Reid Hoffman Provides Founders a Checklist of His References

Due diligence is a two-way avenue, in line with Reid Hoffman.

In an episode of the “Attainable” podcast launched on Wednesday, the LinkedIn cofounder mentioned he all the time asks founders to look into his background earlier than letting him spend money on their corporations.

“I say: ‘Look, I’ll offer you a bunch of references. I would love you to search out anyone that I completely labored with,'” he mentioned. “You are allowed to speak to anybody and you’ll inform them, they know this, that they need to inform you my strengths and weaknesses.”

And do not simply name individuals who had good experiences, he added.

“I’ll establish folks to you who I feel are my adverse references, folks I’ve labored with earlier than,” Hoffman mentioned.

Hoffman mentioned he gave OpenAI president Greg Brockman a listing of his references earlier than investing within the AI startup. This occurred after Elon Musk left the corporate in 2018.

“One of many pure questions you guys ought to ask, that you simply would possibly really feel intimidated asking, is how do I feel that I am totally different than Elon as a companion,” he mentioned, referring to Brockman and Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO.

Hoffman cofounded LinkedIn in 2003 and stepped down as its CEO in 2009. He was concerned with the skilled networking platform till Microsoft acquired it in 2016.

Hoffman served on the board of OpenAI from 2019 to 2023. His different investments embody Airbnb, self-driving agency Aurora, and air transportation firm Joby Aviation.

The serial founder and angel investor has been a giant advocate for referrals and has mentioned he prioritizes them over interviews.

“One factor I’ve discovered when constructing groups: when you may, give extra weight to references than to interviews or résumés,” Hoffman wrote in a LinkedIn put up in July.

“It is not that interviews or credentials do not matter, however they are often static alerts,” he added. “What they usually miss is how somebody behaves beneath strain, in uncertainty, with a staff.”