Services
$500 / month
Start free, decide later
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1
Free 7-day trial
No charge until day 7. Cancel anytime. -
2
Ongoing calls + chat
2 × 60-min calls per month, unlimited Q&A. Replies in 24 hours or less. -
3
No lock-in
Month to month, no contract.
MentorCruise summary
Shawn is the Chief Product Officer at Quittr. He has more than 14 years of experience scaling consumer products at Tinder, Grindr, and GOAT. He helps founders validate product ideas, improve monetization and growth, and prepare for product careers and interviews.
Based on 5 verified mentee reviews
- Two reviewers praise structured guidance during career transitions, including a repeatable framework for PM case interviews.
- Two reviews point to career discovery that helped mentees reconsider a remote veterinary path and choose a different direction.
About
I help founders, PMs, aspiring PMs, and anyone serious about product make sharper calls on strategy, monetization, growth, 0→1, and their careers.
I've spent 14+ years scaling consumer products to millions of users and billions in revenue:
• Tinder — $30M+ incremental ARR from ML-driven dynamic pricing
• Grindr — $85M revenue, 30M users across 190 countries, 3.5x paywall lift
• GOAT — 30M members across 170 countries; $130M GMV on Tmall's Singles' Day
• Route — 0→3M MAU and 10x revenue growth via $0-CAC growth loops -
• Daqri — 0→19M downloads (AR team & assets later acquired by Snap)
Today, I'm the Chief Product Officer at Quittr, an AI-powered platform that helps people overcome behavioral addictions — the most rewarding 0→1 problem I've taken on. In 2 months: +22% recurring revenue and +23% subscriptions on $0 paid acquisition.
I also advise startups as a Product Advisor with Antler and TRMNL4 (alongside Meta and Snap), sit on the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Board, and teach product workshops at USC, UCLA, and Georgia Tech.
I don't just ship technology — I design the emotional triggers that make people come back. That intersection of computer science and behavioral psychology runs through everything I build.
🚀 What I can help you with
• Monetization & Pricing — paywalls, ML-driven dynamic pricing, unbundled SKUs that grow LTV without cannibalizing the core
• Growth Loops — viral, content, and network mechanics that compound, instead of buying users
• AI-Native Product — consumer AI that avoids the "demo good, retention bad" trap
• 0→1 & Strategy — finding PMF, first monetization, and launch plans
• Behavioral Design — the "why" behind churn, conversion, and habit
• Career — breaking into product, PM interview & case prep, resume/portfolio reviews, and negotiation for senior/staff roles
👥 Who I work best with
• Founders & early-stage teams — PMF, first growth loops, early monetization
• Senior & staff PMs — leveling up from execution to strategy, and influence without authority
• Aspiring & pivoting PMs — translating past experience into "product speak," prepping for interviews, and breaking through in the AI era
💡 How I work
Structured, direct, and artifact-driven. We won't just talk theory — we'll work on the real things that move your product or career forward: auditing your funnel, paywall, or onboarding for the highest-leverage fix; building a monetization or 0→1 plan; or running mock interviews and portfolio reviews.
Ready to start? Pick the plan that fits — Lite for a monthly sounding board, Standard for an ongoing hands-on partnership — and send me a note on what you're working on and where you're stuck. Let's get you results.
What mentees say
5 out of 5 stars
Shawn was an incredibly effective mentor during my pivot from management consulting into product management. In just a matter of weeks, he completely rewired how I approached PM interviews—especially case studies, which required a completely different lens than my consulting background. He armed me with a highly repeatable framework (clarify, define success, prioritize, design, measure) and helped me lock in a true product mindset. Shawn trained me to focus relentlessly on outcomes, adopt a “propose-then-confirm” communication style rather than relying on open-ended questions, and maintain my composure when navigating heavy ambiguity. Thanks to his coaching, I went from feeling anxious and unprepared to walking into a technical round with a CTO with absolute confidence. His realistic mock interviews and actionable feedback were invaluable, while his flexible scheduling and detailed session summaries proved how genuinely invested he was in my growth. If you are looking to break into the PM space or want to seriously level up your interview mechanics, I cannot recommend Shawn highly enough.
Kelly
Standard Plan • 1 month
5 out of 5 stars
Before working with Shawn, I was completely lost in my career path. I was convinced I wanted to be a remote veterinarian, but through Shawn’s rigorous career discovery process, we realized the clinical realities meant I would have been miserable. He saved me years of stress and thousands of dollars pursuing the wrong field. Beyond changing the trajectory of my future career, Shawn was instrumental in elevating my professional and financial foundation. He built a custom financial plan to help me tackle my student loans, reduce my expenses, and maximize my cash flow. At work, his coaching directly led to my selection for a Leadership Development program. He also completely revamped my resume and LinkedIn profile which landed me my first internship! I also originally came to Shawn wanting to be a startup founder, but I only had a lot of scattered ideas and no clear vision. He taught me how to rigorously evaluate business opportunities—identifying risks, assessing product–market fit, and using logical frameworks to make strategic decisions. Shawn is an exceptional mentor who brings an executive, high-ROI mindset to everything he does. His guidance has fundamentally changed my financial and professional future. I cannot recommend him highly enough!
Michaela
Lite Plan • 6 months
5 out of 5 stars
Shawn was a great mentor! He helped me examine my app & determine ways to move forward.
Ben
Standard Plan • 1 month
Get to know Shawn
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VideoEx-Tinder Growth Lead: Paywalls Grow Your Product. Here's Why. — Shawn Gong
Shawn Gong has led product growth and monetization at Tinder, Grindr, and Goat, and is now CPO at Quittr — …
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LinkHow to launch your first product - without quitting your job (or losing your sanity) That “one idea” you keep coming back to? You’ve probably convinced yourself it’s not the right time. Not enough… | MentorCruise
How to launch your first product - without quitting your job (or losing your sanity) That “one idea” you keep …
Read more
What happens when you start
You tell Shawn your goals. They see exactly what you want to work on before session one.
You meet within days. Shawn reviews your application and books your first session, usually within a day or two.
You leave with a plan. Concrete next steps and a weekly rhythm from your very first week.
