Category: Georgetown Technology Alliance, GTA Alumni Spotlights

Title:GTA Alumni Spotlight: Meet David Kang (B’18)

Meet David Kang (B’18), Global Product Marketing Manager at TikTok!

Please introduce yourself.

My name is David Kang, and I graduated from the McDonough School of Business in 2018 with a double major in International Business and Marketing. I have been in the tech industry my entire full-time career now. I was very lucky to join Facebook straight after graduation in Product Strategy and Operations. I worked on the Applied AI Research team under Facebook Reality Labs (now Meta Reality Labs), supporting a talented team of research scientists and ML engineers in operationalizing the launch of the first voice assistant product at Meta. This was initially an intimidating experience as I didn’t come from a technical background, but I realized where I was a value add for the team and leaned into it.

I intentionally joined Meta because I was drawn to brands, advertising, commerce, and media in the tech ecosystem – I felt like Meta was the perfect place to learn in this intersection.  After two years on the Applied AI research team, I made an internal transfer to Instagram to work on the Ads and Creator Monetization team to get closer aligned to this space. I was lucky to have the opportunity to be part of the 0-1 team that built the very first Creator Monetization products at Instagram.

I then had the opportunity to move to Snapchat to be the first Product Marketer to bring the Creator Business over to Platform. I was working to build up a creator and brand ecosystem on the platform, launching products like the Creator Marketplace, Sponsored Stories, Branded Content Ads, Shoppable Stories, and more. The focus was to drive creators to post more public content on Snapchat, and for brands to tap into creators to reach new audiences and drive their brand and business objectives. I had been interested in startups since my time at Georgetown, and had an opportunity to work at a Series A digital fashion startup backed by the co-founder of Reddit and founded by the ex-CDO of Ralph Lauren. I led product and marketing for the company at its most foundational early days, but missed the impact and scale of a more mature platform and left to pursue my current role. I am now at TikTok, where I am a Global Product Marketing Manager helping grow the platform’s multibillion dollar brand advertising business.

How did your time at Georgetown influence your career path in the tech industry?

I chose to go to Georgetown because of the global focus of the school. This really permeated into my experiences, socially and academically. I knew that I wanted to go into a career with global reach and impact. With the major tech companies, I felt like the global reach was immense with the opportunity to be challenged to build and work on products that could be used by, and impact, billions of people around the world. I was incredibly drawn to that. 

However, at the time, there weren’t very many people going into tech from Georgetown, so I felt like I had to hustle to get into the industry. The advantageous part of a smaller alumni network in tech at the time was the excitement at the prospect of another Hoya wanting to join the industry, and the willingness to help. I did a lot of cold outreach to alumni in tech and was able to connect with many. Part of my success in the new grad hiring process at Meta was due to speaking with Georgetown alum who were at the company at the time. Even before this, I had interned in San Francisco for two summers and alumni were always willing to do in-person coffee chats that were valuable.

I was also part of the MSB Tech Center on campus, which helped because there were alumni who paved the way. Many ended up in the tech industry or in a tech adjacent space, and were incredibly helpful in my early career planning.

What does the day-to-day look like in your current role?

Every day looks really different. Right now, I am at TikTok as a Global Product Marketing Manager, where I am supporting the growth of our brand advertising business, which makes up about half of TikTok’s global revenue. For context, I’m on a team that focuses on strategic growth initiatives across the business, so instead of being aligned to one product, I’m thinking holistically about the entire brand business and how we can grow revenue and advertiser spend over time. A lot of my role is strategic planning for long-term big bets.

As product marketers, we sit between the Product and Engineering teams that are building the products for our customers (advertisers), and our Sales teams who are pitching and working with the advertisers to make sure that they are leveraging our products in a way that helps them see business and brand impact. My role is in the middle, where we influence product leaders on where they should be investing from a technology POV through market insights, client feedback, and industry trends. On the other hand, we are also the people communicating with the sellers, helping position, package, and price the products that they bring to their clients.

What do you wish more people knew about the tech industry?

There really is a bias towards action. It is hard to succeed in this industry if you are not action oriented and a problem solver. You also need to have an ownership mentality. I often feel like there is this external perception that the tech industry is just cool offices and free food, but really, what I love about the tech industry is how outcome/impact oriented it is. You are rewarded for your direct impact, no matter how old you are or how much experience you have. If you are having a real tangible impact on the company, the product, or the business, you can grow quickly. I have seen in my career people who are super laser focused on solving the right things and taking action; they are able to work way above their level and get things done. These people are the ones who can rise really quickly in this industry. So, I hope more people know that beyond the cool offices, and free drinks and food, that there is a lot of impactful work that can be done. It’s a fun industry to be in, but it is also challenging as we work quickly to tackle big, often new problems 

What is your favorite app or website, and why?

This one is easy. Right now, it is ChatGPT for sure. It is my favorite app right now that is also impactful in my day-to-day life. Whenever I want information to make a data-backed and informed decision, I use it. ChatGPT and AI in general helps me get laser focused if I need to find the answer to something or digest large amounts of information. As someone who likes to see all the research and existing opinions on the internet (and spends a lot of time searching), AI has made me quicker in decision-making.

What is one quick piece of advice you would give to a Georgetown student that is interested in tech?

I would say focus on impact. For the tech industry in particular, there is less bias about coming from the “right” school or background. The bias is more towards action and impact. So, my one piece of advice is that the impact you bring to the companies you work at, as well as the activities you’re involved with at Georgetown, is more important than anything else. 

 

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