Nextdoor Has an AI Day. Maybe It Needs a Communication Day.

I came across an interesting HR Brew article about Nextdoor's HR team dedicating one full day every month to AI experimentation.

Full article:

https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/nextdoors-hr-team-halts-people-work-once-a-month-and-dedicates-the-day-to-ai

First, credit where it's due.

As someone with a Learning & Development background, I like this idea.

Nextdoor Head of People Tony Castellanos told HR Brew that the HR team clears its calendars one day each month—no meetings, interviews, or reports—so employees can experiment with AI and build solutions.

That's experiential learning.

That's giving employees permission to experiment, iterate, and learn.

I can get behind that.

But given everything I've been documenting about Nextdoor, another thought immediately crossed my mind:

Could we dedicate one day to communication?

I've spent more than two months trying to obtain a Nextdoor Insights study from Jacob Chavis.

I've contacted Jacob, Nirav Tolia, Sarah Leary, Investor Relations, and Communications.

Then Nextdoor published another Insights report directing readers who want detailed information to—you guessed it—Jacob Chavis.

I followed those instructions again.

Short email. Kinder, gentler reset. Two studies requested.

I'm still waiting.

That's why this article fascinates me.

Nextdoor can pause routine HR work for an entire day each month so employees can explore AI.

Great.

But technology doesn't solve every organizational problem.

Sometimes the solution isn't another AI agent.

Sometimes it's:

"Hey, somebody answer that email."

HR Brew also reports that Nextdoor's "People Brain" reviews content published to public channels to help ensure messaging and policy align with the People team's core content.

Now that makes me curious.

If AI is helping evaluate Nextdoor's public messaging, I'd love to know what it thinks about:

Community without conversation.

Communication posts with comments disabled.

Research advertised as available while requests go unanswered.

A shareholder spending more than two months asking for an answer.

Maybe those aren't AI problems.

Maybe they're leadership and execution problems.

I've repeatedly said I want Nextdoor and NXDR to succeed. I'm a shareholder. Financially, that's in my interest.

AI Days could genuinely improve efficiency.

But innovation shouldn't distract from the basics.

Artificial intelligence is impressive.

Answering an email doesn't require it.

Perhaps alongside AI Day, Nextdoor should try a Communication Day.

I'll volunteer my inbox for the pilot.

Full timeline at NielFlamm.com/blog.

Leadership Summit or Shareholder Priorities?

While researching another blog post comparing how other social media platforms allow user feedback while Nextdoor shuts it down (read it at NielFlamm.com/blog), I came across a post from CEO Nirav Tolia about a leadership summit in Napa Valley.

Curious, I asked ChatGPT what a summit like that might cost. Based on a typical Silicon Valley executive retreat, it is estimated to be around $500,000. It also noted that, relative to Nextdoor’s reported quarterly revenue of approximately $62 million, such spending would not necessarily be unusual.

Years ago, while working for a large global automotive manufacturer, I participated in a leadership summit held in San Diego during the off-season. There was one significant difference: the company was profitable and returning value to shareholders. When profit expectations were no longer met, those leadership summits stopped almost immediately.

Nextdoor has been in business for approximately 15 years. Shareholders have yet to see a dividend, and the company continues working toward sustained profitability.

Could the summit have been held at one of Nextdoor’s corporate offices instead? ChatGPT estimated a company office could have hosted a similar event for substantially less. If Dallas were an option—where Nextdoor has approved additional investment in office space—would that have been the more cost-conscious choice?

When people hear “Napa Valley leadership summit,” it’s easy to imagine world-class Cabernet, perhaps dinner at The French Laundry, and cigars while discussing AI. To be clear, I have no information suggesting any of those things occurred. They’re simply an illustration of the type of retreat many associate with Napa.

Meanwhile, today marks Day 32 since I requested the home insurance research report that Nextdoor encouraged people to request. Despite multiple follow-ups, I still haven’t received it.

Perhaps Jacob Chavis is simply busy. If so, I hope there’s eventually time for a brief reply to niel@nielflamm.com.

As shareholders, it’s reasonable to ask questions about spending, transparency, responsiveness, and accountability.

Would you support a luxury executive retreat if your company wasn’t meeting its profitability goals?

Join the discussion on NielFlamm.com.

Help Shape the Future of NielFlamm.com

One of the questions I've been asking myself is simple: Why do people keep coming back to my content?

Instead of guessing, I decided to ask.

I've created a short survey using Microsoft Forms to better understand what readers and viewers value most, how they found my content, and what they'd like to see more of. Whether you've been following me for months or this is your first visit, your feedback matters.

I haven't seen another independent content creator undertake an initiative quite like this. Rather than relying only on analytics like page views and clicks, I want to hear directly from the people who spend their time reading, watching, and engaging with my work.

The survey is anonymous and should take less than one minute to complete.

Take the survey here:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/WPQAzYLsgs

I hope you'll take a moment to fill it out. Your responses will help shape the future direction of my blog, videos, reviews, leadership content, AI discussions, and everything else I create.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

Day 25: Stock Price, Strategy, and the Question of Accountability

Day 25.

Still no response from Jacob Chavis regarding my request for the full study information published by the Nextdoor Communications team, listing him as the contact.

No study.

No methodology.

No acknowledgment.

As of this post, Nextdoor (NXDR) is trading around $2.33 per share.

For me, with my modest investment, that represents a small gain.

But I continue asking the bigger question:

What exactly are investors buying into?

Nextdoor launched over 15 years ago. The company continues discussing technology, AI, growth opportunities, and the future of connecting neighbors.

Those are great talking points.

But eventually the conversation has to shift from possibilities to results.

Technology alone does not fix execution.

Podcasts do not fix execution.

Social media posts do not fix execution.

A true change in direction does.

Speaking of technology, there are companies building solutions around the Nextdoor ecosystem — lead generation, sales performance, advertising optimization, and analytics.

My concern as a shareholder is simple:

Trust.

If my experience requesting information connected to a published study is any indication, what happens when a larger issue requires escalation?

What happens when a business partner, advertiser, or technology provider needs support when something actually impacts revenue?

Ignoring a simple question is easy.

Solving difficult problems requires a culture of ownership.

This is not about one email.

It is about what behaviors become acceptable.

Leadership sets expectations.

Processes become culture.

Culture becomes results.

A saying I continue coming back to:

“We tolerate what we allow.”

Shareholders, users, advertisers, and partners should always ask:

What are we allowing?

Join the discussion on NielFlamm.com.

#Nextdoor#NXDR#Leadership#Accountability#CorporateGovernance#InvestorRelations#Technology#AI#CustomerExperience#BusinessStrategy#Transparency

Nextdoor’s Identity Question: Community Platform or Data & Advertising Company?

I continue to look more deeply into Nextdoor, not only as a shareholder but also as someone trying to understand its long-term vision, strategy, and execution.

Nextdoor recently released its 2026 Back-to-School Research, which discusses today’s parents, the importance of neighborhoods, local recommendations, and how communities support each other.

On the surface, this aligns with the message CEO Nirav Tolia often shares — building connection, strengthening communities, using AI to improve the neighbor experience, and bringing people together.

I support that mission.

The challenge is that the messaging starts to feel contradictory when compared to other leadership conversations.

In a recent interview, Chief Revenue Officer Michael Kiernan discussed Nextdoor’s future revenue strategy, AI transformation, and new monetization opportunities.

He discussed how Nextdoor has over 110 million people on the platform, and how the company understands neighbors — where they live, their interests, their communities, and how they engage. He also discussed how the “neighborhood graph” could become a monetization asset.

From a business perspective, I understand this.

Nextdoor is a publicly traded company. It has shareholders. It has expenses. It needs sustainable revenue.

Advertising, partnerships, AI efficiency, and new revenue streams are expected parts of running a technology company.

But here is where I continue to ask questions:

Where does the neighbor fit into the equation?

If surveys and neighbor insights are valuable enough to promote to advertisers, partners, and the public, shouldn’t the full research methodology be transparent?

How many people participated?

How were participants selected?

What were the demographics?

What questions were asked?

What was the complete data set?

Today marks Day 22 since I requested the full research information from Jacob Chavis regarding previous Nextdoor studies.

No full study.

No methodology.

No response.

That is where trust becomes difficult.

A company cannot talk about transparency, trust, and an authentic community while also controlling which information neighbors and investors are allowed to see.

The bigger question:

Is Nextdoor a neighborhood platform that creates revenue opportunities by connecting people?

Or is Nextdoor becoming a data and advertising company powered by neighbor activity?

Those are two very different stories.

Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle — but that requires transparency.

Neighbors deserve clarity.

Advertisers deserve clarity.

Shareholders deserve clarity.

Trust is not created through messaging.

Trust is created through actions.

Join the discussion on NielFlamm.com.