Inside the 3 eras of Nextdoor

Bryan on how they’ve made sense of the company’s 14-year journey - by breaking it into three eras.

Why the three eras?

Nextdoor’s been around since 2011, and it’s been a wild ride. Every year feels different, so the leadership team started thinking about the company’s evolution in three phases.

Here’s how Bryan explained it:

Era 1: The Founding Era (2011–2018)

This was all about getting Nextdoor off the ground. The three co-founders were scrappy - building the product from scratch and turning it into something millions of people actually used.

No fancy infrastructure, just pure hustle to make the idea work.

Era 2: Building the Company (2018–2023)

When Bryan joined, it was time to level up. Nextdoor moved from startup mode to building a real company structure. That meant adding core functions like finance, people, legal, and IT - plus developing a solid monetization strategy.

They couldn’t stay scrappy forever, so they focused on creating stability while also expanding globally. Then COVID hit, and everything changed (as it did for all of us).

Era 3: Blending Old and New (2023–Now)

Here’s where it gets tricky: bringing back some of that early founder energy without losing the progress they made during Era 2.

With Nirav Tolia returning as CEO - and the team growing from 150 to 500+ - it wasn’t about picking one era over the other. Instead, they needed a new vision that combined the best of both worlds.

Bryan summed it up perfectly: There’s no such thing as an “ex-founder.”

Founders always have that unique voice and moral authority, which is why keeping the mission and values front and center is so important. It’s the key to moving forward without getting stuck in “back in my day” thinking.

“Founder mode" vs. Nextdoor's "founder’s mentality"

He broke down the difference between being in “founder mode” and embracing Nextdoor’s “founder’s mentality” - and it’s good stuff.

The concept comes from a book that Nirav Tolia (Nextdoor’s Co-Founder and CEO) stumbled on. He got so fired up about it that he hit up one of the authors, James Allen, on LinkedIn.

So, what’s the deal with the founder’s mentality? After looking at thousands of companies, Allen found that the top 8% of founder-led businesses share three core principles:

1) Insurgency - It’s all about having a bold mission that’s more than just a catchy statement. Think of it as a north star that guides every decision.

2) Frontline Obsession - Get as close to the customer as possible. The more layers between decision-makers and users, the worse the decisions - no way around it.

3) Owner’s Mindset - Not the fluffy “act like an owner” vibe. It’s more like:

- Keep a sharp focus on cash

- Avoid bureaucracy

- Move fast and get things done

Simple but powerful. Bryan’s been using this mindset with the leadership team to keep that startup energy alive - even as Nextdoor scales.

Hard truth about founder syndrome

Bryan shared a crucial insight - founders need to be selective about where they maintain intense involvement.

His recommendation? Focus deeply on 2 key areas. Here's an example:

- Product direction

- Company culture

Everything else? Learn to delegate.

Larry Page at Google (80k+ employees) personally approved every hire. Not because he should review everything, but because hiring was his chosen area of deep involvement.

The key is being crystal clear with your team: “These specific areas are where I’ll be heavily involved down to the details. The rest, I trust you to run with.”

Trying to control everything creates bottlenecks. Being selective about where you maintain founder-level involvement actually helps the company scale.

Why Nextdoor built an AI bootcamp for employees

Bryan heard Danny Guillory (CPO at Glassdoor) drop this genius prompt at a recent conference:
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"I want to be an AI-forward people leader 12 months from now. Create a 12-month development plan so that a year from now I'm at the forefront of AI as an HR leader"
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He said the AI spit out a complete curriculum - podcasts, books, articles, YouTube videos, courses…literally a roadmap to AI mastery.
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This sparked an idea for Bryan to pilot an AI bootcamp for 20 ICs at Nextdoor using this approach.
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Because here's the truth - we're all stuck doing things "the old way" while this incredible efficiency unlock is sitting right there.
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He says the velocity AI enables is wild. Tasks that would've taken a week now take hours. Leadership development programs that felt overwhelming are now totally manageable.
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As people leaders, we need to push our teams to make this transition. Not because it's trendy, but because it's becoming a true superpower.

Advice for someone starting in HR today

"It's not just for HR - it's about learning. I've always come back to the idea of the velocity of learning. When you encounter a disruptive phase like AI, the ability to learn is the only way forward."

One thing they'd steal from another company

“I think it ties back to the previous question. I learned this from a woman who leads HR at Jasper AI. They're currently experimenting with recording every meeting since they're a remote company, and they're using AI to capture and analyze the content.

Of course, this brings up legal questions around discoverability and the implications of recording people. But there are clear benefits to having an AI co-pilot involved as much as possible. I really appreciate how they're experimenting with this. Personally, I want to see the positive outcomes before deciding it's not viable—especially given the obvious concerns."

See you next week!

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