Reid Hoffman author photo
Image via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Reid Hoffman

Born: August 05, 1967 – Palo Alto, California, United States

Reid Hoffman is an entrepreneur, investor, and author whose writing centers on startups, career strategy, scaling, and technology’s social impact. Best known for co-authoring The Start-Up of You, Blitzscaling, and Masters of Scale, he also co-founded LinkedIn, helping shape one of the world’s largest professional networks.

Biography & Author's Journey

Reid Hoffman’s career grew out of an unusually philosophical starting point. A California native, he studied symbolic systems at Stanford and then philosophy at Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, initially thinking more like a public intellectual than a conventional executive. Early roles at Apple, where he worked on eWorld, and at Fujitsu pulled him toward the emerging internet. His first startup, SocialNet, gave him a practical education in timing and product design; PayPal then taught him how fast-moving networks, payments, and partnerships could scale. Those experiences converged in 2003, when he co-founded LinkedIn, which would grow into the world’s largest professional network, with more than one billion members. ((https://greylock.com/team/reid-hoffman/))

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Quotes

quote
If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late
-If There Aren't Any Typos In This Essay, We Launched Too Late!
quote
We need a new map. The new map is a network
-Be the entrepreneur of your own life
quote
Who you know shapes who you are
-Be the entrepreneur of your own life
quote
I position myself in a network and surround myself with people who bring me interesting people and companies
-Be the entrepreneur of your own life
quote
I believe you can never know the full reach of your first idea. It could span your entire career
-Never underestimate your first idea
quote
I believe that you can pivot from failure to success – but only if you slash and burn the rest of your business
-The big pivot
quote
If you want your company to innovate, your job is to manage the chaos
-Innovation is managed chaos
quote
Companies don’t just need founders… they also need re-founders
-Why we need re-founders
quote
The greatest entrepreneurs function from within a reality distortion field, making the impossible seem possible, not just to themselves, but to those around them
-The 6 secrets of great timing
quote
If you’re laughed out of the room, it might actually be a good sign
-Learn from every "no"

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Community Voices

"TIME called Reid Hoffman "Silicon Valley's grand master."

TIME

"Joi Ito said Reid Hoffman is "trying to optimise for the common good."

Joi Ito

"CNBC said there is no one in Silicon Valley who's more connected than Reid Hoffman"

CNBC

"Sean Parker said Reid Hoffman has "gregarious good nature, honest advice and keen intellect."

Sean Parker

"Elon Musk said Reid Hoffman wants to "create something truly useful to fellow human beings."

Elon Musk

"Le Monde described Reid Hoffman as a "mystical atheist" and artificial intelligence guru"

Le Monde

"WIRED called Reid Hoffman "the network philosopher."

WIRED

"Fortune said Reid Hoffman is "one of the most influential voices in Silicon Valley."

Fortune

"Bret Taylor said Reid Hoffman "sets an example for how entrepreneurs should help each other."

Bret Taylor

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