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Naval Ravikant

Naval Ravikant (born November 5, 1974) is an Indian-born American entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder and chairman of AngelList, a platform for startups, investors, and job seekers.[2] He is an angel investor who has made early-stage investments in companies including Uber, Twitter, Postmates, and Yammer.[3] Ravikant is a recipient of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship.[4] He also co-hosts a podcast with Brett Hall.[5]

Early life and education

Ravikant was born in New Delhi, India in 1974. He moved to New York City with his mother and his brother, Kamal, when he was 9 years old. He attended Stuyvesant High School and graduated in 1991.[6] In 1995, he graduated from Dartmouth College with degrees in Computer Science and Economics.[6] During college, he interned at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell.[6]

Career

After graduating, Ravikant briefly worked at Boston Consulting Group before moving to Silicon Valley.[6]

Epinions

In 1999, Ravikant co-founded the consumer product review site Epinions. The company raised $45 million in venture capital from firms including Benchmark Capital and August Capital.[7] In 2003, Epinions merged with the comparison pricing site Dealtime to become Shopping.com, which held an Initial public offering (IPO) in October 2004.[7]

In January 2005, Ravikant and three of his co-founders filed a lawsuit against Benchmark Capital, August Capital, and co-founder Nirav Tolia, alleging they were misled into approving the merger under the pretense that the company was worth less than the capital raised, making their shares worthless.[7] The lawsuit was settled in December 2005.[8]

Hit Forge

Around 2007, Ravikant started a $20 million early-stage venture capital fund named The Hit Forge. The fund invested in startups including Twitter, Uber, and Stack Overflow.[9]

AngelList

In 2007, Ravikant began co-writing a blog called Venture Hacks, which offered detailed advice on negotiating term sheets.[10] That blog evolved into AngelList, which Ravikant co-founded in 2010 as a platform for startups to connect with angel investors.[10] AngelList also operates the product discovery platform Product Hunt. In 2022, AngelList Venture raised funds at a $4 billion valuation.[11]

MetaStable Capital

In 2014, Ravikant co-founded MetaStable Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund.[12] A June 2017 regulatory filing reported the fund's assets as $69 million, with investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.[12]

Spearhead.co investment fund

In 2017, Ravikant launched Spearhead, an investment fund that provides capital to founders to enable them to invest in technology startups as angel investors.[13] The fund's third cohort raised $100 million for 15 founders.[3] Companies backed by Spearhead founders include Neuralink, Opendoor, and Rippling.[14]

Podcasting and writing

Ravikant hosts a podcast, Nav.al, where he discusses topics including philosophy and investing. He has also been a guest on podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience and The Tim Ferriss Show.[15]

With Ravikant's permission, Eric Jorgenson curated his tweets, essays, and interviews into a book titled The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness.[16]

Airchat

In 2023, Ravikant co-founded Airchat, a social media application that uses voice notes and AI-powered transcription.[17]

References

  1. Eric Jorgenson. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant Magrathea Publishing, 2020, retrieved March 19, 2021^
  2. Catherine Clifford. Top Silicon Valley investor: This is what gives Elon Musk 'true superpowers' in business CNBC, April 3, 2019, retrieved March 15, 2020^
  3. Steven Bertoni. How AngelList's Naval Ravikant Is Creating A New Generation Of Angel Investors Forbes, October 22, 2019, retrieved May 21, 2024^
  4. Edmund Hillary Foundation Alumni Directory EHF, retrieved July 2, 2025^
  5. {{Official URL}}^
  6. Eric Smillie. Avenging Angel Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 2014-11-01, retrieved 2024-10-11^
  7. Gary Rivlin. Founders of Web Site Accuse Backers of Cheating Them (Published 2005) The New York Times, January 26, 2005^
  8. Gary Rivlin. Suit Over Epinions.com Is Settled The New York Times, December 23, 2005^
  9. AngelList's Naval Ravikant on His Syndicates Program, Two Months In Strictly VC, November 21, 2013, retrieved April 26, 2020^
  10. Alex Halperin. Silicon Valley's Avenging Angel Fast Company, 2014-03-24^
  11. Natasha Mascarenhas. AngelList Venture takes on rare capital at a $4 billion valuation TechCrunch, 2022-03-08^
  12. Jen Wieczner. Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz Are Secretly Backing This Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Fortune, 2016-07-26, retrieved 2024-10-21^
  13. Spearhead will give $1M to 15 founders to invest freely TechCrunch, October 15, 2019^
  14. FAQ spearhead.co^
  15. Shane Parrish. Naval Ravikant: The Angel Philosopher [The Knowledge Project Ep. #18] Farnam Street Blog, August 17, 2019^
  16. Almanack of Naval Ravikant navalmanack.com^
  17. Taylor Liao. Naval Ravikant Launches Airchat, a Social App Built on Voice The Verge, May 23, 2023, retrieved 2024-03-13^