolingo’s internships right out of college. He says managers can get a good sense of potential hires during the three-month program. But it’s not only young employees who are subject to the test.
Von Ahn recalls a time where being rude has cost someone a job at Duolingo. The company had been looking for a chief financial officer for a year and a half with no luck. A stellar candidate with an impressive resume was under consideration—until they were mean to a driver Duolingo had hired to take them to the airport. Word of their behavior got back to the chief executive, and the applicant was dropped from the running.
Despite von Ahn’s watchful eye, some bad apples still manage to slip through the cracks. But they won’t last long at Duolingo.
“It’s really hard not to hire assholes,” von Ahn says. “Given the culture, if we do have assholes here, they’re closeted. Because if you’re overtly an asshole, you’ll get fired pretty quickly.”
