# Nirav Tolia: Nextdoor. How neighborhood chatter went global

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2025-09-15
- Length: 1h 08m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global

## Summary

Nirav Tolia, co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor, recounts the company's journey from a manual, postcard-based verification process to a global network of 100 million users. He details his previous ventures, including the failed startup Fanbase and the dot-com era company ePinions, explaining how those experiences shaped Nextdoor's strategy of prioritizing community trust over rapid scaling. Tolia discusses his departure as CEO in 2018 due to burnout, his return six years later to lead a rebrand, and the challenges of monetizing a platform that historically avoided direct advertising.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=0) Introduction: Nirav Tolia and Nextdoor
- [3:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=234) Early Career at Yahoo and Round Zero
- [10:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=620) Founding ePinions and the Dot-Com Crash
- [24:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=1457) The Failure of Fanbase and Pivot to Nextdoor
- [35:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=2136) Manual Verification and Early Growth of Nextdoor
- [40:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=2403) Content Moderation and Community Guidelines
- [51:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=3092) Delayed Monetization and Revenue Strategy
- [54:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=3258) Stepping Down as CEO and Return to Lead Rebrand
- [1:02:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-15-nirav-tolia-nextdoor-how-neighborhood-chatter-went-global#t=3747) Future Vision: Essential Local Application

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Nextdoor (product)
- Yahoo (company)
- ePinions (product)
- Fanbase (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- Benchmark Capital (company)
- Expedia (company)
- Zillow (company)
- Yelp (company)
- Google (company)
- Meta (company)
- Apple (company)
- Amazon (company)
- Open AI (company)
- Angie's List (company)
- Thumbtack (company)

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- [Afterschool Podcast, Episode 9 - Rusty Meadows (10/21)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/core77-podcast/2013-11-05-afterschool-podcast-episode-9-rusty-meadows-10-21) (Core77 Podcast)
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## Citing this page

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