Venture capitalist Josh Elman is taking a senior role at the stock-trading company Robinhood, a move that will equip Robinhood with product expertise but also reduce the amount of time Elman spends at Greylock Partners, where he has established himself as a well-known consumer investor.
Greylock investor Josh Elman is joining Robinhood, the stock-trading app, as its new product chief
He’ll remain at Greylock as a venture partner.
Robinhood said Wednesday that it had hired Elman, who worked as a product exec at big tech companies like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as its VP of product. It’s part of a broader leadership ramp up at the company as it begins to apply its no-fee trading platform to assets like cryptocurrencies. The company is also searching for VPs of engineering and customer support.
Elman will become a “venture partner” at Greylock — which is typically not a full-time role but allows a venture capitalist to sit on boards and advise the firm, even if not always leading new deals. Elman has helped Greylock over the last six years make investments in social media companies like Houseparty, Medium and Nextdoor. Elman will remain on his existing Greylock boards, and told Recode that he could still lead new investments though he has no plans to right now.
“In January, I started talking with a few of my partners about how I want to spend the next decade of my professional life,” Elman said in a statement. “What gets me the most energized is when I can dig in on product with a hyper-growth company.”
Robinhood is positioning itself as a rival to Coinbase, the consumer portal for trading assets like bitcoin. Robinhood promises to offer lower fees to appeal to millennials like those who use the app to trade public stocks.
The hire was first reported by TechCrunch.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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