Hidden Gems: Meet Ben Guez of canary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Guez.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Ben Guez grew up in Nice, in the south of France. In his early twenties, he moved to Los Angeles, drawn by the mix of creativity, entrepreneurship, and cultural diversity.

He started his career in 2015 after founding Laxir, a Facebook ads agency, which became his entry point into building businesses online. Over the following years, Ben went on to cofound several companies across different industries, gaining hands-on experience in entrepreneurship. In 2022, he completed his first exit.

After that chapter, Ben shifted his focus toward content creation. Living in the U.S. as a French founder, he began sharing content around dating, cultural differences, and French culture through the lens of a French man living in Los Angeles. His content resonated widely, and over time he built an audience of more than 800,000 followers across social platforms.

The idea for Canary came organically. One of Ben’s videos of him singing in French, with lyrics translated on screen, unexpectedly went viral. While the video did not have the highest view count compared to others, it drove a disproportionate number of followers and messages from people saying they finally understood French through music.

That moment sparked the idea for Canary, a language-learning app built around music and human connection. Canary helps people learn languages by singing, translating real songs, and practicing with other learners. What started as a piece of content evolved into a product, combining Ben’s background in entrepreneurship with his passion for language, culture, and community.

Today, Ben is focused on building Canary as a new way to learn languages, one that feels more human, social, and emotional than traditional learning tools.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When Ben arrived in Los Angeles from the south of France, he had very little money and no network. He worked as a waiter, driver, math tutor, and even as a movie extra. At one point, he rented out his bedroom on Airbnb and slept on the couch just to make rent.

As he began building businesses, the challenges changed but never disappeared. Each stage came with new lessons, setbacks, and pressure. Those early years taught him resilience, adaptability, and how to keep moving forward when things feel uncertain, shaping how he approaches building companies today.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Canary is a language-learning app that helps people learn languages through music and real human interaction. Instead of drills and exercises, users learn by singing real songs, seeing lyrics and translations, and practicing with other learners.

What sets Canary apart is the social layer. Learning doesn’t happen alone. People connect, share music, practice together, and stay motivated because it feels fun and human, not academic.

The brand is proud of keeping things simple, playful, and honest. Canary doesn’t try to look like a school. It’s built around culture, music, and connection, making language learning something people actually enjoy coming back to.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Ben has always been pretty comfortable with taking risks, even if they didn’t always feel planned at the time. Moving alone to Los Angeles at 20, with no money and no network, was probably the biggest one. It wasn’t about strategy, it was just wanting to try something different and figure things out along the way.

Starting his first business came with its own risks. There were a lot of unknowns and plenty of mistakes, but it was more about learning by doing than trying to play it safe. The same thing applies today with Canary. Going after a space dominated by a company like Duolingo might look risky from the outside, but for him it feels like the natural next step.

Overall, Ben doesn’t think of risk as something to chase or avoid. It’s just part of building things, trying ideas, and seeing what sticks. The bigger risk, in his view, is not trying at all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.singwithcanary.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bengue.z/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-guez-%F0%9F%8E%97%EF%B8%8F-a433a51a/