Nirav Tolia, co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor, discusses his return to the company in May 2024 after a five-year hiatus. He reveals the challenges faced while revitalizing a struggling platform, including competition from larger social networks and the impacts of AI technology. Tolia shares insights about community engagement and the importance of enhancing local content to improve user experience. He candidly addresses the difficulties of steering a public company amid innovation pressures and the evolving tech landscape.
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Founder Burnout and Return
Nirav Tolia left Nextdoor in 2018 due to burnout and lack of healthy organizational values.
After five years of reflection, he returned fresh and with new perspective as CEO in 2024.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Building Nextdoor from an Idea
Early days of Nextdoor focused on building a social network for local communities, unlike Facebook or LinkedIn.
It was a grind to turn that idea into a product used by millions of verified neighbors globally.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Yahoo Early Days Inspiration
Nirav was employee #84 at Yahoo during its early internet rise.
Inspired by Yahoo's growth, he left to start his own companies, including Nextdoor.
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Digital turnarounds take time, and are not guaranteed in a world where Google (GOOGL, GOOG) is dropping AI summaries on the web, Meta's (META) Mark Zuckerberg is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to attract top AI talent, and OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) is upending how the very internet works. Still, many digital founders hope for the best when trying to bring a meandering platform back to life. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi discusses the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Nextdoor (KIND) co-founder and CEO Nirav Tolia. Tolia co-founded Nextdoor in 2008 and led the company until 2018, when he reportedly left over a board disagreement regarding an acquisition. He returned to the company as CEO in May 2024, finding a social media platform struggling to grow, a weak product, and a sliding market cap. Tolia has since aimed to refocus the organization on the user experience, with initial signs of success in increasing weekly average users. But he concedes the turnaround has a long way to go, and investors are unsure what a complete turnaround will look like. Nextdoor’s market cap has dwindled from $4.3 billion during its SPAC IPO in 2021 to $636 million. Tolia dives deep into his turnaround strategy for Nextdoor, the decision to return as CEO, and what’s next for the digital platform.
Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens.
Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.
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Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms.
Opening Bid Unfiltered