While many executives live on their laptops, Keith Rabois says he doesn’t rely on one at all.
In an interview with “Lenny’s Podcast,” the famed executive — a former COO of Stripe, vice president at LinkedIn, and member of the PayPal mafia — said he prefers smaller, more mobile devices.
It’s a preference that’s been in the making for more than 15 years, he said.
“When I started working at Square, Jack Dorsey was running the company off of an iPad. And so, I immediately converted in September of 2010, and haven’t looked back,” he said. “Everything I do in my life is either done from my phone, my watch, or my iPad.”
His approach comes as parts of Silicon Valley rethink their reliance on traditional computers. In the past year, a wave of AI tools has pushed more work onto mobile devices, including so-called “vibe coding” apps that let users build software by prompting AI.
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, for example, invested $9.4 million in seed funding for Vibecode, an iOS app that lets users create new features — all on their iPhones.
This isn’t the first time Rabois has talked about moving away from computers. Since 2010, on what was then Twitter (now X), he’s talked about using his “iPhone as a persistent computer, not as a ‘phone.'”
I haven’t used a computer since 2010. (Other than booking Barry’s workouts before they released an app last month.)
— Keith Rabois (@rabois) November 9, 2018
During the podcast, Rabois said he prefers smaller devices because they’re less distracting and more portable.
“Like, taking a laptop with you anywhere is super easy,” he said. “There’s no reason to use a more powerful, heavier-weight, less flexible machine.”
It should be noted that, despite recent trends, laptops and desktop computers remain popular overall — Apple reported $8.39 billion in revenue from Mac sales in the first quarter of 2026.
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