# Bob Goodson

> Bob Goodson is the British founder and president of Quid, a company that uses AI to understand customer and market context. He was Yelp’s first employee, participated in early reaction-button design, and co-authored Like: The Button That Changed the World with Martin Reeves. His career connects graduate research in language at Oxford, student entrepreneurship, consumer software, and text analytics.

- **Role:** Founder and President at Quid
- **Organizations:** Quid, Yelp, YouNoodle, Oxford Entrepreneurs, World Economic Forum
- **From:** Norwich, United Kingdom
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** University of East Anglia, Graduate study in medieval literature and language theory; left on sabbatical, University of Oxford
- **Known for:** Co-founded Oxford Entrepreneurs., Helped develop early content reactions at Yelp as its first employee., Co-founded Quid and led it as CEO before becoming president.

## Career timeline

- **2002** — Co-founded Oxford Entrepreneurs while studying at Oxford.
- **2003** — Met PayPal co-founder Max Levchin at an Oxford entrepreneurship event.
- **2004** — Left Oxford for San Francisco and became Yelp’s first employee.
- **2005** — Drew reaction-button concepts at Yelp on May 18; Yelp adopted useful, funny and cool reactions.
- **2007** — Co-founded YouNoodle with Kirill Makharinsky and Rebecca Hwang.
- **2010** — Co-founded Quid with Sean Gourley.
- **2014** — Quid launched its web platform in January.
- **2015** — Quid announced a $39 million Series D financing round; Goodson gave an Oxford keynote on AI and human thinking.
- **2016** — Quid received World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer recognition; Goodson subsequently served a two-year term on its AI and Robotics council.
- **2020** — NetBase and Quid announced their merger; Goodson moved from Quid CEO to president of the combined company.
- **2022** — Rediscovered his 2005 Yelp sketch while moving house.
- **2023** — Announced that NetBase Quid was now operating under the Quid name.
- **2025** — Co-authored Like: The Button That Changed the World, published April 29 by Harvard Business Review Press.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Oxford Entrepreneurs.
- Helped develop early content reactions at Yelp as its first employee.
- Co-founded Quid and led it as CEO before becoming president.
- Co-authored Like: The Button That Changed the World.
- Served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council for AI and Robotics.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — His public media page lists a Think:Act interview about establishing AI competency.
- **2026-05** — His media page lists a Toucan Project fireside chat on Life Architecture.
- **2026-03** — Oxford Saïd published his reflections on entrepreneurial networking and the 2003 dinner that led to Silicon Valley.
- **2026-03** — Lincoln’s Stories From the Second Row series featured an interview with Goodson.
- **2025-11** — His media page lists a Lasdun Lecture at the University of East Anglia about wonder and control over mobile devices.
- **2025-04** — Like: The Button That Changed the World was published.

## Links

- Website: https://bobgoodson.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobgoodson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobgoodson_/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bob-goodson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14