Kaz Nejatian, CEO of Opendoor, discusses his six-month turnaround of the real estate technology company from near-delisting at 50 cents per share. Previously at Shopify, Kaz joined Opendoor after becoming obsessed with the company's wasted potential during a flight in February 2025.

The conversation covers Opendoor's aggressive cost-cutting, elimination of consulting fees, return to in-person work, and cultural transformation through hiring Y Combinator founders. Kaz explains his founder-driven approach to rebuilding the company's mission of making homeownership accessible to teachers and plumbers across America.

Key topics include the philosophy behind The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh, which sits on Kaz's desk as a reminder to focus on execution rather than stock price, and the challenges of maintaining authenticity while leading a public company turnaround.

From Shopify Executive to Opendoor's $1 Salary CEO

Kaz left Shopify after becoming obsessed with Opendoor during a February 2025 flight, spending weekends analyzing the company until his wife suggested they buy it outright.

"I pay open door money to work here. That's insane. My salary is $1 and unless stock levels see levels they haven't seen in years, I don't get paid" - Kaz on his compensation structure.

The decision mirrors successful founders who prioritize long-term company building over short-term stock movements, following the principle that "the company drives the stock price, not the other way around."

Eliminating Millions in Consulting Waste

Kaz reviewed every invoice from the previous 12 months, discovering consultants billing for creating internal presentations and basic operational tasks.

"The single largest expense on our income statement was millions of dollars paid to a well-known consulting firm. The advice was basically the following tweet. Do everything worse but cheaper" - Kaz on wasteful spending.

The external PR firm resigned before Kaz officially started after he wrote in all caps on a Google Doc asking who was writing the release and requesting they stop working there.

AI-Driven Process Transformation

The home evaluation process previously required 11 human touchpoints from address entry to offer generation, including overseas photo analysis on Chromebooks.

"Today, zero human beings are in that loop in many of our flows. Like AI does all of that, which means our human beings can do things that are actually good for the mission" - Kaz on automation.

Customer support was moved from Mexico back to the US after agents told callers to "Google how to buy a home from Opendoor" when asked basic questions.

Cultural Overhaul and Y Combinator Founder Hiring

Opendoor returned to in-person work within seven days of Kaz's arrival, causing double-digit attrition as remote workers left the company.

"We have hired more YC founders into Opendoor since I started than any company. Why? Because I believe that you can only do extraordinary things with founders around" - Kaz on hiring strategy.

The entire mortgage team and escrow team now consist of Y Combinator founders, transforming the company to look more like a software company than a manufacturing operation.

Bill Walsh Philosophy and Execution Focus

The Score Takes Care of Itself by Bill Walsh sits on Kaz's desk as a core principle, emphasizing process over results monitoring.

"Football players who look at the score all the time tend to be not very good football players... our job is to focus on everything fighting for every single inch, every single yard, every single day" - Kaz on execution philosophy.

The office has no stock ticker displays, and Kaz doesn't have Yahoo Finance on his laptop, maintaining focus on building rather than stock price fluctuations.

Record-Breaking Public Engagement

Opendoor's recent earnings call attracted 55,000 live viewers, breaking records for most-watched earnings in company history compared to the typical 3.5 viewers.

The company has no PR department - press inquiries to [email protected] receive an auto-reply directing reporters to DM Kaz directly on X.

Kaz admits to getting in trouble by responding to DMs without realizing some contacts are reporters, leading to unintended media quotes.

Active Board Engagement and Daily Communication

The board includes Eric Federer from Lennar, Keith and Adam as Silicon Valley investors, Eric the founder, Dana with real estate expertise, and David, former interim CEO of Fannie Mae.

"I talked to one of our board members this morning. Actually, I talked to one more than yesterday. So my frequency of communication with the board is way higher than the average CEOs" - Kaz on board involvement.

Board members receive daily texts from Kaz and provide active strategic guidance rather than quarterly rubber-stamp meetings with "shrimp cocktail" formalities.