Nextdoor

Nextdoor is a social networking service for neighborhoods. It was first launched in the United States; as of February 2016 the service became also available in The Netherlands.[2] Nextdoor allows users to connect with people who live in their neighborhood and nearby neighborhoods.

Nextdoor competes with other social networks such as Yelp, Yahoo Groups, Facebook and Google. It differentiates itself by limiting access to posts to the people in each neighborhood or those nearby, which can increase privacy.[3][4] It has been characterized by The Washington Post as part of a wave of community focus in the United States.

HistoryNextdoor was co-founded by Nirav Tolia,[when?] who based the company in San Francisco, California.[6] Tolia had previously helped start Epinions. Early investors include Benchmark Capital, Shasta Ventures, and Rich Barton. As of February 2014, Nextdoor had 80 to 100 employees.[7] In July 2012, Nextdoor raised $18.6M in venture capital funding.[8] Dan Clancy (ex Google) joined Nextdoor in February 2014.

“Nirav Tolia has spent the last 13 years working at early-stage, pioneering consumer Internet companies. His experience lies in the areas of online community, user-generated content, e-commerce and social networking.

Nirav currently serves as the CEO and Co-founder of Nextdoor, the private social network for neighborhoods that launched in October 2011. Nextdoor is based in San Francisco and used by neighborhoods nationwide.

Prior to co-founding Nextdoor, Nirav co-founded Fanbase, an online almanac of pro and college athletes. Nirav previously served as an entrepreneur in residence at Benchmark Capital. Nirav has also served as an an advisor and consultant to several consumer Internet companies, including aSmallWorld, Simply Hired and Zillow. Previously, as COO and a corporate director at Shopping.com, a company he helped create through the merger of Epinions and DealTime, he was responsible for product development, marketing, engineering and operations.

Prior to Shopping.com, Nirav was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Epinions, one of the first Websites to introduce the mainstream use of online community and user-generated content. Over a four-year period, he successfully raised $45 million in venture financing, led the company to profitability and oversaw its 2003 merger with DealTime. He began his career as an early employee of Yahoo, working in the production and marketing departments. He also co-founded and served as president of Round Zero, a prominent non-profit organization and networking forum for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Nirav is originally from Odessa, Texas.

Education: Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University