Meet Taylor Valore — Senior Product Director @ Growth Tribe
We’re bringing back our series introducing Preplers behind all the hard work that goes into building an innovative language learning platform. This time we are introducing Taylor Valore, who recently joined us as a Senior Product Director in our Growth Tribe.
What are your main responsibilities at Preply?
I’m responsible for product management of Preply’s Growth Tribe. We focus on developing products that excite users to sign up for the world’s most effective language learning platform. That could either be through introducing new capabilities as well as by implementing best practices for funnel optimization across our website and mobile app. The Growth Tribe is responsible for coming up with innovative ways to highlight our platform starting from the moment that a learner considers taking a language class, to the second they click to sign up.
What makes the work so fun is the autonomy. At Preply, everyone has the freedom to try new things in an environment that strives to be world class in everything it does — whether it’s research methodologies, design systems, A/B testing frameworks, or something else. We move fast, fail often, and use data relentlessly to unlock the next big feature. And I’m having a blast doing that!
What has been your career journey leading up to Preply?
My journey leading up to Preply has been primarily focused on tech innovation in diverse markets. Throughout my professional career, I’ve worked at big tech companies such as Microsoft, led product development at a large travel website in Asia, served as CEO of a 15-person real estate analytics startup, and scouted investment opportunities at a $30M early stage venture capital fund. Along the way, I picked up an MBA from the Wharton School, an MA International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Computer Science from Carleton College. Almost all those experiences were in different countries, so I’ve also had plenty of opportunities to pursue my favorite hobby — language learning!
What motivated you to take on a new challenge and join Preply?
I know it might sound like a cliché, but I joined Preply because of the people. Admittedly, I was looking for a place that would check a lot of boxes in my next role: a company that is growing fast, is in an early stage enough to make a big impact, whose product I loved, and where I could see myself grow. Above all of those, however, was being convinced that I’d be joining a company whose culture I could embrace. And so far, Preply thoroughly exceeds my expectations!
How would you describe your current team?
The Growth Tribe is full of energy and passion to do the right thing for our learners. We recognize that we are just the first step on their long-term journey with Preply and their new language learning adventure. To that end, the team is uniquely focused on understanding what motivates learners to come to our platform. More than any other company I’ve worked at so far, my colleagues make extensive use of research by directly talking with potential learners. And this makes sense — if we are successful in signing up a user, they will be visiting Preply potentially several times per week to learn language effectively. This makes us very different from a typical e-commerce platform where the goal is a one-off transaction.
What are your ambitions this year for yourself and your team?
My ambition for myself and for my team is that we have fun taking calculated risks. Preply is currently at a unique stage in its growth where it has seen its business model scale, which in itself is significant because that’s when a company first builds its muscle by expanding outside its comfort zone. The risk is to spread too thin, but with the right bets, it’s also a time when massive growth can be unlocked. That’s exactly the perfect window of opportunity for teams to have fun, take risks and be wildly ambitious.
“Preply is currently at a unique stage in its growth where it has seen its business model scale, which in itself is significant because that’s when a company first builds its muscle by expanding outside its comfort zone.”
What would be one advice you would give to succeed at Preply?
I’m still new to Preply, so I think I should be taking advice on how to be successful! That being said, I think a rule I generally follow when joining new companies is particularly true at Preply: Don’t be afraid to ask seemingly dumb questions again and again. Preply’s environment is special in that it truly values diverse perspectives. So far, my “dumb” questions have impressively reasoned responses which have helped me understand company’s journey and explore new opportunities to grow.
What inspired you to go into your field of work?
What inspired me to go into my field of work is — quite simply — that I like building stuff. As a little kid, I was constantly taking apart my computer (and usually breaking it), writing software programs, tweaking electronics, or finding ways to optimize things. At our core, product managers are builders and idea generating factories. We operate in a sort of casino — using methodologies that maximize the potential upside of our bets. But at the end of the day, we build stuff.
What’s your biggest passion outside of work?
I’ll probably sound like an advertisement for Preply by saying this, but my biggest hobby outside work really is language learning (I’m not making this up!). The experience captures so many things that I find fun: learning about new cultures in an authentic way, the nerdiness of grammar rules, the pedagogy of learning as a science, the physicality of learning pronunciations, and so much more. At the moment I’m learning Turkish, an amalgamating language, where a phrase like “One of the things which I couldn’t make happen” is just two words (Yaptıramadıklarımdan biri)!
Apart from language learning, I try to spend as much time as possible being outside with my two dogs. One of them is an anxiety-prone 7-year-old border collie mix and the other a free spirit 2-year-old Catahoula Leopard dog — quite the pair!
We’re actively looking for talented candidates to join us in building the most effective language learning platform to help customers across the world to learn languages more effectively. If you’re excited by this mission and ready for a new challenge, then apply to one of our open positions!
