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

**Lenny Rachitsky** (0:00)
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?

**Ray Cao** (0:07)
The number one thing is context no control. That's really why we're always encouraging people to think themselves as a business owner.

**Lenny Rachitsky** (0:13)
You give them all the information they need and then let them just do things without specific instructions.

**Ray Cao** (0:18)
How do you actually solve the puzzle by connecting all the dots together? Just like how I see some of my friends, their kids playing Legos. If you don't really see the full picture, you won't be able to make the Lego as one thing at the end of the day. You have to see the other pieces.

**Lenny Rachitsky** (0:30)
What else are important cultural values of TikTok, of how TikTok operates that everyone always has in mind when they're building?

**Ray Cao** (0:36)
We always have this mentality, we are a startup, we are a young company, we're always hungry for growth. And a very reactive way is like, how can I run my second half of my marathon faster than the first half?

**Lenny Rachitsky** (0:49)
Today, my guest is Ray Cao. 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, last valued at over $80 billion, and its parent company is the most valuable private company in the world, last valued at over $200 billion.
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, how they move so fast, their emphasis on working hard, how they do OKRs and planning. We also get into how to succeed on TikTok's ad network, why you want to be testing at least 10 videos a week, how it's different from running ads on Instagram, how to make content that does well on TikTok, and so much more. This episode has a lot of interesting lessons and insights. Obviously TikTok is at the center of a lot of debate globally. Some people love it, some people hate it. But no matter your opinion of TikTok, there's a lot that we can learn from their success. If you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to subscribe and follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting app or YouTube. It's the best way to avoid missing future episodes and it helps the podcast tremendously. With that, I bring you Ray Cao after a short word from our sponsors.
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