Spencer Rascoff

Spencer Rascoff (born October 24, 1975) is an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Zillow Group, as well as one of the co-founders of Hotwire.com. Rascoff was on the board of directors of Palantir. Additionally, Rascoff held the position of Visiting Executive Professor at Harvard Business School where he co-created and co-taught the “Managing Tech Ventures” course.^[1]

Early life and education

Rascoff was born to Jane and Joseph Rascoff. His father was a business manager and tour producer for numerous well known musicians including The Rolling Stones, U2, and Paul Simon.^[2] Rascoff grew up in New York and then Los Angeles, where he attended Harvard-Westlake. He received a degree in 1997 from Harvard University.^[3]

Career

After graduating from college, Rascoff worked as a private equity investor at TPG Capital and also as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.^[4]

Hotwire.com

In 1999, at the age of 24, Rascoff co-founded Hotwire.com, a leading Internet travel company, which a few years later was sold to InterActiveCorp for $685 million. Rascoff then served as vice president of lodging for Expedia before leaving to co-found Zillow.^[5]

Zillow

Rascoff served various roles through the years including chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and VP of Marketing until his appointment to CEO in 2010.^[6] As CEO, Rascoff led Zillow through its 2011 IPO and 15 acquisitions. In 2017, Rascoff was named "The Most Powerful Person in Residential Real Estate" by the Swanepoel Power 200.^[7] Rascoff stepped down from his CEO position in February 2019.^[8] In April 2020, Rascoff resigned from Zillow's board of directors.^[9][10]

dot.la

In January 2020, Rascoff co-founded dot.la, a news site for the California tech startup industry.^[11]

Pacaso

In October 2020, Rascoff co-founded Pacaso alongside Austin Allison. Pacaso is positioned as a real estate platform that makes second home ownership more accessible through shared ownership.^[12] Pacaso has been described by some as an alternative take on the timeshare model of property ownership.^[13][14][15]

Recon Food

In June 2021, Rascoff co-founded Recon Food with his daughter, Sophia Rascoff. The app uses technology to search a user's camera roll for all previous food-related photos and automatically upload them to the app.^[16]

Other projects

In 2015, he co-wrote and published his first book, “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.”^[17]

References

1. Kuhlman, Cara (9 Jul 2020). "Tech Moves: Zillow co-founder joins Palantir board; Hootsuite names new CEO; and more". GeekWire. GeekWire, LLC. Retrieved 12 Nov 2020.
2. Sandomir, Richard (11 April 2017). "Joseph Rascoff, Who Had Rolling Stones' Tours Under His Thumb, Dies at 71". The New York Times.
3. "Hr97 5th Reunion".
4. Cao, Jing (3 August 2014). "Zillow CEO Rascoff plays the long game". The Seattle Times.
5. Marino, Vivian (21 October 2014). "Spencer Rascoff". The New York Times.
6. "About Us".
7. Stiles, Marc (Jan 9, 2017). "Report names Zillow CEO the most powerful person in real estate". Puget Sound Business Journal.
8. Salinas, Sara (2019-02-21). "Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff is out — co-founder Rich Barton is taking over". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
9. "Spencer Rascoff Leaves Zillow Board - The Real Deal". The Real Deal New York. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
10. "Spencer Rascoff departs Zillow Group board, 1 year after stepping down as CEO". GeekWire. 2020-04-07. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
11. Schlosser, Kurt (9 Jan 2020). "Former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff launches dot.LA, a news site for Southern California tech". GeekWire. GeekWire, LLC. Retrieved 12 Nov 2020.
12. Parker, Will (October 2020). "WSJ News Exclusive | as Pandemic Boosts Suburban-Home Demand, Startup Sells a New Ownership Model". Wall Street Journal.
13. Rosalsky, Greg (24 August 2021). "A Startup Is Turning Houses Into Corporations, And The Neighbors Are Fighting Back". NPR. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
14. Duarte, Jesse (13 April 2021). "Home co-ownership company sues St. Helena in dispute over definition of timeshare". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
15. Journal, Will Parker | Photographs by Rachel Bujalski for The Wall Street (2021-06-20). "Napa Valley Feud Pits Real-Estate Startup Against Homeowners". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
16. SCHLOSSER, KURT (June 29, 2021). "Ex-Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and teen daughter cook up a new food-focused social media startup". Geek Wire. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
17. "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Books - Best Sellers - February 22, 2015 - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-03-15.