From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0, mobile, and now AI, Rob Solomon has been a part of every major internet tech wave since the 90s, leading companies such as EA, Yahoo!, Groupon, and GoFundMe through explosive growth.
Rob started at UC Berkeley studying history. “What do you do with a history degree? At the time I had no idea,” says Rob. “But what I’ve learned to appreciate about history is that in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been.” For example, when Rob brought together the investment group that bought out GoFundMe in 2015, the giving platform was a “little mom and pop company,” says Rob. He came onboard as CEO and grew GoFundMe into the pop culture phenomenon it’s become.
“It went from a little thing that was largely unknown to one of the largest fundraising platforms in the world. Now it’s ubiquitous. In the same way you catch an Uber or book an Airbnb, when trouble hits, you start a GoFundMe,” said Rob.
During the pandemic, Rob became chairman of GoFundMe and shifted his focus to GoFundMe.org, a non-profit spin-off that has facilitated over $150 million in tax deductible donations. He’s still on the board of the non-profit.
Before overseeing GoFundMe’s meteoric rise, Rob led Groupon as President and COO. He was the 80th employee and quickly powered Groupon into one of the fastest growing companies of all time, rocketing sales from $100 million to over $2.5 billion and 100xing the team to nearly 8,000 employees globally.
Rob began his career at gaming company Electronic Arts (now EA) as a product manager. It was here that he was first “bitten by the Internet bug” as he describes it it. Two more steps, one as head of product for a venture-backed startup and another with a now defunct consumer products internet company, brought him to Yahoo! in the late 90s.
“Yahoo! was a big media company,” explains Rob. “They sold eyeballs and ads. They didn’t sell products. I was brought in to build Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Auctions, Yahoo! Travel. That’s where I really learned how to be a general manager and executive.”
It’s also where he met a group of people he calls the “Yahoo! Bosses” (a riff on the “PayPal Mafia”) who continue to be important players within the tech space.
“It points to the history that I was a part of,” says Rob. “Really interesting people that went on to do great things, like my engineer at Yahoo went on to found WhatsApp. Belinda Johnson went on to help Brian Chesky professionalize Airbnb. They are all in this network of people that I can tap into to help the companies that I’m advising.”
Rob’s first piece of advice for founders: Just say no.
“Every single company I’ve been a part of, every company that I advise, they have these product roadmaps that are so robust,” says Rob. “If you’re not focused on one problem and solving that problem, you can’t be successful. You can’t win.”
Another essential component of success: human capital. “Hire rigorously and fire fast,” advises Rob. “Over-invest in choosing the people who are going to help you win. At the end of the day, without the humans none of this stuff matters. And without truly exceptional, great humans, you can’t do exceptional, great things.”
Rob lives in California and has a BA in history from UC, Berkeley. He has three children.
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