Getting to Know Prakash Janakiraman, co-founder of Nextdoor
In an alternate universe, Prakash Janakiraman, would be shooting three pointers and cooking it up on the court like Golden State Warrior point guard “Chef” Curry. The northern California native is a loyal fan of the team. But in this universe, he’s making other big plays as he works with his San Francisco team of over one hundred people to grow Nextdoor, a private social network where neighbors connect online. On the network, users can create private groups for their neighborhoods where they can ask questions, get to know their neighbors, and exchange local advice and recommendations. Want to quickly get the word out about a break-in? Need a trustworthy babysitter? Nextdoor can help with that.
It’s currently being used in over 93,000 neighborhoods across the country, including New Orleans. Before starting Nextdoor, Janakiraman led the engineering team at Google Maps. He says Nextdoor emerged from a brainstorm as a product that the founding team envisioned would help communities self-organize around the issues most important to them. The team believes they can use the power of technology to build stronger and safer communities.
Maybe there’s a cookoff in his future with Curry? In the meantime, Janakiraman talked to us about some of the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur, ahead of his upcoming visit to New Orleans. You can hear from Janakiraman himself on how he and his team grew Nextdoor at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. Don’t miss out. It’s free, y’all.
Q: Where are you from originally?
A: I’m from Hayward, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Q: What’s in your bag right now?
A: Laptop, pens, gym clothes, FlexPower pain relief cream, and charging cables for my phone(s) and computer.
Q: What are you watching?
A: Recently, my wife and I have been watching “The People vs. OJ Simpson,” and also just finished the first season of Aziz Ansari’s new show “Master of None.” Typically, though, I only watch sports on TV. I love basketball, boxing, football, tennis, and golf, and watch SportsCenter every night.
Q: What are you reading?
A: I’m re-reading Ben Horowitz’s excellent book “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”, and also reading Bill Clinton’s book “Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.” I really enjoy reading first-hand accounts of people’s life experiences, especially those whom I admire for their contributions to the world.
Q: What do you do to unwind or fight stress?
A: I love attending live sporting events. I’ve had Warriors season tickets for over a decade now and am also a supporter of the Cal Men’s Basketball program, where I went to school. It’s a great opportunity to get out and yell and scream for our teams, be part of the broader community of fans, and really blow off steam. I also try to get to the gym three days a week, especially since it’s conveniently located across the street from our office.
Q: How many hours of sleep do you usually get a night?
A: On average I only sleep about 6 hours a night, though I try and catch up on sleep over the weekends — when I can!
Q: What is your worst habit?
A: I have a near-OCD behavior of walking in a straight line and pacing around while on the phone. It drives people around me mad, especially my wife.
Q: If you could be anything else in the world, what would it be?
A: I’d be playing point guard for the Golden State Warriors. Unfortunately, I think Steph Curry has that position locked up for the foreseeable future!
Q: What’s your spirit animal?
A: A hummingbird, which I’ve been told represents a light, swift, resilient creature that has the ability to uplift those around them.
Q: Can you run me through what a ‘typical’ day is like for you, from beginning to end?
7:45AM
Wake up, check phone for any important overnight emails or text messages and catch up on news via Twitter.
9:00AM
Leave home in an Uber or Lyft for the office.
9:30AM
Eat breakfast at work, usually oatmeal and a banana. Reply to important emails and check out our daily metrics.
10:00AM
Daily “stand up” meeting with team to review priorities and progress.
10:30AM
Various project team meetings, collaborating with engineers to debug and troubleshoot problems, reading and reviewing code and design documents.
12:00PM
Pick up and eat lunch with a group of the engineers.
1:00PM
Interviews and recruiting calls, code reviews and design reviews of new projects, 1–1 meetings with direct reports. When time permits, writing some code or prototyping new ideas myself!
5:00PM
Lead daily stretch time in the office, 5 minutes of stretching to our favorite tunes with the entire company.
7:00PM
Gym time with my trainer.
8:30PM
Dinner at home with the wife, usually ordered in through Sprig or Postmates.
10:00PM
Reading, reading, reading, and watching SportsCenter until falling asleep around 1:30AM.
Q: What is your biggest struggle as an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is demanding, particularly in the earliest days when you shoulder much of the responsibility for the success of the company yourself. It demands time and commitment that steals away from other aspects of your life: socializing, family, vacation, fitness, even sleep. Balancing my work, which I love, with the rest of my life has been, by far, one of the biggest struggles. It’s required letting go and trusting others to relieve me of some of those responsibilities, and building the trust and confidence in others to carry things forward. It also requires the unconditional support of those closest to you, your family and friends.
Q: Can you tell me about one of your lowest, darkest moments as an entrepreneur? A moment when you thought, what am I doing, why am I doing this? How did you come out of that?
In September of 2013, we were featured on our first national TV program, 20/20, in a several minute segment about neighbors. During the first airing on the East Coast, the piece led to a huge surge in traffic, and the site went completely down for 40+ minutes. Epic fail. I felt I had let the entire company down by not giving ourselves a chance to take advantage of this huge press opportunity. My co-founders, our board, and others were starting to lose confidence in my team amidst the instability of our platform. Ultimately, focusing on solving the challenge of what we needed to do to be prepared for the next opportunity rather than wallowing in the sorrow of the opportunity lost is what helped me get through this. Since then we’ve been featured on the Today Show, Dr. Phil, and in other national broadcast segments with comparable traffic levels and have sailed through.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about being an entrepreneur?
I enjoy going to work each day knowing that I’m blessed with the opportunity to work on something I’m truly passionate about — and that something I’ve helped create from scratch is affecting people’s lives on a daily basis.
Q: What practical advice would you give to someone who is thinking about starting a company? (No fluff! Real advice.) Perhaps it’s something you wish you’d known before you started Nextdoor.
Starting a company requires not only the activation energy to get something up and running, but also continuous energy to stay inspired and motivated. Surround yourself with the kinds of people who give you that energy and avoid the people that sap it from you. Seek out mentors, advisers, and other entrepreneurs as peers from whom you can learn and exchange ideas freely.
Want to hear more from Janakiraman? Come check him out and see our stellar line up of headliners at #NOEW2016.
Written by Summer Suleiman. Originally published on The Distillery on March 10, 2016.
