Reid Hoffman, multiple honors including cofounder of LinkedIn and partner of the venture firm Greylock, earns some of his most important insights from the Buddha. Hoffman earned his master’s degree in philosophy from Oxford University and initially planned to work in academia. His most beloved philosophers and scholars include Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. By embracing concepts from the Buddha, Hoffman generates a mindset to take up challenges of large scales. Through two philosophies, “The world is what you make it” and “This too shall pass,” Hoffman sees the potential and knows how to handle success and adversity.
Hoffman views himself more of a humanist in comparison to a technologist which is why he’s found his space in the Silicon Valley. This reflects on his thoughts on technology and world issues like climate change, social justice, and educational equity. His theory on any scale being between thirty-to-eighty percent a technology solution will be a major factor moving forward with the rise of AI. As of recently, Hoffman has stepped down from the board of OpenAI due to potential conflicts of interest yet he still has a vested interest in driving AI forward positively.
LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. It is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs, and job seekers posting their CVs. Founded in December 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and cofounders from PayPal and Socialnet.com, it is mainly used for professional networking as well as a job search portal. As of 2021, LinkedIn has 690 million users in more than 200 countries, and it is available in over 20 languages.
Reid Hoffman is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author. Most commonly known as the cofounder of professional networking website LinkedIn, Hoffman is also a Partner of venture capital firm Greylock Partners, an advisor to companies like Zynga, Mozilla and Warby Parker. He has co-authored three books and his podcast, Masters of Scale, is highly successful. He is also member of The Alliance of Low Carbon Mobility and one of the earliest investors in unicorns like Airbnb and Facebook. He believes in the use of technology to help in the evolution of human society and has contributed significantly to its growth.
