He Almost Lost His Family Building a $1B Company | CEO of Nextdoor Nirav Tolia

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 found his way into tech through an Ethernet connection in his dorm room and an obsession with the Dallas Cowboys, and why he joined a collegiate acapella group that led him to become a business manager instead of a doctor. There's also a raw reflection on sacrifice, purpose, and what it means to be a guardian angel. Nirav talks about leaving Nextdoor in 2019 because he felt like a shell of a man, realizing he couldn't be the best CEO and the best father at the same time, and moving his family to Italy for a sabbatical that turned into years. He opens up about being asked to come back to Nextdoor, why he said yes even though he never thought he'd be a CEO again, and how spending time away from the job gave him the space to reflect and become a better human being. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com Chapters ☀️ Chapters 00:00:00 Intro: The Coach Who Believed When the Company Almost Died 00:02:18 The First Meeting: Boy, Tell Me About Your Company 00:10:00 A Stranger in a Strange Land: Finding Community in West Texas 00:14:10 Stanford and the Struggle: When Everyone Is Smarter Than You 00:17:33 Fleet Street Singers: The Acapella Group That Led to Business 00:24:23 999 Failures Leading to One Big Success: The Entrepreneurship Story 00:28:36 Your Title Makes You a Manager, Your People Make You a Leader 00:31:12 Three Weeks of Cash Left: The Christmas That Changed Everything 00:33:46 The Hardest Thing a CEO Ever Has to Do: Laying Off Employees 00:38:15 The Kindness of Strangers: Lost Dogs, Cups of Sugar, and Natural Disasters 00:40:57 Purpose, People, Product: The Three Ps Bill Taught 00:43:00 A Shell of a Man: When Being CEO Meant Not Being a Father 00:48:26 Coming Back to Nextdoor: The Second Chance to Refound a Company 00:54:58 Moving to Dallas: Choosing Family and Community Over Silicon Valley 00:57:21 The Board Meeting in Dallas: Hearing Bill's Voice 20 Years Later 01:03:39 Happy 30th Birthday: The Voicemail That Captures Everything 01:04:59 Find a Bill or Be the Bill: The Legacy of Lifting People Up ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Nirav Tolia Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast