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Earlier today , Forbesreportedthat venture capitalist , wheeler dealer and enterpriser Keith Rabois is regress to Khosla Ventures ( KV ) , the Silicon Valley rig where he tailor his teeth as a full - time VC before joining Founders Fund ( FF ) in 2019 , team up with former Stanford classmate Peter Thiel in the unconscious process .
The move came as a surprise to industry watchers — including this one . I spoke with Raboisin Octoberabout working for Founders Fund in Miami , where he moved during the pandemic and also oversees a startup calledOpenStorethat he co - establish in 2021 .
When we ’d let the cat out of the bag last , Rabois sounded depicted object where he was . Today , he said the decision to switch teams was very late , stem from a discussion with his former Khosla Ventures ’ colleague Samir Kaul about the possible merits and pitfall of starting his own stock ; Rabois sound out that chat quickly turned into dinner party with firm beginner Vinod Khosla , who separately herald today that he is “ thrilled ” about Rabois ’ take .
To learn more , I hopped on a Zoom with Rabois this good afternoon ; more from that back - and - forth follows , edited lightly for length and limpidity .
atomic number 43 : Congrats on the move , though it was never crystal clean why you leave behind Khosla Ventures in the first place after spending six years there .
KR : The veridical reason is really simple . I detest coming down from SF to Sand Hill Road , and KV at the clip — this obviously was pre - COVID — had a very strong in - person , one - office culture and it was pretty demanding from the top down that people should be in the office at least three or four days . And I just palpate that the future of venture was more distribute .
I remember talking to Sam Altman about the pros and cons of leaving KV for Founders Fund , which was in San Francisco ; I was like , “ Am I crazy to factor in in this geographic commute poppycock ? ” And he was like , “ Look , every single survey on human felicity suggests the individual best prognosticator is reverse correlation to commute time , and you ’re human , and you should n’t be shy about that . ”
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I ’m tempted to trust you , but I also just heard “ take from the top down . ” Vinod Khosla is a braggy personality . I wonder if that played a theatrical role in why you allow for earlier .
For people who are supersensitized to big - personality , successful - beginner types . I do n’t recollect either KV or FF would be the best . [ Khosla and Thiel are ] in some ways very similar . I gave this introduction actually at the [ Khosla Ventures ] Summit last year . They invited me to verbalise , and the presentation was about the five sorting of bosses I ’ve had in my calling . And it ’s like : Vinod , Peter , Reid Hoffman , Max Levchin , and Jack Dorsey . So I ’ve made it through 23 years working with strong - willed seer founder type ; both house have that trait .
Regarding your getting even , was it a gene that Founders Fund cut back the size of its young stock , while KV just close on $ 3.1 billion ?
Definitely not . If anything , I was an extremely positive proponent of cut the Founders Fund [ fomite ] .
We talked in October about this . You thought it was a overbold accommodation to the market . But then what do you make of KV moving in the opposite direction ?
Crafting a investment firm scheme — size the fund — is a complicated animal in and of itself . There ’s an idealistic size for dissimilar microscope stage of investing to generate meaningful proceeds , and then there ’s a team composition . Like , how many investiture can you make and how much money , and that is a single-valued function of how many great investor you have on the team . So you have to take into account all these variable . There ’s not a simple recipe .
My perspective at Founders Fund was that $ 900 million was the large version of a speculation fund that I thought made sense for our scheme and our squad . You may also have noticed that FF did n’t alter the size of the growth fund , whereas the KV dollar may count like , but they ’re allocate other than . There ’s a $ 500 million cum fund , then a $ 1.6 billion speculation stock , then a $ 1 billion opportunity stock .
How else do the business firm dissent ? You made an interestingcommentto The Information . You said Founders Fund provides capital and is happy to help when ask , which is very different from a mentorship model , which has been your strong point . That does n’t sound like a ringing sanction for Founders Fund , or do you think it ’s just a unspoiled business firm for establish founders who take less hand - holding ?
I did n’t mean it that way . There ’s too much cap , there are too many venture firm , it ’s hyper competitory . There ’s no way to drive important returns unless you have differentiation , and I cogitate you have to tell as a somebody . So the way of life I mark is I in person aim to increase the probabilities of success for any father and any society I work with . That is my destination when I wake up in the morning : How do I make this company more successful ? Other people have been very successful in venture with a different model . Founders Fund , as an example , has been implausibly successful over the years with at least a middling different model . I recall at Founders Fund , each partner has a somewhat unlike perspective on how [ to help companies bring home the bacon ] .
Is there a way to make the differences between the house clean-cut ?
I ’d say Founders Fund and KV are maybe close on a plotted business line than most others , and I opine I made that point in 2019 . I think KV plume itself on its technical acumen . Many signature KV investments are hardcore engineering investing , which is something I appreciate . It ’s not my comparative advantage , but I enjoyed six year of learning . . . and I ’m excited to memorize more . I believe it ’s rare in speculation to have a skilled institutional fund that ’s deep technical .
You are staying in Miami . Will you grow KV ’s footprint there ?
I ’m thrilled to be in Miami . I cerebrate the future of America is going to be based in Miami . I ’m excited that KV ’s go to be opening an billet in Miami and adding to the store that already have a significant front here , admit Founders Fund , so that build me extremely well-chosen .
I will be commute to the Bay Area on ordinary one week a month . I have a significant number of board commitments in the Bay Area , so I ’ve really been jaunt to the Bay Area once every six weeks [ imply ] I do n’t think things will be dramatically different . But I will attend partner meetings in person . Partner merging at KV are fairly critical to the way that firm operates .
[ As for inscribe ] , I do n’t know . The first matter I ’m going to do is get somewhat immersed with KV .
Vinod recently say something about never wanting to retire . But rent ’s say that change 15 days from now . Do you recollect you ’d be his choose replacement ?
I have no idea . I entail , put it this means : It ’s pretty irrelevant because I ’m passably certain Vinod wants to be doing what he ’s doing everlastingly . He loves what he does . He ’s highly dedicated to his craft and what he does . He sets a neat representative for the residuum of the firm by that level of dedication .
