OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar on IPO, AI Rivalries, New Device, and Spending $100B+ on Compute
(0:00) OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar joins the show!
(0:31) How OpenAI thinks about its IPO timeline
(3:31) OpenAI, Anthropic, Google: The AI arms race
(7:43) Navigating the compute crunch and AI bottlenecks, device preview!
(15:53) OpenAI's economics
(26:08) Push into chips, the cloud
(29:32) OpenAI's ad business and strategy
Thanks to our partners for making this possible!
EY - Agentic AI is introducing a new investment discipline. As AI shifts to consumption-based models, EY connects spend to enterprise value.
https://www.ey.com/en_us/insights/ai/agentic-ai-token-costs?WT.mc_id=3501318&AA.tsrc=sponsorship
NYSE - Thank you to our partner, the New York Stock Exchange - a modern marketplace and exchange for building the future. It all happens at the NYSE.
https://www.nyse.com
Plaud - Never miss a moment. Plaud, our official wearable AI note-taking partner at All-In Liquidity Summit, captured every insight.
https://www.plaud.ai
Follow Sarah Friar: https://x.com/thefriley
Apply for Summit 2026: https://allin.com/events
Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg
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Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar: IPO, AI Rivalries, New Device, and Spending $100B+ on Compute
(0:00) OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar joins the show!
(0:31) How OpenAI thinks about its IPO timeline
(3:31) OpenAI, Anthropic, Google: The AI arms race
(7:43) Navigating the compute crunch and AI bottlenecks, device preview!
(15:53) OpenAI's economics
(26:08) Push into chips, the cloud
(29:32) OpenAI's ad business and strategy
Thanks to our partners for making this possible!
EY - Agentic AI is introducing a new investment discipline. As AI shifts to consumption-based models, EY connects spend to enterprise value.
https://www.ey.com/en_us/insights/ai/agentic-ai-token-costs?WT.mc_id=3501318&AA.tsrc=sponsorship
NYSE - Thank you to our partner, the New York Stock Exchange - a modern marketplace and exchange for building the future. It all happens at the NYSE.
https://www.nyse.com
Plaud - Never miss a moment. Plaud, our official wearable AI note-taking partner at All-In Liquidity Summit, captured every insight.
https://www.plaud.ai
Follow Sarah Friar: https://x.com/thefriley
Apply for Summit 2026: https://allin.com/events
Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg
Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod
Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod
Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod
Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg
#193 Former CEO Nextdoor, Sarah Friar: Four Circles
Guest: Sarah Friar, former CEO of Nextdoor
Sarah Friar has worked with some of the top leaders in Silicon Valley, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, Block CEO Jack Dorsey, and most recently Nextdoor founder Nirav Tolia, who just replaced her as CEO in May. And one of the things that sets top performers apart from the rest, she argues, is their compassion and their responsiveness. When her former EA’s husband was diagnosed with cancer, Sarah texted Benioff — who she had just left behind to work at Square — for help. Within seconds, she recalls, he arranged an appointment at UCSF. “That is an amazing moment of compassion,” she says, “where he did not need to take that time.”
In this episode, Sarah and Joubin discuss public markets vs. VC, George Floyd, working with the board, singular focus, Goldman Sachs, being in “flow,” the freedom of not getting the thing you want, Walmart, Steph Curry, Graham Smith, Charlie Rose and Donald Trump, ugly babies, Elon Musk, Ladies Who Lunch, CNBC, commuting from home, white noise, “frequent Friars,” @TechEmails on Twitter, and the “zone of gratefulness.”
Chapters:
(02:04) - Why Sarah left Nextdoor
(08:18) - The stock market and success
(10:21) - Going through hell
(14:48) - Life is not an A/B test
(16:09) - Multiple tours of duty
(19:21) - Ikigai
(22:02) - Perfectionism and drive
(25:54) - Sarah’s next operating role
(28:35) - Big transitions
(30:35) - Personal burn rate
(35:34) - “Are people gonna take my call?”
(38:40) - Leaving Salesforce for Square
(41:27) - Loyalty
(45:33) - Leaving the right way
(47:44) - Square and Swiss cheese companies
(50:03) - Growth companies
(52:38) - Apolitical workplaces
(53:42) - Leaving Square
(55:38) - Loneliness
(57:18) - Daily routines
(01:05:03) - Working on weekends
(01:08:30) - Hyper-responsiveness
(01:11:47) - Resumé virtues and eulogy virtues
(01:15:33) - What “grit” means to Sarah
Links:
Connect with SarahTwitter
LinkedIn
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Sarah Friar - Building the Local Graph - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 249]
My guest today is Sarah Friar, the CEO of Nextdoor, which connects people in local neighborhoods together. Sarah’s CV sparkles with impressive achievements at interesting businesses, and we spend a lot of time in this conversation thinking through what excellence looks like as a CEO, CFO, equity analyst, and board member. The rest of our discussion is focused on Nextdoor and how the soon-to-be public business is fostering connections between people and businesses in their local areas.
I do this podcast so I get to meet and learn from people like Sarah. I could have talked to her for hours. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Sarah Friar as much as I did.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:03:03] - [First question] - What makes an excellent equity analyst
[00:05:51] - Things Sarah does differently as an operator because she was an investor
[00:08:29] - Key factors that make a great CFO
[00:09:31] - The role of the CFO in regards to capital allocation as a company grows
[00:11:50] - What convinced her to join Salesforce and Square
[00:14:45] - The initial spark and appeal that led her to join Nextdoor
[00:17:35] - Existing problems with ‘community’ and how they approach fixing them
[00:21:36] - Interesting and compelling data points about in-person interactions
[00:23:54] - Network density as a driving factor of product quality
[00:26:43] - What gives Nextdoor a unique angle against some of its existing competitors
[00:28:51] - Thoughts on platform leakage and user retention
[00:30:57] - Successful strategies for deploying Nextdoor in a new country
[00:35:32] - Having a feed and trying to avoid creating echo chambers
[00:37:04] - Some of the biggest mistakes they’ve made while trying to grow
[00:38:49] - Options for a business model and thoughts on advertising
[00:43:25] - The importance of scale, advertising, and their relationship dynamic
[00:45:55] - Ways she’s learned to effectively steer the businesses strategy
[00:49:48] - Why she doesn’t like titles
[00:51:07] - Key levers that will allow Nextdoor to succeed in the future
[00:53:35] - How advertisers evaluate platforms like Nextdoor compared to Google or Facebook
[00:57:19] - What a successful board member looks like and how she’s learned to be one
[00:59:34] - Leading with transparency and empathy
[01:02:00] - An overview of what Ladies Who Launch is and what they do
[01:03:57] - Way to educate our children about finance and encourage financial literacy
[01:07:51] - Making your platforms welcoming and guiding users away from conflict
[01:10:30] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her
The Empathy Flywheel, w/Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar
A social network that limits your network? Yes. Meet Nextdoor, a hyperlocal social network that’s all about who you really are and where you really live. Although it goes against everything that we've come to expect from social networks, Nextdoor’s secret to scale lies in real personal connections based on empathy and kindness. And this is what Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar knows: No, these connections don’t scale as fast – but they tend to be stronger. And they can be the flywheel that drives you to scale.
Read a transcript of this episode at https://mastersofscale.com
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Pivot Schooled #2: The New Generation of Innovators, with Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar and investor Rana Yared
In this audio version of the second episode of our live video series Pivot Schooled, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the future of innovation in the US and worldwide. They interview Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar and Balderton Capital general partner Rana Yared, answer questions from the audience, and make predictions. Plus: A prediction from Silicon Valley actor Suzanne Cryer, and why TikTok isn't selling to anybody.
Get your tickets for the next Pivot Schooled, "The Big Four," at PivotSchooled.com.
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Rapid Response: "Neighbors are the frontline of support," w/Nextdoor's Sarah Friar
A neighborhood is more than just the people who share a common address, says Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. It’s every space that makes up your daily life. So Nextdoor is jumping in, rolling out new features like Help Maps and Groups so residents can connect and coordinate. Sarah says these products, some new, some in development pre-Covid, all help fulfill Nextdoor’s mission and help neighbors act as the frontline of support for one another.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Recode Decode: Square CFO Sarah Friar and Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta
In these highlights from our September 2018 Code Commerce event, Recode's Jason Del Rey talks with two great guests: (00:57) First, he speaks to Square CFO Sarah Friar; (35:02) then, Jason interviews Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta. You can catch up on Code Commerce and watch all the interviews from the event for free on Recode's YouTube page.
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