Nextdoor
Neighborhood social network Nextdoor is still focused entirely on getting people to use its service, not on making money. But it’s starting to plan ahead for the day when that changes.
The company, which has raised about $100 million in venture capital, recently hired Christa Quarles from Disney and named her chief business officer. Quarles will report to Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia.
In the short term, Quarles will oversee Nextdoor's nascent business development efforts. Human resources, legal and finance departments will also report up to her. Over the long term, though, Quarles will evaluate the business models that Nextdoor should pursue.
Obvious ones include advertising and local commerce, Quarles said, but the company may get more creative than that.
"The path forward is not 100 percent known at this point," she said.
Nextdoor, which says it has millions of users, organizes itself by neighborhoods. Residents need to prove their identity to join their neighborhood’s private network and can use the service to communicate only with people in the same geographic area.
At Disney, Quarles most recently oversaw the company’s mobile and social games division. She joined Disney in the acquisition of Playdom, where she was CFO. Prior to that role, Quarles was a longtime equity research analyst.
