How Toucan Co-Founder and CTO Shaun Merritt Hacked the Art of Language-Learning
b'Today\\u2019s guest is Shawn Merritt the co-founder and CTO of Toucan, a Chrome extension that allows you to learn a new language while you browse the internet. Shaun, together with his other co-founders, found a way to level up the existing habits that people already have by creating a chrome extension that allows users the opportunity to passively learn a language without taking any time out of their day. Tune in to find out how Toucan works, and how it is different from other language-learning platforms. Shaun gives us some insight into how the company was established and how it has grown and achieved a vast amount of success in just two years. Hear about their journey thus far, how they are monetizing this product, marketing it, and how they use advertising as a deeper form of learning through their ingenious \\u201cOwn The Word\\u201d concept.\\n TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:\\n [00:41] Shaun explains how he and his co-founders came up with the idea for Toucan.\\n [01:29] How Toucan works to teach people new languages passively without taking time out of their day.\\n [01:58] How Toucan is different from other language-learning platforms.\\n [02:54] How it launched, people\\u2019s reactions to it, and how they grew and monetized it.\\n [04:12] A case study example of how to use Toucan.\\xa0\\n [05:05] The most common languages used and requested.\\n [06:08] Insight into the different difficulty settings and how it adapts as you learn.\\xa0\\n [06:57] How Toucan works as a passive form of engagement to enable people to progress quickly.\\n [07:42] How they make money through premium features.\\n [09:00] How they use advertising as a deeper form of learning through their \\u2018Own the word\\u2019 concept.\\u2019\\n [09:33] How partnerships with advertisers work.\\n [10:09] How are they growing through word of mouth, \\u2018own the word\\u2019, and partnerships.\\xa0\\n [11:35] The grand vision for Toucan: To find ways to teach other things passively too.\\n [12:07] Shaun\\u2019s favorite business tool Obsidian, and favorite business book Thinking in Systems.\\n [12:56] Bonus question: Where Shaun gets his information from.\\n Resources From The Interview:\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n Toucan\\n \\nObsidian\\xa0\\n Must read book: Thinking in Systems\\n\\n Shaun Merritt\\u2019s email\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n Leave Some Feedback:\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n What should I talk about next?\\xa0Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below.\\n Did you enjoy this episode?\\xa0If so, please leave a short review here\\n\\n Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes\\n\\n Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed\\n\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n Connect with Eric Siu:\\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\n Growth Everywhere\\n Single Grain\\n Eric Siu on Twitter\\n \\xa0\\n \\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'