Mike Shangkuan, Lingoda CEO

“It's through language that you understand another culture - how their world works. It's about that human connection with people.”

Mike Shangkuan is an EdTech entrepreneur, fitness fanatic, and pioneer in language learning. As the CEO of Lingdoda, Europe’s leading online language school. And he’s a polyglot -  speaking six languages - English, German, Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese — having lived in 8 countries across 4 continents, and traveling to over 100 countries. Prior to leading Lingoda, Michael was CEO of Terra Education, a B-corp offering life-changing service learning summer programs to teens in Africa, South America, and Asia. Mike has worked in brand management at both Clorox & P&G, and held roles at Goldman Sachs and Borden Capital Management. He is a graduate of Yale University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. On top of all that, Michael was also once a former natural bodybuilder having competed at several international competitions. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about life, language, and the culture quotient.