Keith Rabois, who has spent over a decade associated with Khosla Ventures’ Menlo Park headquarters, announced Thursday that the firm is establishing its first location outside of Sand Hill Road. Speaking at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event in New York’s West Village, Rabois confirmed the new office will be located on 14th Street and is slated to open this fall, though he noted the timeline remains flexible.
The expansion marks a significant shift for the venture capital firm, which notably does not maintain an office in San Francisco. The New York space will house several investors, including Rabois, and will feature what he described as an “executive briefing center.” This facility is designed to host approximately 10 to 12 portfolio companies four days a week to meet with Fortune 500 executives, a program Rabois said has historically helped startups secure pilots and customers.
Rabois recently relocated to the East Coast to be closer to his family, including his husband Jacob Helberg, the Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, and their children based in Washington, D.C. The move prompted questions regarding whether New York possesses the same density of talent that Rabois has traditionally recruited from in the Bay Area.
Rabois was unequivocal about the availability of entry-level talent, citing the fintech company Ramp, which he has backed, as proof that the firm can build critical mass from recent graduates. However, he acknowledged challenges in recruiting senior engineers and architects. The most significant hurdle, he said, is attracting proven executive talent who prefer in-office cultures but cannot afford to live in New York City due to commute times from suburban areas.
To mitigate this, Ramp has focused on building leadership from the ground up rather than hiring senior executives. Rabois highlighted that wealthy senior professionals often live in concentric circles far outside the city, making daily commuting difficult for those who are not independently wealthy.
The announcement follows a report by commercial real estate firm CBRE released last month, which indicated that New York has narrowly surpassed the San Francisco Bay Area in total tech talent headcount for the first time in 13 years of tracking. The shift was attributed to aggressive hiring by finance firms for AI roles and staffing cuts by Bay Area tech employers. Despite the data, some attendees expressed skepticism about the findings during the event.
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