He Built a $1B Company and Still Felt Like a Failure | CEO of Nextdoor Nirav Tolia

He Built a $1B Company and Still Felt Like a Failure | CEO of Nextdoor Nirav Tolia

Before Nirav Tolia became the CEO of Nextdoor, a billion-dollar company connecting neighbors across America, he was a 28-year-old first-time CEO running a struggling startup during the dot-com crash, three weeks away from shutting down. Then Bill Campbell, the legendary Silicon Valley coach who mentored Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and the founders of Google, walked into his office and said the words that changed everything: I don't want fancy quotes. Tell me about the business. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of tech's most mission-driven entrepreneurs sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in him when he was just beginning to understand what it meant to lead. Nirav opens up about meeting Bill Campbell at 28, a coach who called him boy, sprinkled profanity into every lesson, and taught him that his title was not CEO but coach. He talks about growing up as one of the only Indian kids in Odessa, Texas, a place where people were genuinely happy because they had each other, and how that shaped his belief in the power of community. He shares what it was like to get to Stanford and realize he wasn't prepared for the rigor, how he found his way into tech through an Ethernet connection in his dorm room and an obsession with the Dallas Cowboys, and why he joined a collegiate acapella group that led him to become a business manager instead of a doctor. There's also a raw reflection on sacrifice, purpose, and what it means to be a guardian angel. Nirav talks about leaving Nextdoor in 2019 because he felt like a shell of a man, realizing he couldn't be the best CEO and the best father at the same time, and moving his family to Italy for a sabbatical that turned into years. He opens up about being asked to come back to Nextdoor, why he said yes even though he never thought he'd be a CEO again, and how spending time away from the job gave him the space to reflect and become a better human being. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com [https://www.thedogoodcrew.com] Chapters ☀️ CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Intro: The Coach Who Believed When the Company Almost Died * 00:02:18 The First Meeting: Boy, Tell Me About Your Company * 00:10:00 A Stranger in a Strange Land: Finding Community in West Texas * 00:14:10 Stanford and the Struggle: When Everyone Is Smarter Than You * 00:17:33 Fleet Street Singers: The Acapella Group That Led to Business * 00:24:23 999 Failures Leading to One Big Success: The Entrepreneurship Story * 00:28:36 Your Title Makes You a Manager, Your People Make You a Leader * 00:31:12 Three Weeks of Cash Left: The Christmas That Changed Everything * 00:33:46 The Hardest Thing a CEO Ever Has to Do: Laying Off Employees * 00:38:15 The Kindness of Strangers: Lost Dogs, Cups of Sugar, and Natural Disasters * 00:40:57 Purpose, People, Product: The Three Ps Bill Taught * 00:43:00 A Shell of a Man: When Being CEO Meant Not Being a Father * 00:48:26 Coming Back to Nextdoor: The Second Chance to Refound a Company * 00:54:58 Moving to Dallas: Choosing Family and Community Over Silicon Valley * 00:57:21 The Board Meeting in Dallas: Hearing Bill's Voice 20 Years Later * 01:03:39 Happy 30th Birthday: The Voicemail That Captures Everything * 01:04:59 Find a Bill or Be the Bill: The Legacy of Lifting People Up ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Nirav Tolia Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse, Justin McGoldrick Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Social: Kylee Anderson, Maxim Trofimenko, Gracie Pekrul Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast]

American Idol & Voice Of Queen On The Dark Side Of Fame | Adam Lambert

Before Adam Lambert became a global superstar, Grammy-nominated artist, and one of the most electrifying voices in music, he was a 13-year-old theater kid from conservative North County San Diego, struggling to fit in at middle school and trying on his mother's makeup after class. Then Lynn Broyles, a voice teacher with fierce energy and impeccable taste, saw something in him that no one else had: a kid who needed a safe space to just be himself. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the trailblazing artist sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he was just beginning to understand who he was. Adam opens up about meeting Lynn at 13, a voice teacher who introduced him to Sondheim, cabaret, and the gay cultural lexicon without ever calling it what it was. He talks about growing up with parents who let him wear their makeup and high heels as a toddler, spending Saturdays in a theater company that taught him discipline and teamwork, and the moment he auditioned for American Idol by quitting his job in Wicked with no guarantees. He shares what it felt like to kiss a guy on live television at the 2009 AMAs the night before his first single dropped, getting yanked off Good Morning America because ABC threatened to sue, and why that controversy made him realize his career was about something much bigger than just making music. There's also a raw reflection on identity, fame, and what it means to finally say what you've always felt. Adam talks about starting to feel shame for being gay once he got famous, encountering homophobia for the first time in mainstream America after living in an LA bubble for 10 years, and why he started having imposter syndrome even though he believed he could win. He opens up about fronting Queen for 10 years, performing for millions at Rock in Rio and on the steps of Buckingham Palace, and why being around Brian May and Roger Taylor taught him the gravity of iconic music through osmosis. He reflects on moving to New York, doing six months on Broadway as the Emcee in Cabaret, and bringing Lynn to see the show as a full circle moment. He shares why he's finally ready to stop people pleasing, why his new self-titled album Adam feels like a return to where he started, and why after 17 years in the industry, he's done being polite about what he wants. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com [https://www.thedogoodcrew.com] Chapters ☀️ CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Intro: The Voice Teacher Who Saw the Queen in Him * 00:01:23 The Instant Connection: When Humor Became the Language * 00:05:22 The Loud, Verbal Kid Who Preferred Adults * 00:08:52 Growing Up Different in Conservative San Diego * 00:11:40 The Anger Management Lessons and Counting to Ten * 00:14:05 Middle School Hell: When the Teachers Liked You Wasn't Cool Anymore * 00:15:39 Metropolitan Educational Theater: Learning Discipline Through Performance * 00:17:30 Lynn's Gift: Sondheim, Cabaret, and the Gay Cultural Lexicon * 00:18:04 The Unspoken Understanding: I Think She Knew I Was Gay * 00:26:51 The American Idol Audition: Quitting Wicked for a Shot * 00:37:45 The AMA Kiss That Changed Everything * 00:45:37 Coming Out on Rolling Stone: The Gay Label and Double Standards * 00:35:49 Imposter Syndrome and Finding My Voice * 00:53:53 Ten Years with Queen: Pinch Me Moments and Learning from Legends * 01:02:29 The Five-Year Relationship: Finding Work-Life Balance * 00:50:03 The New Album ADAM: Accepting All of Yourself * 01:10:42 Broadway Cabaret: The Full Circle Moment with Lynn * 01:14:13 The Evolution of LGBTQ Visibility: Then vs Now * 01:16:50 Feel Something Foundation: Giving Back to Queer Youth * 01:20:42 Give Me My Flowers: It's My Turn ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Adam Lambert Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast]

Stop Raising Your Children With This Dangerous Lie | Ian V. Rowe

Before Ian Rowe became a visionary educator, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, founder of Vertex Partnership Academy, and author of the book Agency, he was a 12 year old kid from Queens standing in his family's living room, crying and pleading with his Jamaican immigrant parents to let him stay at a junior high school that was about to become all black after white families fled to a newly created annex. Then Linda Talish, his sixth grade teacher at PS 156 in Laurelton, Queens, gave him something he didn't even know he needed: the courage to challenge his parents for the very first time. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, one of education's most influential and controversial voices sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the woman who believed in him when he was just beginning to believe in himself. Ian opens up about meeting Ms. Talish in sixth grade, a Jewish teacher who talked about her heritage with a certain reverence and pride, even in the midst of racial tension that was tearing apart their small middle class Queens neighborhood. He shares what it was like growing up as the son of parents who came to the United States in 1968, the year of Martin Luther King's assassination, with his father becoming one of the first black engineers at IBM and his mother a financial securities analyst at Manufacturer's Hanover Bank. He reflects on the Sunday night before transfer papers were due, standing in front of his parents in their living room, begging and crying to stay at junior high school 231, and saying the words that changed everything: Just because everyone that's left is black, why does it have to be bad?. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com [https://www.thedogoodcrew.com] Chapters ☀️ CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Intro: The Teacher Who Gave Him the Courage to Say No * 00:00:40 The Racial Tension in Laurelton: When the White Kids Left * 00:03:54 The Play That Changed Everything: Welcome Back, Sauter * 00:14:24 The Sunday Night I Challenged My Parents * 00:22:42 Just Because Everyone That's Left Is Black, Why Does It Have to Be Bad? * 00:27:27 From Brooklyn Tech to Cornell at 16: Working My Butt Off * 00:28:10 Vertex Partnership Academy: Creating Coming of Agency Moments * 00:38:51 The Four Cardinal Virtues: Courage, Justice, Temperance, and Wisdom * 00:53:11 The Teachers Union Sued Us: Six Days Before We Opened * 01:00:49 The Success Sequence: Education, Work, Marriage, Then Children * 00:56:38 Social Capital Is the Currency of America * 01:08:31 From 470 Million Dollars at Gates to Running Individual Schools * 01:19:06 Have You Done Your Best? The Booker T. Washington Lecture ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Ian Rowe Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast]

The Hidden Trauma Behind This Comedy Star's Rise to Fame | Margaret Cho

Before Margaret Cho became a legendary comedian, Emmy-nominated actor, and one of the most influential voices in stand-up comedy, she was a 15-year-old kid who had just been expelled from one of San Francisco's most prestigious high schools for truancy and bad grades, with parents who had essentially given up on her. Then James Jackson, an English teacher with a Southern drawl, a speech impediment, and a vintage motorcycle, started writing notes in the margins of her essays that changed everything: A+, so great, brilliant, funny. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the trailblazing comedian sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the man who believed in her when she was just trying to blend into the walls. Margaret opens up about meeting Mr. Jackson at the School of the Arts in San Francisco, a teacher who rode a motorcycle, wore a leather jacket with cigarettes in the sleeve, and spoke like a Southern Barbara Walters. She talks about the composition book he gave her at the beginning of the year, how his handwritten encouragement in the margins reignited the excellent student she had forgotten she was, and why his gentle belief felt so tender it was almost poetic. She shares what it was like to watch him get bullied by jocks in the classroom for being gay, how that made her feel as a closeted teenager herself, and the day she and her best friend Jerry walked out of school forever after those same jocks mocked Mr. Jackson's murder. She reflects on learning decades later that Mr. Jackson had been killed by a homeless teenager he had taken in, and how court documents revealed allegations that Mr. Jackson had sexually abused the boy who killed him. There's also a raw reflection on trauma, survival, and what it means to separate the art from the artist. Margaret talks about being sexually abused by multiple people as a young girl in the 1970s and 80s, a time when young girl sexuality was disturbingly normalized, and how her parents denied it happened and still refuse to talk about it today. She opens up about being raped in high school, headlining the first primetime ABC sitcom starring an Asian American woman in 1994, and being told by network executives that she was too fat to play herself. She shares what it felt like to lose 30 pounds in two weeks on fen-fen, urinate blood in her trailer from kidney failure, and be told not to gain the weight back even after her hair fell out. She reflects on spending a year and nine months in treatment for addiction, learning to wear sobriety like a loose garment, and why comedy is a coping mechanism that gives you hope by making you take an unexpected breath. As complicated as the story is as we present it, Margaret reflects on what she would want to say to Mr. Jackson, why his encouragement led her to encourage younger comedians the same way, and why she's really happy now after arranging her life in the right way. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com [https://www.thedogoodcrew.com] Chapters ☀️ CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Intro: The Teacher Who Wrote Notes in the Margins * 00:02:34 The Composition Book: When an Adult Finally Noticed * 00:07:27 A Southern Barbara Walters on a Motorcycle * 00:12:39 The Murder That Changed Everything * 00:19:23 Growing Up in a Gay Bookstore: Finding Safety * 00:25:20 A Lot of People: The Sexual Abuse Nobody Wanted to Hear About * 00:32:48 Jerry: The 40-Year Friendship That Wasn't Platonic or Romantic * 00:38:20 Too Fat to Play Myself: The ABC Show That Broke Her * 00:43:14 A Year and Nine Months: Institutionalized and Determined to Live * 00:47:13 Comedy as a Shield and a Sword: The Social Contract * 00:53:19 Purge Makes Plenty: Writing a Joke Every Morning ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Margaret Cho Executive Producer: David Begnaud, Olivier Delfosse Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital & David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast] Photo Credits: Margaret Cho, Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts Yearbook

The Truth About Coming Home As An Olympic Medalist At 14 | Tom Daley

Before Tom Daley became one of the most decorated divers in British history with five Olympic medals and five Olympic Games under his belt, he was a terrified nine year old standing on the end of a diving board, crying his eyes out and refusing to jump into the pool. Then Andy Banks, the head coach at Plymouth Diving Club, walked in and said the words that almost ended everything before it started: Tom Daley will never be a diver for as long as he'll live. In this deeply personal and unguarded conversation, the Olympic champion sits down with David Begnaud to share the story of the coach who doubted him at first, then never stopped believing in him, and how that belief carried him through bullying, loss, and the darkest years of his life. Tom opens up about the moment Andy pulled him aside at 12 years old and asked if he wanted to go to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, laying out a roadmap for a kid who would become the youngest British diver to compete at an Olympic Games at just 14 years and 81 days old. He talks about coming back from Beijing and enduring brutal physical and emotional bullying at school, getting rugby tackled in the field and threatened to have his legs broken, all while trying to process what it meant to be an Olympian in eighth grade. He shares what it felt like to lose his father to a brain tumor at 17, just one year before the London 2012 Olympics, and how his dad never cared about results, only that Tom was 18th best in the whole country even if he came dead last. He reflects on meeting Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar winning screenwriter who flew to the UK to see him, only to be told by management that dating an LGBTQ activist would be bad for his image, and how falling in love felt like one more thing he loved that the world said was wrong. There's also a raw reflection on fear, identity, and what it means to thrive under pressure. Tom talks about hitting his head twice while diving, why Andy taught him that the day you stop being scared on the board is the day something goes wrong, and how knitting became the reason he was able to win Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games. He opens up about coming out at 19 through a YouTube video because he was tired of being misquoted and feeling ashamed, why he believes vulnerability is a practice and not a destination, and how becoming Papa to Robbie and Phoenix is the role he's most proud of beyond all his Olympic medals. He shares what it's like to retire at 30 and wake up every day wondering if he could do one more Olympics in LA 2028, why there's no such thing as good luck only good preparation, and why the greatest form of activism is just living your authentic life every single day. And he reflects on what his father, who recorded everything up until two days before he died, would want the world to know. Get more stories that remind you the world is still good. Sign up for our free newsletter: https://www.thedogoodcrew.com [https://www.thedogoodcrew.com] Chapters ☀️ CHAPTERS * 00:00:00 Intro: The Coach Who Said He'd Never Make It * 00:06:35 Standing on the Board, Crying: The Day Andy Walked In * 00:08:52 Do You Want to Go to Beijing? The 12-Year-Old's Olympic Plan * 00:13:29 The Perfectionist Who Felt Everything Too Deeply * 00:16:13 Titian: Learning to Compete Every Single Day * 00:17:59 It's About Bloody Time: Winning Gold After Four Olympics * 00:18:26 The Bullying After Beijing: When Being an Olympian Made It Worse * 00:20:21 Everything I Loved Got Taken Away: Dad, Diving, and Being Gay * 00:30:17 18th in Rio: The God Wink and Your Story Doesn't End Here * 00:40:13 The Fear Is What Stops You Making Mistakes * 00:41:45 Knitting Saved My Olympic Gold: Finding Calm in the Chaos * 00:43:13 Nothing Will Ever Compare: Life After Retirement at 30 * 00:44:34 Papa: The Role I'm Most Proud Of Beyond All the Medals * 00:46:05 LA 2028: Could I Do One More? * 00:51:16 The Perfect Little Boy Syndrome: Overachieving to Hide Being Gay ABOUT THIS PODCAST: The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question. David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning. Host: David Begnaud Guest: Tom Daley Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson Booker: Sully Bloch Director of Photography: Foster Parks Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative) Social Media: Maxim Trofimenko, Kylee Anderson, Gracie Pekrul Theme Music: Slipstream Post-Production: Longwave Digital, David & Luana Co. CONNECT WITH US: The Person Who Believed In Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast [https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast]