Mr. Kellman joined the company as a resident director, a leadership advisory role that allows him to work with Greylock’s portfolio of companies and leaders.
Five months after leaving Redfin, Glenn Kelman is starting his next chapter as a resident director at venture capital firm Greylock Partners.
Glenn Kelman |Credit: Redfin
“We are excited to announce that Glenn Kelman has joined Greylock as a resident executive,” the company’s announcement said. “Glenn is an extraordinary executive and company builder with nearly 30 years of experience building, scaling and leading technology companies through IPOs and beyond. At Greylock, he will work directly with founders on leadership development, company building, go-to-market and the difficult parts of scaling that don’t fit into board documents.”
Mr. Kelman’s career spans 31 years and began as a product manager at Stanford Technology Group. In 1997, Kellman co-founded the portal software company Plumtree with Kirill Shenkman and Joe McVeigh. The company went public in 2002 and was acquired by BEA in 2005.
Following the acquisition, Mr. Kellman joined Redfin and served as President and CEO for more than 20 years.
Under Mr. Kellman’s leadership, Redfin has grown exponentially, transforming from a small Seattle-based startup to a major company with an innovative model centered around low listing fees and a hybrid compensation plan for agents that combines high fractional fees with traditional W-2 benefits such as medical and 401(k) vesting.
Redfin has made a name for itself in the world of portals, becoming one of the most popular home search sites for home buyers and sellers in the United States.
Redfin’s growth caught the attention of Rocket Companies, which acquired the company in June 2025 in an all-stock deal for $1.75 billion. With Redfin, Rocket Companies became a full-service national real estate company, providing a platform for consumers to browse homes, connect with agents, qualify for mortgages, and get home loans in one place.
“Rocket believes in technology, and Rocket believes in service,” Kellman said in a January LinkedIn post announcing his resignation. “Not many companies believe in this dual commitment.”
“I would like to find a company with a different mission outside of real estate,” he added. “We are grateful that Lockett has been a great owner of Redfin and that Varun has been such a gracious leader.”
Greylock said Kellman’s deep business knowledge and long-term relationship with corporate partner James Slavett, an early Redfin investor and board member, will be invaluable to the founders and teams he works with.
“[Slavet] He played a formative role in Glenn’s development as a leader. This relationship strengthened the trust and partnership that defines the best founders and CEOs. That experience is central to what Glenn brings to Greylock. ” Having worked as a go-to partner for entrepreneurs, we understand that building a great product is only part of the journey. ”
“Equally important is the personal development required to lead a company through every stage of expansion,” he added. “Glenn’s combination of operational depth, intellectual integrity, and genuine concern for those around him will be invaluable to our founders and team.”
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