Latest news with #NiravTolia
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
On stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: How AI is forcing late-stage startups to rewire GTM — or be left behind
AI isn't just disrupting products — it's upending how companies sell, scale, and succeed. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 in San Francisco, we're diving deep into how late-stage startups are navigating this shift. Catch this dynamic panel on the Going Public Stage, where three seasoned leaders will explore how AI is transforming go-to-market (GTM) strategies from the inside out. Why attend this session? If you're scaling a startup and wondering how AI fits into your next phase of growth, this conversation is for you. Our panelists will cut through the hype to reveal how AI is changing everything from sales and marketing to customer success. You'll get insight into what's working, what's not, and how to integrate AI into your GTM motion without derailing your focus or team. Meet the speakers Nirav Tolia is the CEO, president, and co-founder of , where he leads one of the most recognized community platforms in tech. Tolia previously co-founded and led was COO at and serves as the non-executive chair of Hedosophia. Jane Alexander, partner at , brings more than 15 years of experience building and scaling GTM teams. Before joining CapitalG, she was CMO at Carta and held leadership roles at Salesforce and RelateIQ. Vanessa Larco is the co-founder of and a former partner at NEA. With a background in product leadership and investing, Larco brings a sharp lens to how startups can grow efficiently — and stay focused — as AI reshapes product and market strategies. Snag your July discount and get ready for Disrupt 2025 Don't miss this session — and more than 200 others — at the tech epicenter where 10,000+ startup and VC leaders connect to discover the next wave of innovation. Buy your tickets now and save up to $675 before July savings end. Sign in to access your portfolio
TechCrunch
7 days ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Learn how AI is forcing startups to rewire GTM at Disrupt 2025
AI isn't just disrupting products — it's upending how companies sell, scale, and succeed. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, happening October 27–29 in San Francisco, we're diving deep into how late-stage startups are navigating this shift. Catch this dynamic panel on the Going Public Stage, where three seasoned leaders will explore how AI is transforming go-to-market (GTM) strategies from the inside out. Why attend this session? If you're scaling a startup and wondering how AI fits into your next phase of growth, this conversation is for you. Our panelists will cut through the hype to reveal how AI is changing everything from sales and marketing to customer success. You'll get insight into what's working, what's not, and how to integrate AI into your GTM motion without derailing your focus or team. Meet the speakers Nirav Tolia is the CEO, president, and co-founder of Nextdoor, where he leads one of the most recognized community platforms in tech. Tolia previously co-founded and led was COO at and serves as the non-executive chair of Hedosophia. Jane Alexander, partner at CapitalG, brings more than 15 years of experience building and scaling GTM teams. Before joining CapitalG, she was CMO at Carta and held leadership roles at Salesforce and RelateIQ. Vanessa Larco is the co-founder of Premise and a former partner at NEA. With a background in product leadership and investing, Larco brings a sharp lens to how startups can grow efficiently — and stay focused — as AI reshapes product and market strategies. Snag your July discount and get ready for Disrupt 2025 Don't miss this session — and more than 200 others — at the tech epicenter where 10,000+ startup and VC leaders connect to discover the next wave of innovation. Buy your tickets now and save up to $675 before July savings end.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How this tech CEO competes with Meta's AI talent spending spree
Listen and subscribe to Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. It's almost impossible to compete with the bottomless wallet of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta (META) when it comes to recruiting AI talent. So smaller companies have to build the talent themselves, said Nextdoor (KIND) co-founder and CEO Nirav Tolia. "People are the real asset," Tolia said in a new episode of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (watch above; listen below). "It's not the code. It's not the product itself. It's the brains behind this." "That means teaching ourselves to be great at AI," Tolia continued. "We don't have the benefit of having all that cash and picking up something off the shelf or someone off the shelf who has that expertise. We have to build it internally. Ultimately, I think that's a lot more durable and we really have no choice." This embedded content is not available in your region. Zuckerberg is having a summer to remember, including poaching top artificial intelligence talent such as Scale AI's Alexandr Wang with multimillion-dollar paychecks. Wang now leads Meta's new superintelligence lab. Just last week, Meta reportedly lured AI researchers Mark Lee and Tom Gunter from Apple (AAPL) to join the superintelligence team. "AI may be one of the first big platform shifts where there is true advantage flowing to the incumbents versus the startups," Tolia said. "But I don't think about that. I think about what can we do at Nextdoor to use the power of AI to build a better product." Digital turnarounds like the one Tolia is trying to pull off take time and great talent, and they are far from guaranteed in a world dominated by Big Tech and disruptors like OpenAI ( Tolia co-founded social media platform Nextdoor in 2008 and led the company until 2018. The platform seeks to keep neighborhoods connected with updates on local happenings. Watch more from the Opening Bid podcast Reebok founder on Trump tariffs: It's virtually impossible to make sneakers in US Why the CEO of the world's large sovereign wealth fund is worried about rising US debt NFL great Chad Johnson on the unusual way he saved money 'After running the company for almost nine years, I was really tired and burned out,' Tolia said of his decision to leave. 'And I think this happens to a lot of CEOs. You're in the grind, you're in the middle of a deep, dark tunnel. You don't know if you're ever going to get out. And it's difficult to have perspective.' He returned to the company as CEO in May 2024 and found the social media platform was struggling to grow, with a weak product and a sliding stock. Tolia has since refocused the organization on the user experience with initial signs of success in increasing weekly average users. The company relaunched its app earlier this month, with an emphasis on local news and better engagement. Despite the efforts, Nextdoor's market cap has dwindled from $4.3 billion at the time of its SPAC IPO in 2021 to $700 million or so today. Shares are down 32% over the past year. Each week, I sit down for insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid Unfiltered. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How this tech CEO competes with Meta's AI talent spending spree
Listen and subscribe to Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. It's almost impossible to compete with the bottomless wallet of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta (META) when it comes to recruiting AI talent. So smaller companies have to build the talent themselves, said Nextdoor (KIND) co-founder and CEO Nirav Tolia. "People are the real asset," Tolia said in a new episode of Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (watch above; listen below). "It's not the code. It's not the product itself. It's the brains behind this." "That means teaching ourselves to be great at AI," Tolia continued. "We don't have the benefit of having all that cash and picking up something off the shelf or someone off the shelf who has that expertise. We have to build it internally. Ultimately, I think that's a lot more durable and we really have no choice." Zuckerberg is having a summer to remember, including poaching top artificial intelligence talent such as Scale AI's Alexandr Wang with multimillion-dollar paychecks. Wang now leads Meta's new superintelligence lab. Just last week, Meta reportedly lured AI researchers Mark Lee and Tom Gunter from Apple (AAPL) to join the superintelligence team. "AI may be one of the first big platform shifts where there is true advantage flowing to the incumbents versus the startups," Tolia said. "But I don't think about that. I think about what can we do at Nextdoor to use the power of AI to build a better product." Digital turnarounds like the one Tolia is trying to pull off take time and great talent, and they are far from guaranteed in a world dominated by Big Tech and disruptors like OpenAI ( Tolia co-founded social media platform Nextdoor in 2008 and led the company until 2018. The platform seeks to keep neighborhoods connected with updates on local happenings. Watch more from the Opening Bid podcast Reebok founder on Trump tariffs: It's virtually impossible to make sneakers in US Why the CEO of the world's large sovereign wealth fund is worried about rising US debt NFL great Chad Johnson on the unusual way he saved money 'After running the company for almost nine years, I was really tired and burned out,' Tolia said of his decision to leave. 'And I think this happens to a lot of CEOs. You're in the grind, you're in the middle of a deep, dark tunnel. You don't know if you're ever going to get out. And it's difficult to have perspective.' He returned to the company as CEO in May 2024 and found the social media platform was struggling to grow, with a weak product and a sliding stock. Tolia has since refocused the organization on the user experience with initial signs of success in increasing weekly average users. The company relaunched its app earlier this month, with an emphasis on local news and better engagement. Despite the efforts, Nextdoor's market cap has dwindled from $4.3 billion at the time of its SPAC IPO in 2021 to $700 million or so today. Shares are down 32% over the past year. Each week, I sit down for insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid Unfiltered. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
15-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nextdoor Revamps Its App, Aiming to Boost Engagement
Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia discusses the social network's redesign and new push focusing on local news and alerts. He joins Ed Ludlow on 'Bloomberg Tech.' (Source: Bloomberg)
