Keith Rabois
Bio
I create new products, generate innovative business models, and love to solve intractable problems.
I craft business strategies to navigate precarious business environments.
I specialize in guiding early-stage startups into successful businesses: I joined PayPal when our monthly burn-rate was $6 million; I joined LinkedIn, Slide and Square when we had no revenue. Five companies I helped build are now publicly traded with market capitalizations >$1 Billion. Three others have been acquired for greater than $1 Billion or are publicly traded IPOs.
I served on the Board of Directors of Xoom (NASDAQ: XOOM) from 2003 until 2015 and served on the Yelp Board from 2005-2014 (NYSE: Yelp). I served on the Board of Reddit from 2012-2019. I am a co-founder of OpenDoor and serve as our Executive Chairman.
Prior angel investments include: YouTube, Airbnb, Palantir, Eventbrite, Lyft, Quora, Yammer, Skybox, Counsyl, Weebly, Wish, Eventbrite.
Social
Experience
General Partner
Founders Fund
Mar 2019 - Current
Managing Director
Khosla Ventures
Mar 2013 - Feb 2019
I invest in technology-driven transformative companies. My investments: https://medium.com/@rabois/investments-led-khosla-ventures-ebe1cfc3ead2
www.khoslaventures.com
COO
Square
Aug 2010 - Feb 2013
Selected as the 5th, 1st & 3rd most innovative company on the planet during my tenure.
- Fast Company)
Joined Square before commercial launch when we had 841 customers testing the product and 24 employees; rapidly scaled to 440 employees, nearly $12 Billion in gross payment volume and several hundred million dollars in revenue.
Increased valuation from $40 m to over $3.6 B.
Reshaped the payments landscape.
Executive Vice President, Strategy & Business Development
Slide
May 2007 - Aug 2010
- Managed relationships with Facebook and MySpace
- Managed corporate communications, corporate development, competitive intel and strategy
- Product managed our virtual good payment product
- Customer acquisition via paid marketing.
Previously, when we sold branded advertising, I managed that for most of our history. I also ran our Top Friends product, engineering, QA (etc) team for a year.
Vice President, Business & Corporate Development
LinkedIn
Jan 2005 - May 2007
LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network. I joined when the company had 1.5 M users, by the time I departed we had increased the user base by 10x.
I was hired to develop substantial revenue streams that transcend the recruiting market. My team devised and launched one of the most innovative online advertising concepts since 1999. LinkedIn now offers the precise targeting historically available only via direct mail.
LinkedIn Answers is another one of our major initiatives. Ask your network a business research question and you are virtually guaranteed to receive an insightful response.
I championed the launch of "public profiles" before any other social network had adopted this tactic, amplifying our growth substantially. I was also the original advocate of premium subscriptions targeted at individual professionals, currently LI's primary revenue source.
I managed our corporate communications team 2006-l 2007.
Chief Operating Officer
Epoch Innovations
Dec 2003 - Dec 2004
Epoch's initial neuroperformance product, BrightStar, was the best option for the millions of Americans who are afflicted with dyslexia.
- Increased Revenue by 450% year/year ($2.8 MM)
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Clarium Capital Management
Jan 2003 - Dec 2003
Evaluated and incubated new ventures in the Consumer Internet field, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
I developed an innovative and promising Internet venture to revolutionize the residential real estate market, which is still sufficiently interesting to pursue and is substantially more exciting than Zillow.
Executive Vice President, Business Development, Public Affairs & Policy
PayPal
Nov 2000 - Nov 2002
Promoted to manage BD, financial services, competitive strategy, government affairs, and public relations teams;
Charged with assessing and resolving risks posed to the viability of the business, including regulatory risks, as well as devising competitive strategy vis a vis eBay and VISA/MasterCard;
Supervised relations with external partners, including Providian, Intuit, Wells Fargo, UPS, DirecTV, Microsoft bCentral, and eBay enterprise sellers;
Orchestrated multiple substantial public affairs campaigns to complement business strategy, including building a multiparty PAC, lobbying more than 70 Members of Congress and 20 U.S. Senators, as well as presenting PayPal's interests to the DOJ, FTC, Treasury and several state AGs;
Impelled product initiatives to meet key strategic objectives, including devising the most profitable product feature for the company in '02.
Director/VP, Business Development
Voter.com
Feb 2000 - Nov 2000
Promoted to lead web distribution program for Charles River, Bessemer, Sigma Partners financed ($15 MM) political portal; managed 15- partner distribution network, including ten Media Metrix Top 50 sites
Cut program's acquisition cost by 500% in five months
Devised strategy to shift business model from destination portal to email marketing
Assigned P/L responsibility for EDM division and supervised team of 6 product & BD professionals, leading program of 24 product lines
Policy Director
Quayle 2000
Apr 1999 - Oct 1999
Developed concept for substantive speeches to be delivered by Vice President Quayle, including widely covered, provacative addresses on China, the American family, and extending the VP's "Murply Brown" legacy;
Briefed VP on news and political developments; devised fresh arguments to advance during media appearances;
Responded to media inquiries about VP's policies; directed opposition research; managed all research underlying "Worth Fighting For" by Dan Quayle.
Associate
Sullivan & Cromwell
Oct 1995 - Mar 1999
Litigation Associate, primarily focusing on antitrust matters, cutting-edge intellectual property issues, and "white collar" criminal-exposure cases. Principal clients included British Airways, Standard Chartered Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, MBNA and The National Gallery of Art.
Prevailed on 4 out of 5 motions to dismiss I drafted, affirmed on appeal by the D.C. and Eleveth Circuits
Law Clerk
Honorable Edith H. Jones, Unites States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Aug 1994 - Aug 1995
Education
Harvard Law School
J.D.Stanford University
B.A., Political ScienceInfoThis public profile is provided courtesy of Clay. All information found here is in the public domain.