Josh Elman Joins Apple: VC and Operator's Next Move

Josh Elman has announced his transition to Apple via a recent Twitter post, stating his focus will be on the company's App Store and assisting “customers in finding the most suitable applications.”

When questioned regarding specifics of his position, Elman directed inquiries to Apple, which affirmed his employment but refrained from disclosing further details, including his official title. (This aligns with the standard practice of the technology company.)

Elman possesses considerable experience with rapidly developing technologies and, in particular, widely-used applications. Early in his career, following his time at Stanford, he worked with RealNetworks, an internet streaming company from the dot-com boom that became a public company in 1997, just three years after its founding. (The company continues to be publicly traded, although its current market capitalization is $60 million.)

Following his tenure at RealNetworks, Elman joined LinkedIn in 2004 as a senior product manager when the company was only two years old. He subsequently held product management positions at Zazzle, a company specializing in custom apparel and accessories, then at Facebook, and later at Twitter.

It is not surprising that the venture capital firm Greylock recruited Elman in 2011 as a principal, and he advanced to the position of general partner by 2013. Throughout this period, he invested in social networking ventures such as Musical.ly (which was acquired by ByteDance and evolved into TikTok); Nextdoor (which is reportedly exploring options for an initial public offering); Houseparty (acquired last year by Epic Games, currently involved in legal action against Apple); and Discord (currently finalizing a private funding round with an approximate valuation of $7 billion).

In an unexpected move, Elman departed from his full-time role at Greylock in 2018 to join Robinhood, a stock-trading platform that was not part of the firm’s investment portfolio. Notably, while assuming the role of VP of product at the rapidly expanding startup, he maintained connections with Greylock as a venture partner and continued serving on the boards of his portfolio companies.

Elman explained to TechCrunch at the time that he had “begun discussions with partners regarding his professional aspirations for the next decade.” He expressed that he is most motivated by “the opportunity to deeply engage with product development within a company experiencing significant growth.”

His time at Robinhood was relatively brief, as Elman left last November after less than two years. Now, Elman – who indicated he is relinquishing some of his Greylock board positions – has a new opportunity to pursue his passions from a prominent position within the App Store.

The focus now shifts to his contributions in this new role. “I am very enthusiastic about developing methods to connect over a billion customers with millions of developers,” he stated in a recent tweet, seemingly sharing the extent of publicly available information. Elman further added in the same Twitter thread: “I recently discovered my college resume. My stated career goal was ‘To develop exceptional technology that positively impacts people’s lives’. I am still pursuing that objective :)”