Square’s CFO Sarah Friar is stepping down to become the CEO of Nextdoor, a social media platform for neighbors — and shares were down more than 8% in aftermarket trading following the news.
In a statement, Square CEO Jack Dorsey said Friar “steered us through an IPO and helped build a growing ecosystem of businesses that will scale into the future.”
Now, the question is what she has in mind for the fast-growing Nextdoor.
Word on the street is, they’re leveling up
The hire is a brilliant get for the made-for-local-gossip social network, which has been waiting for the right person to take Nextdoor “to the next level” since their current CEO Nirav Tolia announced his planned departure 3 months ago.
And Friar, Dorsey’s number 2 at Square, seems like just the person to do it: The Northern Ireland native studied engineering at Oxford and received her MBA at Stanford before spending a decade with Goldman Sachs, leaving the banking giant as a managing director.
She also spent a year with Salesforce as an SVP before joining Square in 2012 (plus, she sits on the boards of both Slack and Walmart).
Nextdoor ain’t no slouch, either
The San Francisco-based company has raised $285m from investors over its 8-plus years, but needs to generate more revenue to move into IPO territory — something the ex-CFO of Square knows a thing or two about.
