Keith Rabois Is Joining Khosla Ventures
Khosla, a firm founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Vinod Khosla in 2004, was an early backer of both Square and Slide, the widget maker where Rabois previously worked as a top executive before its sale to Google.
Rabois told Business Insider he seriously considered becoming a venture capitalist twice in the past. In both cases, a founder persuaded him to join his startup instead—Slide's Max Levchin in 2007 and Square's Jack Dorsey in 2010.
Rabois is known for his investments as an angel investor, or a wealthy individual who backs startups. (He made his initial fortune as an early executive at PayPal before its IPO and sale to eBay.) But he's also made the kind of long-term commitments to companies that are more typical of professional investors.
He's on the board of two publicly traded companies: Yelp, which went public last year, and Xoom, the money-transfer service which went public earlier this month.
Khosla is a relatively small partnership, with about five senior investing partners. (Khosla's website does not distinguish between junior and senior partners on its investment team.) Rabois's addition boosts the firm's standing in Silicon Valley; he's a partner who's a draw for entrepreneurs in his own right, like firm founder Vinod Khosla.
Rabois had also reportedly considered taking an operating role at Airbnb, a startup he backed as an angel.
Rabois left Square in the wake of sexual-harassment allegations, which he and the company strongly denied. While an employee's lawyer threatened a lawsuit, it has yet to materialize.