Inside TikTok: Culture, strategy, monetization, and more | Ray Cao (Global Head of Monetization Product Strategy and Operations)

We rarely get a peek into what it's like to work at TikTok. What are some core principles or values or just how TikTok operates? The number one thing is contacts no control. That's really why we're always encouraging people to think themselves as a business owner. You give them all the information they need and then let them Just do things without specific instructions. How do you actually solve the puzzle by connecting the all the dots together? Just like how I see some of my uh friends, their kids playing Lego. If you don't really see the full picture, you won't be able to make the Lego as a one thing at the end of the day. You have to see the other pieces. What else are important cultural values of TikTok of how TikTok operates that everyone always has in mind when they're building? We always have this mentality, we are a startup. We are a young company. We always hunger for growth. In a very wacky way is like how can I run my second half of my marathon faster than the first half. Today my guest is Ray Thao. Ray is the global head of monetization product strategy.

and operations at TikTok. Where he's been for over four years. Prior to TikTok, Ray spent six years at Google. Helping scale Google shopping globally. TikTok is interesting for two big reasons.

One, it's one of the most successful businesses in history. Less valued at over eighty billion dollars. And its parent company is the most valuable private company in the world, last valued at over two hundred billion dollars. Two, TikTok is quickly becoming one of the biggest advertising platforms, alongside Meta and Google. And generated nearly$10 billion in advertising revenue just a couple years ago. So for both these reasons, TikTok is a really interesting business and team to learn from. And I've seen very few podcasts and even media get a peek inside how TikTok operates. In our conversation, we discuss TikTok's culture, their core principles and values, how they hire.

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