Building Cambly Korea from 0 to $10M ARR

Context

Cambly’s subscription model was built around flexible, on-demand access. But Korean learners thought about English practice more like offline classes: fixed weekly sessions, a clear cadence, and a sense of getting what they paid for. This created a value perception problem. Even users who liked Cambly felt the monthly plan was wasteful if they were not using it every day.

What was needed

We needed to reframe the subscription model around the learner’s mental model: 2x, 3x, and 5x/week plans that felt structured, familiar, and easier to commit to.

Work I did

I partnered with product to define how weekly usage should work in an on-demand system, including attendance logic, usage limits, and user-facing plan rules. I then led the local pricing and go-to-market strategy: setting plan prices based on expected usage, discounting, and willingness to pay, and translating the model into clear landing page, pricing table, and FAQ copy.

What changed

The new plans made Cambly easier to understand and commit to. Most users chose the 3x/week and 5x/week plans, driving higher engagement, stronger paid retention, higher LTV, and a significant revenue lift.

Context

Cambly only offered monthly subscriptions, which limited our ability to use pricing strategically. The monthly plan was easy to try, but it encouraged short-term trial behavior in a product where progress required sustained practice.

What was needed

My hypothesis was that longer-term plans would improve retention and LTV by better matching how serious learners commit to language learning. They would also create more flexibility for discounts, seasonal promotions, and localized campaigns.

Work I did

I restructured the pricing model by increasing the 1-month plan price and making the 3-, 6-, and 12-month plans more attractive through stronger relative discounts.

This created a clearer value ladder: users could still choose monthly flexibility, but the best value came from committing longer. I modeled expected usage, discount depth, and plan economics, then worked with local teams to communicate the plans clearly across landing pages, pricing tables, campaigns, and FAQs.

I also A/B tested plan presentation, discount framing, and promotional messaging by locale to optimize conversion, revenue, and plan mix.

What changed

The new pricing structure shifted more users into longer-term plans, improving paid retention and LTV. It also gave us a stronger growth lever: we could run more aggressive seasonal promotions without weakening the core monthly plan.

As a result, we consistently drove 5–7% month-over-month growth while building a healthier subscription mix around higher-commitment plans.

Context

Korean consumers rely heavily on reviews before making purchase decisions. For Cambly, prospective learners wanted proof from real students before committing to live online tutoring.

What was needed

We needed credible, first-person content that showed what learning with Cambly actually felt like — not generic testimonials.

Work I did

I launched the Cambly Supporters program, where students used Cambly for 3 months and published weekly blog posts around specific themes, such as tutor recommendations, lesson routines, and progress updates.

I structured the prompts to make the content useful for prospective learners and tracked performance through referral codes to understand which stories converted.

What changed

The program generated a strong base of authentic user reviews that improved trust and supported acquisition. Many participants became long-term users and ambassadors, creating an ongoing referral channel beyond the initial campaign.

Context

We wanted to understand whether higher lesson attendance would lead to stronger retention and LTV. Since language learning requires consistent practice, my hypothesis was that users who built a daily learning habit would be more likely to renew and refer others.

What was needed

We needed a focused engagement program that gave learners a clear reason to use Cambly consistently, while helping us measure the relationship between attendance, referrals, and long-term paid retention.

Work I did

I helped design programs like the 100% Attendance Program, where students who completed lessons every day for a month received an additional month of access.

I worked through the program mechanics, eligibility rules, user messaging, and referral tracking so we could evaluate whether the incentive drove behavior that justified the cost of the free extension.

What changed

The program increased attendance and referrals, and participants tended to stay as paid users longer. It helped validate that habit formation could be a meaningful retention lever, not just an engagement metric.

That insight later supported stronger positioning around high-frequency plans and commitment-based learning programs.

Context

We wanted to test whether a branded YouTube channel could drive business growth, not just awareness. In Korea’s English-learning market, trust and familiarity were major factors in purchase decisions.

What was needed

We needed an owned content channel that could educate learners, build trust before purchase, and generate high-intent leads.

Work I did

I launched and managed Cambly Korea’s YouTube channel, creating educational content and experimenting with formats, topics, and production workflows.

By publishing consistently and becoming a recognizable face in the English education space, I helped make the brand feel more human, credible, and easier to trust.

What changed

The channel grew to 40K subscribers and became a steady source of paid users. It also strengthened Cambly’s brand presence and made influencer partnerships easier by giving the company a trusted voice in the market.

Context

In Korea, Naver Cafe was a major trust surface where users checked reviews, asked questions, shared tips, and raised issues before and after purchase.

What was needed

We needed to keep the community active and helpful with limited internal resources, while using it as a channel for trust, support, and local product feedback.

Work I did

I launched a community ambassador program with highly engaged paid users who moderated the Cambly Cafe, answered common questions, shared tips, and helped prospective users understand the product.

What changed

The community became one of the most active student spaces in the category. It improved trust before purchase, created a lightweight support layer, and surfaced Korea-specific product needs that helped inform localization and product decisions.

Context

As Cambly Korea grew, customer support volume increased quickly. We needed to scale the team without relying on a few experienced people to answer every repeated question.

What was needed

We needed to scale support without relying on a few experienced team members to answer every repeated question. The goal was to reduce tribal knowledge, speed up onboarding, and create more consistent ways to respond to customer requests.

Work I did

I helped build the support operating system for the Korea team. We created Zendesk macros for common issues, organized a Notion knowledge base, and documented product workflows so answers were easier to find and reuse.

I also helped create a 3-day onboarding program with recorded product walkthroughs, common customer scenarios, and guidance on handling recurring support requests.

What changed

Customer support became more consistent and scalable. New team members ramped faster, repetitive questions no longer depended on senior staff, and the team was able to sustain high support volume without sacrificing quality.

This helped a 5-person team handle 10K tickets per month while keeping satisfaction above 95%, freeing senior team members to focus more on growth, engagement, and higher-leverage customer insights.