Nirav Tolia co-founded Nextdoor, the neighborhood social network that somehow got your parents to join before they even figured out Instagram. If you've ever seen someone post about a lost cat or complain about fireworks on the Fourth of July, you've probably seen Nextdoor in action.
Before Nextdoor, Tolia co-founded Epinions, one of the early consumer review platforms that helped pave the way for how we rate and review products online today. That venture had its ups and downs, but it gave him real experience in building community-driven platforms.
He co-founded Nextdoor in 2008 with the idea of creating a private social network for actual neighborhoods. Not your college friends, not your coworkers, just the people who live near you. It was simple but incredibly hard to execute. Every single neighborhood was basically a cold start problem. The platform launched in 2010 and grew into something massive, eventually going public and operating in countries around the world.
What makes Tolia interesting as a guest shark on Shark Tank is that he really understands network effects. Building Nextdoor meant solving that cold start problem over and over again, neighborhood by neighborhood. That's a very specific kind of growth challenge, and it gives him a sharp eye for businesses that depend on building a user base from scratch.
Some notable points:
- Co-founded Epinions, an early consumer review platform
- Co-founded Nextdoor, one of the largest hyperlocal social networks in the world
- Deep expertise in network effects and community-driven growth