Serial entrepreneur Nirav Tolia is best known as the co-founder and CEO of Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social networking platform used by most neighborhoods in America. Prior to this, he was an executive at firms like Round Zero, Epinions, and Shopping.com. He is also a recurring guest on ABC’s Shark Tank. As of 2023, Nirav Tolia has a net worth of $50 million.
Early Life
Nirav was born to Indian immigrants who settled in Odessa, Texas. His exact date of birth isn’t known, but it is sometime around 1973. Not much is known about his childhood as well.
After graduating from high school, he decided to study English literature at Stanford University. It was in college that he gained access to new technology, which was influential in his future career decisions.
Nirav became a performer and manager of his school’s acapella singing club. Their group clinched the Grammy for Collegiate A Cappella, and Tolia met the creators of Yahoo! at the awards ceremony.
Career Beginnings
The entrepreneur was invited to join Yahoo! when it was still an early-stage startup. Nirav agreed and officially became the 84th employee of the company. While he worked there Yahoo! experienced rapid growth and its staff count rose to over 10,000!
At one point, he decided to explore his own ideas by becoming an entrepreneur. One of his biggest successes upon transitioning was Round Zero, an exclusive community for business people.
In 1999, Tolia launched a website for general consumer reviews called Epinions. But when the dot-com bubble popped, the company suffered a major loss. Dealtime.com acquired Epinions for an undisclosed sum in 2003.
Achieving Success
After Dealtime and Epinions merged, Shopping.com was formed, and Nirav was chosen to be its COO. When it went public in 2005, the firm was purchased by eBay for $620 million.
The money Tolia received from the deal helped him co-found Nextdoor in 2008. It is a social networking service built for local neighbors. Nextdoor became massive, being used by 11 countries and covering 90% of neighborhoods in the US.
This success made Nirav Tolia a highly respected entrepreneur in many circles. In 2021, he received an invitation to appear as a recurring guest investor on Shark Tank. He hasn’t featured on many episodes but he did manage to make some deals, investing in HelloPrenup and SoaPen.
Net Worth and Earnings
The Texas business executive has run and invested in many successful startups. Nextdoor without a doubt is his biggest source of wealth. In 2022, the social network is expecting to make over $250 million in revenue. Today, the company is worth around $1.2 billion.
Before this, he built his initial wealth on Round Zero, Epinions, Shopping.com, and Yahoo! All of Nirav Tolia’s ventures give him an estimated net worth of $50 million.
Personal Life
Nirav is a married man, and his wife’s name is Megha Tolia. They are blessed with three children. The family prefers to keep a low profile but they do share some photos on Instagram. After a one-year sabbatical in Florence, they are now back at home in San Francisco, California.
