Taylor Nieman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Toucan ( https://jointoucan.com/ ), the free Chrome extension that helps you learn a language without even trying. Previously, she worked on business development and strategic partnerships at Headspace, Science, and Fair.
Toucan is a new, immersive way to learn while you go about your daily life.
Learning a new language is challenging, fun, and rewarding. It also takes time, practice, and dedication – finding a few extra minutes in the day can feel impossible.
At Toucan, they know creating a new habit is one of the most difficult things to do. Their Founding team has a deep understanding and appreciation for human habits, behavior, and the science of learning. Their free Chrome extension helps you learn without having to put aside time to create a new habit. Toucan works by immersing you in the language while you’re browsing the web. What’s even better is that you’ll see those words in the context of sentences – helping your brain connect the word to its useful meaning.
Taylor and her team created Toucan to help people make more use of their time, without missing out on the fun and satisfaction of learning a new language.
Listen to this episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0eCB7Jr9q4Qiaebl0nswd8?si=F0I9-Si6RCiJYDOMk14I_w
Episode outline:
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - What Toucan is
01:01 - Where the idea for Toucan came from and why a browser extension
02:12 - Why and education product
03:13 - How Taylor chose the distribution channels for Toucan
04:02 - Using Twitter as a user-acquisition channel
05:07 - How Taylor is thinking about leveraging Twitter strategically for growth
06:29 - What Taylor actually decides to tweet as the founder of Toucan
09:34 - The efficacy piece of learning through Toucan
11:39 - Explaining a new product to investors
13:24 - Feedback from early investors, mobile strategy, and why a browser extension
17:15 - The B2B thought process and opportunity for Toucan
19:02 - Building the team at Toucan
21:27 - How they work at Toucan
23:02 - How Taylor has approached hiring
25:12 - How Taylor spends her time as CEO
27:45 - How Taylor closed a seed round in only 3 weeks
30:38 - How Taylor decided who she wanted on her cap table
35:56 - What the "Own the Word" campaign is and how it came about
38:16 - Tests that didn't work out so well for her
40:05 - How Taylor thinks through priorities at Toucan
42:27 - What the future of learning looks like
44:47 - How to make learning more interactive
46:46 - Taylor's advice for other founders
More about us:
Vitalize was formed in 2017 as a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund investing in the future of work + learning. Vitalize is headquartered in Chicago with additional locations in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The Vitalize Team:
Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC
Caroline - https://twitter.com/caroline_yeager
Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212
Pitch us:
https://www.vitalize.vc/
