Khosla Ventures to open its first US office outside Sand Hill Road
US venture capital firm Khosla Ventures plans to open an office in New York City, US, on 14th Street this fall. It will be the firm’s first office outside Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, TechCrunch reports.
Khosla Ventures partner Keith Rabois confirmed the plans during a StrictlyVC event in New York’s West Village. According to him, the premises are allegedly already being fitted out, though he is not certain the office will open specifically this fall. Rabois also noted that Khosla Ventures does not even have an office in San Francisco, making the opening of a New York outpost a significant step for the firm.
A hub for portfolio companies
Several Khosla Ventures investors, including Rabois, will work at the office. The firm also plans to create a hub for meetings with executives: four days a week, it intends to bring 10–12 portfolio companies at a time to meet with a Fortune 500 company. According to Rabois, this format could help startups secure pilot projects and customers.
Rabois himself moved to the US East Coast several months ago to be closer to his husband, Jacob Helberg, the US deputy secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, and to their children, who are currently in Washington.
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Talent search in New York
Rabois believes New York has enough entry-level specialists who have just completed their education. As an example, he cited fintech company Ramp, in which he has invested repeatedly: according to him, the company recruited graduates and built a substantial concentration of talent, starting with interns.
At the same time, Rabois said it is more difficult to find experienced engineers and technical architects. The biggest problem for companies with an office culture, he said, is attracting experienced executives: many of them live outside New York, and commuting to the city can be difficult. At Ramp, Rabois noted, the company has deliberately focused over the past three years on developing employees internally rather than hiring senior specialists.
The office opening follows a CBRE study according to which New York slightly overtook the San Francisco Bay Area in the total number of technology specialists for the first time in 13 years of observations. CBRE attributed this to active hiring of artificial intelligence specialists by financial companies and staff cuts by technology-sector employers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
