# John Kobs

> John Kobs is the co-founder and founding CEO of Apartment List, where he announced his transition to chairman in April 2022. Based in San Francisco, he is now CEO and co-founder of Giant, an interactive storytelling platform for children that announced an $8 million seed round in February 2026. A Case Western Reserve finance graduate and former football captain, Kobs also founded digital art platform Wildxyz and has released music under the name Douglass.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Giant; Founder and Chairman at Apartment List
- **Organizations:** Giant, Apartment List, Wildxyz, Autolist, Case Western Reserve University, Vertical Brands, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Thomas Weisel Partners, TICC Capital
- **Education:** B.S. in Management, Finance, Case Western Reserve University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Apartment List and led its transition to a success-based rental marketplace., Reported in May 2022 that Apartment List had helped over 790,000 families find homes since 2014 and raised over $170 million., Founded Wildxyz, which announced a $7 million seed round in March 2023.

## Career timeline

- **2003** — Graduated from Case Western Reserve University; began his finance career at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
- **2005** — Moved to New York for a finance job; a difficult apartment hunt later inspired Apartment List.
- **2006-2008** — Worked at TICC Capital after Thomas Weisel Partners, according to his Signal investor profile.
- **2008** — Left finance to build a real estate business; later developed the online rental venture.
- **2011** — Apartment List publicly launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in September.
- **2013-2015** — Apartment List moved from aggregating rental websites toward a marketplace paid on successful move-ins.
- **2018** — Apartment List announced a $50 million Series C and roughly four million units on its platform.
- **2021** — Joined the Case Western Reserve University Board of Trustees.
- **2022** — Announced his departure as operating CEO on April 4, with Matthew Woods succeeding him; remained chairman. Introduced Wildxyz publicly in September.
- **2023** — Wildxyz announced a $7 million seed round led by Matrix Partners in March.
- **2025** — Giant launched in May.
- **2026** — Giant announced an $8 million seed round on February 23.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Apartment List and led its transition to a success-based rental marketplace.
- Reported in May 2022 that Apartment List had helped over 790,000 families find homes since 2014 and raised over $170 million.
- Founded Wildxyz, which announced a $7 million seed round in March 2023.
- Co-founded Giant, which announced an $8 million seed round in February 2026.
- Named among Goldman Sachs’s 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2021, according to Case Western Reserve.
- Served as a Case Western football captain and tied the then-school single-game record with four touchdowns.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Published a Fortune commentary on October 14 about Giant and creative participation in children’s entertainment.
- **2026-02** — Giant announced an $8 million seed round led by Matrix, Decasonic and Griffin Gaming Partners. The company reported over one million conversation minutes and more than 200,000 personalized episodes since its May 2025 launch.
- **2025-05** — Giant launched its interactive storytelling platform.

## Links

- Website: https://giant.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkobs
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/JohnKobs

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/john-kobs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27