The character arc of Reid Hoffman
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 5 August 1967 in Palo Alto. Between then and now sit a Stanford degree in 1990, an Oxford master's in philosophy in 1993, Apple in 1994, SocialNet in 1997, PayPal from 2000, LinkedIn co-founded in December 2002 and launched on 5 May 2003, Greylock in 2009, the Microsoft board in 2017, Blitzscaling in 2018 and Superagency in 2025. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Reid Hoffman?
The first one did not work.
He took a degree in symbolic systems and cognitive science at Stanford in 1990 and a master's in philosophy at Wolfson College, Oxford in 1993. Philosophy is not the obvious preparation for what followed, and he has said it is the training that has been most useful. He worked at Apple in 1994 on eWorld, then at Fujitsu.
In 1997 he co-founded SocialNet.com, an online dating and networking company. It did not work. The idea was roughly right and about six years early, which is the most painful way for a company to fail. He joined the board of PayPal at its founding, became its chief operating officer in January 2000 and senior vice president of business development in June that year.
In December 2002 he co-founded LinkedIn, which launched on 5 May 2003, and it is unmistakably the same idea as SocialNet built by somebody who had already been wrong once. Microsoft acquired it in 2016 and he joined the Microsoft board on 14 March 2017. He became a partner at Greylock in 2009, co-founded Inflection AI in March 2022 and Manas AI in January 2025. His books are The Start-Up of You in 2012, The Alliance in 2014, Blitzscaling in 2018, Impromptu in 2023 and Superagency in 2025.
The moments
Reid Hoffman's timeline.
The 1990s
Symbolic systems at Stanford
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A degree in how minds and machines both handle meaning.
Philosophy at Oxford
Milestone, and it changed everything. Philosophy, which is not the obvious preparation for any of what followed.
Apple, and eWorld
Milestone. An early online service, at a company that did not yet know what it was doing online.
SocialNet did not work
Setback, and it changed everything. The right idea, about six years early. That is the most painful way for a company to fail.
The 2000s
Chief operating officer
Milestone, and it changed everything. An operating job at a company that was about to become enormous.
Try the same idea again
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: build it again, taken, or do something else. LinkedIn launched in May 2003 and Microsoft acquired it in 2016.
Milestone, and it changed everything. The same idea as the company that failed, built by somebody who had already been wrong once.
A partner at Greylock
Milestone, and it changed his direction. From building companies to backing them, while still running one.
The 2010s
The Start-Up of You
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A career treated as a company, which is the argument LinkedIn is built on.
The Microsoft board
Milestone, and it changed everything. Microsoft bought the company, and then put him on the board.
Blitzscaling
Milestone, and it changed everything. The argument for growing faster than is comfortable, from somebody who had done it twice.
The 2020s
Two companies in three years
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two more companies and two more books, in his fifties.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is the plainest lesson on the whole line: the first attempt failed, and the second one, built out of what the first had taught him, is on nearly a billion desks.
What he wrote
Books by Reid Hoffman
- 2012
The Start-Up of You
Adapt to the future and take charge of your career, by treating it as a company rather than a ladder.
- 2014
The Alliance
Managing talent in the networked age, and what an employer and an employee actually owe each other.
- 2018
Blitzscaling
The argument for growing faster than is comfortable, from somebody who had done it twice.
- 2023
Impromptu
On artificial intelligence, written in part with it.
- 2025
Superagency
What could go right with an artificial intelligence future, which is the less common half of that argument.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His built the second version of an idea that had already failed once. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Reid Hoffman: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Reid Hoffman's character arc?
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What is Blitzscaling by Reid Hoffman?
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What does Reid Hoffman do now?
Where does this timeline of Reid Hoffman's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Reid Hoffman, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Microsoft, board of directors, from 14 March 2017.
- Publisher records for The Start-Up of You, The Alliance, Blitzscaling, Impromptu and Superagency.