I’ve got big news… Hobbes has been acquired by Duolingo! I don’t post on LinkedIn often, but I’m really excited to share this momentous accomplishment, both for myself and for this studio that we’ve been building over the past 6 years. I took a huge leap by joining Hobbes in 2018, moving to Detroit to work as a producer for a tiny three-person studio in an abandoned semi-converted elementary school (lockers still included). But two things made it the right decision for me: the people & the mission. It was never my ambition to work in tech, but I was always fascinated by what made products feel good - usable, intuitive, delightful. Hobbes’ mission is to put animators in the driver's seat of product design. And over the years, we’ve seen the evolution of our project inquiries grow from production asks: “hey make this design move” to strategic partnerships with PMs, asking: “hey, think about this product problem for us through a motion lens”. As the briefs matured, so did the studio, and we noticed more and more product teams valuing this burgeoning discipline of UX Motion. Enter Duolingo. Duolingo approached us with the notion of adding the discipline of UX Motion to their capabilities. We were naturally defensive, knowing the promising roadmap we had for Hobbes’ future. But over the months of conversations, we were able to learn more about the opportunities within the products and how UX Motion could play a key role in the design function. We’re so excited for the future, and what our small-but-mighty studio of 12 can accomplish as a part of Duolingo. We’re so excited to be working on a product we love, with a mission we can get behind: to make the best education in the world universally available and accessible to everyone. Being a part of this studio has been the opportunity of a lifetime - starting out as a producer and eventually steering the ship with the best business partner I could ask for, Eddy Nieto. I’m lucky to have helped assemble this all-star team of tinkerers, worked on some insanely interesting projects, and built ongoing partnerships with the product teams at GoogleNest, YouTube, Google Search & Assistant. None of what Hobbes accomplished could have been possible without the support of my business partners and mentors Benjamin Dresser, Ian Sigmon, and nick forshee, who truly set us up for success and supported our decisions every step of the way. Thanks for following along on the journey.  Onward and upward, Nev More questions? Visit http://wtf.hobbes.work Read more about it TechCrunch Article https://lnkd.in/dh39ugQm