Nirav Tolia | The Only Indian Kid in Odessa, TX

About this episode

Nirav Tolia shares his journey from a struggling startup CEO to leading Nextdoor, highlighting the impact of mentorship and community.

Before Nirav Tolia became the CEO of Nextdoor, a billion-dollar company connecting neighbors across America, he was a 28-year-old first-time CEO running a struggling startup during the dot-com crash, three weeks away from shutting down. Then Bill Campbell, the legendary Silicon Valley coach who mentored Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and the founders of Google, walked into his office and said the words that changed everything: I don't want fancy quotes. Tell me about the business. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of tech's most mission-driven entrepreneurs sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in him when he was just beginning to understand what it meant to lead. Nirav opens up about meeting Bill Campbell at 28, a coach who called him boy, sprinkled profanity into every lesson, and taught him that his title was not CEO but coach. He talks about growing up as one of the only Indian kids in Odessa, Texas, a place where people were genuinely happy because they had each other, and how that shaped his belief in the power of community. He shares what it was like to get to Stanford and realize he wasn't prepared for the rigor, how he…

People in this episode

Host: David Begnaud

Guest: Nirav Tolia

Topics covered

• entrepreneurship
• mentorship
• community
• personal growth
• technology
• leadership

Keywords

• Nirav Tolia
• Nextdoor
• Bill Campbell
• mentorship
• entrepreneurship
• community
• leadership
• personal growth
• technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nextdoor

Places: Odessa, Texas, Stanford, Dallas Cowboys

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