Keith Rabois is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and angel investor that was born on March, 17 1969 in Edison, New Jersey. He is currently a general partner at Founders Fund, and has held executive roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide, and Square. His most notable angel investments include: YouTube, Airbnb, Plantir, Eventbrite, Lyft, Quora, Yammer, Skybox, Counsyl, Weebly, and Wish. He is also an avid writer that contributes content to Quora regularly, and his writing has been published by HuffPost, Forbes, and Quora Sessions.
After graduating from J.P. Stevens High School in Edison, New Jersey, Keith Rabois attended Stanford University from 1987 to 1991 where he received a bachelors of arts degree in political science. He graduated from Stanford and Phi Beta Kappa with Distinction and Honors in 1991.
After completing his B.A degree in political science at Stanford University, Keith Rabois began working towards becoming a lawyer by completing a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School. He attended Harvard Law School from 1991 to 1994, and successfully graduated from the program. During his time at Harvard Law School, Rabois was an Ames Moot Court Competition Research Assistant and a Haymann Assistant Prosecutor. He also won the Boykin Award.
Keith Rabois has made a total of 55 personal investments, 50 partner investments, and 28 exits. He also actively serves on the board and advises 21 companies, and has left his board and advisory roles at 7 companies.
In March 2019, Keith Rabois became a general partner at Founders Fund. He is currently still working with Founders Fund.
From March 2013 to February 2019 (6 years), Keith Rabois served as a managing director for Khosla Ventures.
Keith Rabois joined the Scribd board as an observer on January 2, 2015 after leading a $22 million investment round in Scribd with Khosla Ventures.
Keith Rabois founded OpenDoor in April 2014. The company is focused on creating a marketplace for buying and selling real estate. Rabois has been working on the idea for OpenDoor since 2003 under the codename "HomeRun" after a conversation he had with Peter Thiel. It took over a decade for Rabois to officially launch OpenDoor from its original conception because he claims:
Over the last decade, I considered doing this a few times [but] always got distracted by amazing entrepreneurs talking me into their vision.
Keith Rabois is an active contributing member to Quora (he invested in Quora with Khosla Ventures). As of July 2019, he has 41,000 followers on Quora, and has answered 539 questions on Quora that have been seen by approximately 5.9 million people., In 2013 he was awarded the designation of 'Top Writer' for his contributions to the Quora platform.
From August 2010 to February 2013 (2 years and 7 months), Keith Rabois served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Square. During his time at Square the company was selected as the 5th, 1st, and 3rd most innovative company in the world by Fast Company.
Rabois left square in 2013 after a Square employee threatened Rabois and Square with a sexual harassment lawsuit. The threat came from an employee who was claimed to be in a relationship with Rabois prior to starting their job at Square. Rabois denies the claims, and after Square completed their investigation into the situation they publicly announced they have "not found evidence to support any claims".
From May 2007 to February 2010 (3 years and 4 months), Keith Rabois served as the executive vice president of Slide where he focused on strategy & business development.
From January 2005 to May 2007 (2 years and 5 months), Keith Rabois served as the vice president of LinkedIn where he focused on business & corporate development.
From December 2003 to December 2004 (1 year and 1 month), Keith Rabois served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Epoch Innovations.
From January 2003 to December 2003 (1 year), Keith Rabois was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Clarium Capital Management.
From November 2000 to November 2002 (2 years and 1 month), Keith Rabois served as the executive vice president of PayPal where he focused on business development, public affairs & policy.
From February 2000 to November 2000 (10 months), Keith Rabois served as the director and vice president of Voter.com where he focused on business development.
From April 1999 to October 1999 (7 months), Keith Rabois served as a policy director at Quayle 2000.
From October 1995 to March 1999 (3 years and 6 months), Keith Rabois worked as an associate for Sullivan & Cromwell.
From August 1994 to August 1995 (1 year and 1 month), Keith Rabois served as a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit under Edith H. Jones.
Keith Rabois was born and raise in Edison, New Jersey. His mother was an english and history teach who later on in her career moved into sales, and his dad is a chartered professional accountant (CPA). Rabois parents met during their time completing their degrees at the University of Michigan. Rabois claims as a result of his parents meeting at the University of Michigan he developed a love for football because he watched a lot of Michigan football growing up with his family.
Timeline
In March 2019, Keith Rabois became a general partner at Founders Fund.
Keith Rabois founded OpenDoor in April 2014. The company is focused on creating a marketplace for buying and selling real estate. Rabois has been working on the idea for OpenDoor since 2003 under the codename "HomeRun" after a conversation he had with Peter Thiel.
From March 2013 to February 2019 (6 years), Keith Rabois served as a managing director for Khosla Ventures.
From August 2010 to February 2013 (2 years and 7 months), Keith Rabois served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Square. During his time at Square the company was selected as the 5th, 1st, and 3rd most innovative company in the world by Fast Company.
From May 2007 to February 2010 (3 years and 4 months), Keith Rabois served as the executive vice president of Slide where he focused on strategy & business development.
From January 2005 to May 2007 (2 years and 5 months), Keith Rabois served as the vice president of LinkedIn where he focused on business & corporate development.
From December 2003 to December 2004 (1 year and 1 month), Keith Rabois served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Epoch Innovations.
From January 2003 to December 2003 (1 year), Keith Rabois was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Clarium Capital Management.
From November 2000 to November 2002 (2 years and 1 month), Keith Rabois served as the executive vice president of PayPal where he focused on business development, public affairs & policy.
From February 2000 to November 2000 (10 months), Keith Rabois served as the director and vice president of Voter.com where he focused on business development.
People
Further reading
5 People Ops Lessons from One of Silicon Valley's most Experienced Executives
Lattice
Web
Five things to learn from Khosla Ventures' newest partner Keith Rabois
Eliza Kern
Web
March 27, 2013
Former Square COO Keith Rabois Joins Khosla Ventures
Tomio Geron
Web
February 26, 2013
How Keith Rabois Builds Billion-Dollar Businesses: Radical Simplicity
AngelList
Web
August 21, 2018
How To Be Incredibly Awesome At What You Do: An Interview With Tech Titan Keith Rabois
Omaid Homayun
Web
October 22, 2016
Investments led @ Khosla Ventures
Keith Rabois
Web
December 11, 2017
Is Keith Rabois sick of being Silicon Valley's consummate No. 2?
Sarah Lacy
Web
January 25, 2013
Keith Rabois isn't a Fan of How SoftBank Invests its Money | NexChange
NexChange
Web
Keith Rabois joins Founders Fund amid transition at the firm
Connie Loizos
Web
February 20, 2019
Keith Rabois left Square due to claim he sexually harassed an employee
Devindra Hardawar
Web
January 25, 2013
Keith Rabois on the Role of a COO, How to Hire and Why Transparency Matters
Firstround
Web
February 7, 2015
Keith Rabois Says Great Founders Don't Blog; Bloggy New Yorkers Appalled
Adrianne Jeffries
Web
May 27, 2011
Keith Rabois' Reading List | Scribd
Scribd Editors
Web
Keith Rabois' Three Key Questions for Investors to Consider - Bowery Capital
February 15, 2019
Web
February 15, 2019
Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois finally launches his real estate startup
Jordan Novet
Web
April 3, 2014
Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 3: How to be an Effective Executive
Delian.io
Web
February 24, 2019
PayPal exec's 'big-data home-flipping' startup lands funding and will launch in July
Teke Wiggin Staff Writer
News
PayPal Mafia reunion: Keith Rabois leaving Khosla to join Peter Thiel's Founders Fund
Cromwell Schubarth
Web
February 20, 2019
Scribd Raises $22M For Its Subscription E-Book Service
Anthony Ha
Web
January 2, 2015
The way SoftBank invests in startups just doesn’t work, says Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois
Eric Johnson
Web
January 8, 2019
Top Lessons in Building Great Teams from Khosla Ventures
Faith Storey
Web
June 23, 2019
VC Keith Rabois: 5 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know
Issie Lapowsky
Web
December 18, 2013
Venture Capitalist Threatens To Quit If Taxes Are Raised
Dan Primack
Web
September 30, 2016
Documentaries, videos and podcasts
[PREMONEY 2014] The Final Frontier: Keith Rabois & Dave McClure On The Future Of VC
July 1, 2014
An Iconic evening with keith rabois & Prof. Yoav Shoham
June 12, 2015
E904 Keith Rabois (Khosla/PayPal) advice for anti-VC/anti-hustle climate, Thiel, Trump, Thatcher-PT1
February 19, 2019
E905: PT2 - Keith Rabois, operator (PayPal, Opendoor) & investor (Khosla, future Founders Fund) shares advice on getting into tech, insights on censorship, secondary shares, selling too early, self-driving, biggest misses, economic concerns & other lessons from his lifelong quest to monopolize talent & fund startups that will change the world | This Week In Startups
February 22, 2019
E905: PT2 Keith Rabois PayPal/FoundersFund: censorship, secondary shares, selling, getting into tech
February 22, 2019
Ep. 90: Sparking Great Companies--with Keith Rabois of Founders Fund | The Boost VC Podcast
March 21, 2019
Finding Barrels In Your Company - Keith Rabois
January 6, 2018
Fireside Chat with Keith Rabois, Partner of Khosla Ventures, and Aaron Levie, Founder and CEO of Box
March 17, 2014
Founderati - Fireside Chat with Keith Rabois
October 20, 2015
How to find Undiscovered talent and Why it is important - Keith Rabois
January 6, 2018
How to improve performance of your startup team - Keith Rabois
January 8, 2018
Is the American Dream Still Alive? | Keith Rabois (Founders Fund)
March 26, 2019
Keith Rabois - If You Can't Sell Them, Compete with Them - [InvestLike the Best, EP.115]
December 8, 2018
Keith Rabois - This Week in Startups with Jason Calacanis - Part 1 - Podcast Notes
February 21, 2019
Keith Rabois (Khosla Ventures, Opendoor) gives his #1 advice to entrepreneurs
March 16, 2016
Keith Rabois on home-buying disruptor Opendoor, politics, innovation; Cyan Banister @AngelSummit
March 15, 2016
Keith Rabois on How to Find and Grow Talent
October 18, 2016
Keith Rabois on Smart Startup Hiring
July 7, 2018
Keith Rabois on the role of a COO, how to hire the best and why transparency matters
March 14, 2013
Keith Rabois Reflects on His Biggest Miss as a Professional Investor
March 11, 2019
Keith Rabois says winter is coming for wasteful startups from Recode Decode
April 24, 2016
Keith Rabois w/ Semil Shah, Is It Healthy For Companies To Stay Private Longer?
December 14, 2014