Spencer Rascoff

Co-founder & Chair: Pacaso, Recon Food, dot.LA, Supernova
Director, Varo Bank
Office Hours podcast, Investor, author
Former Zillow, Hotwire, prof HBS

Spencer is an entrepreneur and company leader who co-founded Zillow, Hotwire, dot.LA, Pacaso, and Recon Food who served as Zillow's CEO for a decade. During Spencer’s time as CEO, Zillow won dozens of “best places to work” awards as it grew to over 4,500 employees, $3 billion in revenue, and $10 billion in market capitalization. Prior to Zillow, Spencer co-founded and was VP Corporate Development of Hotwire, which was sold to Expedia for $685 million in 2003.

He serves as executive chairman of dot.LA, a news site covering the Los Angeles tech scene and one of the companies launched by 75 & Sunny Labs. He is also co-founder and chairman of Pacaso, the real estate company pioneering a new way to own a second home. He is co-Chair of Supernova, a family of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (NYSE: SPNV; NYSE: SNII; NYSE: STRE), which take great private companies public. Supernova 1 successfully merged with Offerpad (NYSE: OPAD), a leading real estate homebuying company, and Supernova 2 successfully merged with Rigetti Computing (Nasdaq: RGTI), a quantum computing company. Spencer is on the Board of Directors of Varo Bank, a digital fintech bank, and is a former Board member of Zillow Group (Nasdaq: ZG), Palantir (NYSE: PLTR), TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP), Zulily (Nasdaq: ZU), Julep, SwitchFly, and several other tech companies. He is on the Board of Advisors for PledgeLA, a coalition aiming to increase diversity, equity and community engagement in LA’s tech community.

In spring 2022, Spencer was a Visiting Professor where he taught Harvard College’s first ever startup class “LPCE 102: Startups, from idea to exit” and in fall 2019, Spencer was a Visiting Executive Professor at Harvard Business School where he co-created and co-taught “Managing Tech Ventures”. In 2015, Spencer co-wrote and published the New York Times’ Best Seller “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.” Spencer is the host of "Office Hours,” a podcast featuring candid conversations between prominent executives on leadership, company culture, product strategy, and how to run tech companies. Before his consumer web career, Spencer worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and in private equity at TPG Capital. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Spencer graduated cum laude from Harvard University and is on the Board of Trustees of Harvard-Westlake School.

In The News

75 & Sunny

What is 75 & Sunny?

Spencer is the founder and general partner of 75 & Sunny, an LA-based venture fund and startup studio. 75 & Sunny has made over 80 investments to date, in sectors including proptech, the future of work, and the creator economy. Spencer works closely with the founders in the 75 & Sunny portfolio, bringing his two decades of startup and technology experience to bear in partnering with founders at all stages of their journey.

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Recon

What is Recon?

Recon Food is a social media app that brings people together through a shared love of food. Spencer co-founded Recon Food with his daughter Sophia, who wanted a way to reconnect with her friends and family but was tired of the divisiveness of traditional social media.

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Pacaso

What is Pacaso?

Pacaso is a real estate service that helps people buy and own a share of a second home. The mission of Pacaso is to enrich lives by making second home ownership possible and enjoyable for more people. Pacaso has raised more than $250 million in funding and operates in top second home destinations across the United States. The company is an intentionally distributed workforce actively hiring for roles in technology, business and sales.

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Supernova

What is Supernova?

Supernova Partners Acquisition Company, Inc. was established to partner with an advantaged growth company that benefits from thematic shifts and tech-enabled trends. Our team has decades of operational, investment and acquisition experience across both public and private companies. Our collective experience provides us a distinctive ability to identify and partner with a high-quality company and add value through active and engaged involvement with its management team.

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dot.LA

What is dot.LA?

dot.LA is the leading news service covering the Los Angeles tech and startup scene. Through our events, podcasts, and news coverage, we shine a light on the innovation economy in Southern California.

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Current Investments

Spencer is an active angel investor with investments in over 50 startups. He typically invests in the pre-seed or seed stage. Investing themes include: future of work (HR Tech), real estate (PropTech), marketplaces, direct-to-consumer ecommerce, travel, and moonshots. You can learn more about his investing in this blog post. Selected portfolio company investments:

Office Hours with Spencer Rascoff

Office Hours

Hear Spencer discuss with other CEOs and business leaders how to manage, how to lead, and how to win in business.

Latest episode

From the Vault: How Eddy Lu and his Co-founder Built The GOAT App Based on a Love of Vintage Air Jordans

Office Hours with Spencer Rascoff

Dad, I have a question

"Dad I have a question" is a fun project I launched with my then 10-year old son. In this podcast, he asks me questions about politics, economics, technology and whatever else is on his mind.