Naval Ravikant
Born 1974 · Age 51
Indian-born American entrepreneur, angel investor, podcaster and co-founder/chairman of AngelList; early investor in Uber, Twitter, Foursquare, Postmates and others; founder/cofounder of Epinions, Genoa Corp, Vast.com, The Hit Forge, AngelList, MetaStable Capital, CoinList (spinout), Spearhead and Airchat.
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Life & Career Timeline
Moved to New York City
Moved from New Delhi to New York City with his mother and brother.
Graduated Stuyvesant High School
Graduated from New York City's Stuyvesant High School.
Interned at Davis Polk & Wardwell
Internship at top-tier law firm while in college.
Graduated Dartmouth College (BS Computer Science & Economics)
Earned dual degrees in Computer Science and Economics from Dartmouth College.
Brief role at Boston Consulting Group
Worked briefly at the management consultancy BCG after college before moving to tech.
Joined @Home (moved to Silicon Valley)
Worked at the high-speed cable service provider @Home in Silicon Valley.
Founded Genoa Corp
Founded Genoa Corp (Fremont, CA) which developed linear semiconductor optical amplifiers.
Rapid growth at Epinions
Early fast growth and public recognition—Benchmark commented on the speed of the startup's progress.
Co-founded Epinions
Co-founded product review site Epinions with Nirav Tolia and others.
Epinions seed funding (~$8M)
Eleven weeks after founding Epinions the company secured approximately $8M in seed funding from individual VCs and Benchmark.
Walked away from @Home unvested options
At age 25 left $4M of unvested stock options at @Home to found Epinions.
Early investor activity / angel investing begins
Began participating in angel investments and building network that would later support Hit Forge and AngelList.
Epinions raised venture capital (reported $45M total)
Epinions raised approximately $45M in venture capital from investors including Benchmark and August Capital (aggregate across rounds).
Epinions merged with Dealtime
Epinions merged with comparison-shopping site Dealtime (later became Shopping.com); co-founders who had left approved the merger although their shares were valued at zero.
Genoa Corp acquired by Finisar
Genoa Corp was acquired by Finisar for $5.5M.
Shopping.com IPO
The merged company (Shopping.com) held an initial public offering in October 2004.
Epinions founders' lawsuit settlement (undisclosed)
Settlement of suit against venture investors and remaining Epinions leaders; sum undisclosed but closed the legal dispute.
Personal life milestone: parents' situation and childhood reading
Family circumstances shaped him (raised largely by single mother after parents split; extensive childhood reading in libraries influenced lifelong learning orientation).
Epinions-related public recognition and fallout
Following the merger and legal dispute Naval described the episode as a learning experience about information asymmetry between founders and investors.
eBay acquired Shopping.com
Shopping.com (parent of Epinions/DealTime) was acquired by eBay in 2005 (reported ~ $620M transaction at approx $21/share).
Lawsuit settled
The lawsuit regarding Epinions/DealTime/Shopping.com was settled in December 2005 (settlement sum undisclosed).
Founded Vast.com
Founded Vast.com, an online white-label classifieds marketplace; by ~2006 the company had ~25 employees across continents.
Filed lawsuit against Benchmark and August Capital
Naval and three former Epinions co-founders filed suit alleging they were misled about Epinions' value during the DealTime merger (NYT reported Jan 26, 2005).
Hit Forge investments include Twitter, Uber, Stack Overflow
Hit Forge invested in notable early companies that became large (X/Twitter, Uber, Stack Overflow among others).
Launched Venture Hacks (blog)
Co-wrote the Venture Hacks blog (with Babak Nivi and Kartik Agaram) offering practical startup fundraising advice; the blog seeded concepts for AngelList.
Founded The Hit Forge (early-stage fund)
Started The Hit Forge, an early-stage venture fund (reported ~$20M) that invested early in companies including X (Twitter), Uber and Stack Overflow.
AngelList concept launched (AngelBase/Venture Hacks list)
AngelList began as a list of angel investors and fundraising tools on the Venture Hacks blog (sometimes dated to 2007–2009 stage).
Co-founded AngelList
Co-founded AngelList with Babak Nivi as a platform to connect startups and angel investors (formal founding around 2010).
Angel investing scale-up (many early-stage bets)
By the 2010s, Naval had invested early in a large cohort of startups including Uber, Twitter, Foursquare, Yammer, Postmates, SnapLogic and others (over 100+ investments overall).
Named among influential early-stage investors
By the 2010s Naval was widely recognized as a top early-stage investor in Silicon Valley, cited across Business Insider and Fast Company lists.
Media profile / Mixergy interview (early AngelList era)
Mixergy interview (2011) discussed AngelList and what companies raise on the platform.
AngelList community begins opening (2011–2012 transition)
AngelList initially closed to outsiders in 2011; by 2012 it became an open website and scaled user adoption.
AngelList official launch (website)
AngelList's official website was launched (the first public versions appeared in 2011).
JOBS Act passed (AngelList lobbying)
After lobbying efforts, the JOBS Act was signed into law on April 5, 2012, easing some securities rules and enabling platforms like AngelList to scale.
AngelList Syndicates early traction ($200M+ through platform reported historically)
AngelList grew into a major fundraising platform — public reporting across sources cites hundreds of millions flowing through AngelList annually in later years.
AngelList Syndicates launched
AngelList introduced Syndicates (allowing lead angels to syndicate deals to other accredited investors); reported coverage in late 2013.
Became active in cryptocurrency advocacy and boards
Took roles in crypto ecosystem including involvement with MetaStable and board/advisory roles such as the ZCash Foundation (sources report board/advisory roles over time).
MetaStable investors include major VCs
MetaStable backers included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund and Bessemer.
Co-founded MetaStable Capital (crypto hedge fund)
Co-founded MetaStable Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund investing in assets such as Bitcoin, Ether and Monero.
AngelList role: CEO -> Chairman (transition over time)
Naval served as AngelList CEO and later transitioned to chairman; exact step-down date not specified in provided sources.
AngelList expands product offering and acquisitions
AngelList expanded features (syndicates, rolling funds) and executed acquisitions such as Product Hunt (Dec 2016).
AngelList acquired Product Hunt
AngelList acquired Product Hunt; reported acquisition date December 1, 2016 and reported purchase price around $20M.
Launched Spearhead (founder-focused angel program)
Launched Spearhead, an investment program giving founders capital (and training) to act as angel investors; program formation credited to ~2017.
CoinList milestone: supported >$400M in token sales (over time)
CoinList infrastructure supported hundreds of millions in token sales (sources cite >$400M in investments across token sales since Aug 2017).
CoinList initial raise (~$9.2M reported)
Press reports cite CoinList raising approximately $9.2M during its initial fundraising (press release cited April 5 in some sources).
CoinList spun out from AngelList (with Protocol Labs)
CoinList was spun out to focus on compliant token sales / ICO offerings, partnering with Protocol Labs (Filecoin) among others.
MetaStable reported strong returns (regulatory and press highlights)
MetaStable reported notable returns in crypto (press reported returns and investor interest such as 540% returns noted by some sources in mid-March 2017 coverage).
CoinDesk blockchain influence ranking
CoinDesk ranked Naval as the 4th most influential person in the blockchain industry (2017 ranking).
MetaStable AUM reported at $69M
A regulatory filing reported MetaStable Capital's assets at approximately $69 million (June 2017 filing).
Public recognition: TechCrunch 'Angel Investor of the Year' / Crunchie award (reported)
Named Angel Investor of the Year by TechCrunch and received a Crunchie award during the 10th Annual Crunchies Awards (sources report this recognition; exact year attribution in public sources varies).
Ranked among top angel investors (Crunchbase analysis)
Forbes writer Alejandro Cremades analyzed Crunchbase data (Aug 2018) ranking Naval 6th of top 50 angel investors overall (121 investments) and 3rd in exits (38 exits).
Personal brand & philosophy popularized (How to Get Rich)
Naval's short-form content (tweets, podcasts, essays), especially 'How to Get Rich (without getting lucky)', spread widely and formed the basis of later compilations.
Spearhead fundraising milestone: cohorts & alumni success
Spearhead's early cohorts produced alumni who became unicorn founders (companies such as Neuralink, Opendoor, PillPack, Shippo, Rippling, Scale referenced across coverage).
Public media profile: CNBC interview (Apr 3, 2019)
Interviewed by CNBC (April 3, 2019) as a top Silicon Valley investor commenting on business and tech leaders.
Spearhead: early cohorts produce companies >$10B combined
Spearhead's first two classes included founders from 35 companies with combined worth over $10B and several unicorns (reported in sources).
Notable podcast appearances (Joe Rogan, Tim Ferriss, others)
High-profile media appearances including Joe Rogan Experience and Tim Ferriss podcast interviews that popularized his 'How to Get Rich' ideas.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant published (curated)
Eric Jorgenson compiled Naval's tweets, essays and interviews into 'The Almanack of Naval Ravikant' (free downloadable book; foreword by Tim Ferriss).
CoinList Series A / major raise (reported)
CoinList reported a $100M Series A round and a $1.5B valuation (reported Nov 2021 in some sources).
AngelList valuation reaches $4B
AngelList Venture reported a $4 billion valuation (reported March 2022).
Recipient: Edmund Hillary Fellowship (listed)
Listed as a recipient / alumnus of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF directory indicates membership by 2025; exact induction year unspecified).
Co-founded Airchat (social media app using generative AI)
Co-founded Airchat, a social media app leveraging generative AI and story-style content.
Continued public thought leadership (podcasts, essays, talks)
Ongoing production of short-form podcasts at Nav.al and Spearhead.co; numerous interviews and talks on wealth, happiness and startups.
Listed as Edmund Hillary Fellowship alumnus (directory retrieval)
EHF Alumni Directory shows Naval Ravikant as an alumnus (directory retrieved July 2, 2025).
Ongoing influence and activities (speaker, podcaster, investor)
Continues to run Nav.al and Spearhead podcasts, invest, advise, and speak; remains a highly-cited voice on startups, wealth, and happiness.
Key Achievement Ages
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