The social platform Nextdoor named executive Michael Kiernan as its new chief revenue officer on Wednesday, part of a broader bid from the company to reinvent itself and its advertising business under refreshed leadership.
Kiernan, who first joined Nextdoor in 2018, has served as CRO on an interim basis since April. In his newly official capacity, Kiernan will oversee teams responsible for sales, client services, and operations.
“Meeting your customers where they are has never been more important, and Nextdoor has a tremendous opportunity to continue providing differentiated advertising value,” Kiernan said. “It is a privilege to join the leadership team at Nextdoor at a pivotal moment for the company.”
The appointment comes after the return of chief executive Nirav Tolia, who rejoined Nextdoor as CEO and a member of the board in May 2024. Tolia cofounded Nextdoor in 2010 and served as its first CEO until December 2018.
When Tolia returned, he replaced then-CEO Sarah Friar, who led the company through the pandemic and took it public via a special purpose acquisition company in November 2021. Friar is now the chief financial officer at OpenAI.
In conjunction with Tolia’s return, Nextdoor also parted ways with its then-CRO and chief marketing officer, Heidi Andersen. After partnering with executive search firm Daversa to fill the role, the company chose instead to elevate Kiernan as an internal candidate.
Together, Kiernan and Tolia have set about reinventing the 15-year-old company, a process that involves reimagining its content offering, technology platform, and advertising strategy.
To support the effort, the company also hired a new chief design officer, Georg Petschnigg, in November. Before joining Nextdoor, Petschnigg most recently served as the head of product design at The New York Times, where he led the redesign of its flagship mobile app.
In its latest earnings report in November, the company reported a loss of $15 million on quarterly revenues of $66 million. Its revenues, which come almost exclusively from advertising, rose 17% year over year, and its net loss shrunk by $23 million. It has roughly 46 million weekly active users and more than 88 million registered users.
The turnaround Nextdoor
The company began its turnaround initiative, called NEXT, in April. It focuses on three core elements, according to Tolia: surfacing more high-quality content, organizing information more intuitively, and new design.
To help realize those goals, the company has taken a number of steps. First, it has worked to build out its proprietary adtech stack, which has enabled it to operate more efficiently and offer clients improved features such as enhanced targeting and measurement. Native technology also improves the quality of ad products the company can offer, enhancing its overall design.
