Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman (born August 5, 1967, in Palo Alto, California) is an American entrepreneur, investor, podcaster, and bestselling author best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn and one of Silicon Valley’s most influential thought leaders. After earning a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and an M.A. in Philosophy from Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, Hoffman began his career in tech at Apple and Fujitsu before moving into startups and venture capital.

In 2002, Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, the professional networking platform that revolutionized how people connect and build careers online. He served as CEO and later executive chairman, guiding the company to more than 300 million users before its acquisition by Microsoft in 2016 for $26 billion.

Alongside his tech leadership, Hoffman is a partner at Greylock Partners, where he has invested in iconic companies including Facebook, Airbnb, Dropbox, and Convoy. He is also a strategic advisor at Microsoft and an influential voice in tech ethics, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence.

Hoffman is the author or co-author of several bestselling books:

• The Start-Up of You (with Ben Casnocha) – a career development guide for the modern professional.

• The Alliance – redefining employer-employee relationships in the age of adaptability.

• Blitzscaling (with Chris Yeh) – a deep dive into scaling companies at hyper-speed.

• Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI (with GPT-4) – a bold exploration of how AI can enhance human potential, co-authored with OpenAI's ChatGPT.

He also hosts the popular podcast Masters of Scale, where he interviews legendary business leaders and founders on how to build and grow transformative companies.

A member of multiple nonprofit boards and philanthropic causes, Hoffman is active in civic tech, economic opportunity, and global education. He has been featured in Time 100, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review for his wide-reaching impact.