Brian Chesky - AI Founder Mode - [Invest Like the Best, EP.471]
My guest today is Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Our conversation traces the path from his early training as an industrial designer at RISD through the pandemic moment that forced him into founder mode.
He explains why he thinks AI founder mode will demand even more attention to the details and why founders are rarely good early CEOs.
He walks through his eleven-star exercise, which is a way of imagining the most absurd version of a customer experience to achieve product market fit.
We also talk about what changed for him when he stopped chasing adulation and started making things for the love of making them.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best
(00:02:29) Episode Intro: Brian Chesky
(00:03:07) Studying Industrial Design at RISD
(00:08:30) Why Founders Don't Make Good CEOs
(00:09:02) Founder Mode
(00:12:51) AI Founder Mode
(00:14:41) The End of Pure People Managers
(00:18:42) Consumer AI
(00:21:45) Project Hawaii
(00:25:49) Make the Problem as Small as Possible
(00:29:46) Becoming a Good CEO
(00:32:11) What Brian Learned From Hiroki Asai
(00:36:32) The Eleven-Star Experience
(00:38:48) AI and Creativity
(00:41:44) Making Things for the Love of It
(00:43:36) The Adulation Trap
(00:46:38) The Ham Sandwich Paradox
(00:52:38) Why Founder-Led Businesses Endure
(00:55:14) The Person as the Atomic Unit of Airbnb
(00:59:40) Disrupting Yourself With AI
(01:02:11) Lessons from Bodybuilding
(01:07:55) Hiring as the Most Important Job
(01:09:16) Are Founders Born or Made?
(01:11:04) The Motivation of an Artist
(01:11:47) The Kindest Thing
Airbnb’s bet on an IRL future, with Brian Chesky
Amid dramatic disruption, what role should business play in building the future? Recorded live at the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky shares his candid perspective on business, politics, creativity, and AI — taking listeners from Airbnb’s humble beginnings to bold plans for the company’s future. Through a designer’s lens, Chesky also reveals the single question leaders must ask themselves, and explores how best to make tricky decisions in a volatile climate.
Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wants to build the everything app
Today, I’m talking with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. This is Brian’s fourth time on the show, and he’s one of my favorite guests because he’s so clearly obsessed with things like company structure, design, and decision making. You know, Decoder stuff.
This time, Brian came on to talk about the company’s new services product and the full-scale redesign and rebuild of the Airbnb app to support these broader ambitions. There’s a lot of fun, very Decoder-y stuff in this one. Read the full transcript here on The Verge.
Links:
Airbnb’s new app has all of your vacation extras in one place | Verge
“Flat design is over” | Brian Chesky
Airbnb Is in midlife crisis mode | Wired
He revolutionized travel. Can Airbnb’s founder redesign your entire life? | WSJ
Airbnb’s CEO explains how he helped Sam Altman during OpenAI fiasco | Fast Company
A conversation with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky | Figma
Jony Ive is bringing his design talents to Airbnb | Verge
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on what founder mode really means | Decoder
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is taking it back to basics | Decoder
Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky | Decoder
Help us plan for the future of Decoder by filling out this brief survey. Thank you!
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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CEO Diaries: Airbnb’s Founder Brian Chesky on Brutal Rejection, Great Leadership, and The Biggest Mistake Founders Make!
From cold emails to global dominance - the Airbnb story began with rejection. In this unmissable episode of CEO Diaries, Airbnb founder and CEO Brian Chesky reveals the brutal truth about rejection, resilience, building world-changing companies, and the one thing more important than product or profit: culture.
Visit - www.linkedin.com/DOAC
Listen to the full episode here -
Spotify -https://g2ul0.app.link/WgBxbVavJTb
Apple - https://g2ul0.app.link/89nODBivJTb
Watch the Episodes On YouTube -
https://www.youtube.com/c/%20TheDiaryOfACEO/videos
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Best of Big Technology: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Brian Chesky is the CEO and co-founder of Airbnb. This week on Big Technology Podcast, we roll back the clock to our interview with Chesky in 2023, where he discussed cleaning fees, listening to customer feedback, and getting involved in the details of the product and user experience. This interview was one of the earliest moments Chesky shared his 'Founder Mode, philosophy, passionately talking about why he gets in the details, even as CEO. Please enjoy this holiday throwback. Alex and Ranjan will return to their regularly scheduled Friday show next week.
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on what founder mode really means
Today, I’m talking with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, who is only the second person to be on Decoder three times — the other is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Brian made a lot of waves earlier this year when he started talking about something called “founder mode,” or at least, when well-known investor Paul Graham wrote a blog post about Brian’s approach to running Airbnb that gave it that name.
Founder mode has since become a little bit of a meme, and I was excited to have Brian back on to talk about it, and what specifically he thinks it means. Talking to Brian is a ride, but I think I held my own, and I think you’ll really like this one.
Links:
Founder Mode | Paul Graham
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is taking it back to basics (2023) | Decoder
Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky (2021) | Decoder
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky: ‘I Never Called it Founder Mode’ | Skift
Why Silicon Valley is abuzz over ‘Founder Mode’ | NYT
After Apple, Jony Ive Is Building an Empire of His Own | NYT
Airbnb can now help you find somebody to manage your listing | The Verge
Airbnb creates new chief business officer role | Reuters
Why Jeff Bezos Says Your Goal Is to Make 3 Good Decisions per Day | Inc
Taking the Mystery out of Scaling a Company | Ben Horowtiz
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/24043611
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Scaling Airbnb, Founder Mode, and What’s Next for Travel — with Brian Chesky
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, joins Scott to discuss the latest for Airbnb including their Co-Host Network, how the company views AI, and how it is a leading indicator for the broader economy. Brian also shares his thoughts on his viral moment around Founder Mode and what’s next for the platform.
Follow Brian, @bchesky.
Scott opens with his thoughts on private equity firms pouring millions of dollars into acquiring HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies, per the WSJ.
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Rapid Response: Airbnb reimagined (Part 1), w/CEO Brian Chesky
As Rapid Response begins a twice-weekly cadence, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky returns to reveal how the company’s new Icons initiative points toward a surprising new chapter ahead. Host Bob Safian gets Chesky to open up about the mental struggles of being a high-profile CEO, plus the inside story behind Airbnb’s recent ad campaign targeting hotels. The pair cover so much, we’ve split the episode into two parts. Part 2 drops this Friday exclusively in the Rapid Response podcast feed. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvhh4U2_EFE
For more info, visit: www.rapidresponseshow.com
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Brian Chesky’s new playbook
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Under Brian’s leadership, Airbnb has grown into a community of over 4 million hosts who have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guests across over 220 countries and regions. I had the privilege of working under his leadership, so it is a great honor to have him on the show. We discuss:
• How Airbnb has shifted their thinking on product management
• Why bureaucracy happens in companies, and how to avoid it
• The importance of founders diving into the details
• Why Airbnb moved away from traditional growth channels and what they are doing instead
• Airbnb’s newly released features
• How and why Brian encourages his team to set ambitious goals
• Why he says he still has a lot to prove
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/#transcript
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Where to find Brian Chesky:
• X: https://twitter.com/bchesky
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Brian’s background
(05:18) The current structure of product management at Airbnb
(09:21) How fast-moving companies become slow-moving bureaucracies
(12:20) Brian’s thoughts on performance marketing
(13:50) Airbnb’s rolling two-year roadmap
(15:30) Brian’s journey as CEO in a growing company
(18:34) Best practices for A/B testing
(20:30) Who inspired Airbnb’s new direction
(23:18) The first changes Brian implemented at the onset of the pandemic
(24:51) Why founders should be “in the details”
(30:15) Airbnb’s marketing, communication, and creative functions
(31:38) Advice for founders on how to lead
(34:15) Tips for implementing Airbnb’s business methodology
(38:48) Airbnb’s winter release
(41:47) Why Airbnb no longer has separate guest and host teams
(42:38) Brian’s thoughts on design trends
(45:36) The importance of empowering hosts with great tools
(45:57) How setting ambitious goals improves team performance
(50:05) Tips for preventing burnout
(56:02) Tips for personal and professional growth
(58:19) Why Brian says he still has a lot to prove
(1:02:58) Paying it forward
(1:05:03) A fun fact about Brian
(1:09:26) Airbnb’s origin story
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Referenced:
• Localmind: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/localmind
• Config 2023 in review: https://www.figma.com/blog/config-2023-recap/
• Why Founders Fail: The Product CEO Paradox: https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/10/why-founders-fail-the-product-ceo-paradox/
• Hiroki Asai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroki-asai-a44137110/
• Jony Ive on Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jonathan-ive
• Charles Eames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eames
• Airbnb 2023 Winter Release: https://news.airbnb.com/en-in/airbnb-2023-winter-release-introducing-guest-favorites-a-collection-of-the-2-million-most-loved-homes-on-airbnb/
• Airbnb 2023 winter release reel: https://x.com/bchesky/status/1722243847751970861?s=20
• John Wooden’s website: https://coachwooden.com/
• An 85-year Harvard study found the No. 1 thing that makes us happy in life: It helps us ‘live longer’: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/10/85-year-harvard-study-found-the-secret-to-a-long-happy-and-successful-life.html
• Sam Altman on X: https://twitter.com/sama
• Alfred P. Sloan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Sloan
• Bob Dylan quote: https://quotefancy.com/quote/950807/Bob-Dylan-An-artist-has-got-to-be-careful-never-really-to-arrive-at-a-place-where-he
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/
• Michael Seibel’s website: https://www.michaelseibel.com/
• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
• The Norman Rockwell Museum: https://www.nrm.org/
• Rhode Island School of Design: https://www.risd.edu/
• Joe Gebbia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgebbia/
• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk/
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Airbnb CEO: “IT WAS SO DARK WE NEARLY DIED!”. I Was Lonely, Deeply Sad & Wanted To Be Loved! [INSPIRING!] Brian Chesky
If you enjoyed hearing about the highs and lows of creating the world’s biggest brands, I recommend you listen to my conversation with Spotify founder, Daniel Ek, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_35cUaU_NA
Is being an artist the secret behind running a Fortune 500 company?
In this new episode Steven sits down again with the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky.
Brian created ‘Airbed and Breakfast’ in 2007 with his college friend Joe Gebbia as a scheme to pay their rent. Cut to 2020, when Airbnb became a public company, with its initial public offering reaching $100 billion, one of the highest in history. Brian has been named by Forbes as one of America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40, and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People.
In this conversation Brian and Steven discuss topics, such as:
His difficult childhood
Always feeling like an outsider and different
How his art teacher changed his life
The way industrial design shaped his career as a CEO
Always wanting to design his own world
Wanting to escape his childhood
His work addiction
Working as a way of finding love
How success is isolating
What no one told him about success
The need to fight to be connected with people
Why success won't fix you
How Obama changed his life
The life changing impact of one text message
His biggest regret
The impact of Walt Disney upon him
How creativity changes the world
Airbnb initially just being a way to pay the rent
How creativity beats data
Why more companies need creativity and heart
Why company culture is everything
The importance of leaders as examples
How your worst moments define you
Airbnb’s fight for survival
What he learned about true happiness
The world’s loneliness pandemic
Follow Brian:
Instagram: https://bit.ly/46vt340
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3RSjGYo
Follow me:
https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on Cleaning Fees, Apple vs. Amazon, Building Products, and New York
Brian Chesky is the CEO of Airbnb. He joins Big Technology Podcast for an in-depth discussion covering Airbnb's product, business, culture, and roadmap. In the first half, we cover a series of product improvements the company is rolling out, breaking news on the state of cleaning fees, verified listings. and more. In the second half we go deep into how Airbnb builds its products, how it impacts neighborhoods, and the fallout of New York's new restrictions on the company. Tune in for a deep, unique, and compelling interview with one of tech's most well known CEOs.
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Brian Chesky (co-founder of airbnb)
Brian Chesky (Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb) is a businessman and industrial designer. Brian joins the Armchair Expert to discuss if gaining success lived up to the expectations, how he struggled to fit in at school, and what his first startup was. Brian and Dax talk about what being an industrial designer means, where the idea for Airbnb came from, and how detrimental loneliness can be to human health. Brian explains why streamers were okay with losing money for years, how fast technology is accelerating human society, and what rules should have been instituted for social media.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Airbnb’s Next Phase — with Brian Chesky
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, joins Scott to discuss a slew of updates, including how the firm is building a community, leveraging AI, and expanding its geographical reach. We also learn about Brian’s experiences with loneliness, and how work has impacted his relationships. Follow Brian on Twitter, @bchesky. (Disclosure: Scott invests in Airbnb).
Scott opens by discussing why we need more third places.
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I can't make products just for 41 year old tech founders," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on taking it back to the basics
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, was previously on the show in 2021. Back then, Airbnb was betting big on long-term stays for remote work amid the pandemic, and Chesky had just restructured the company to a more functional organization, getting rid of the divisions it had before.
Now, the pandemic is ending, Airbnb has itself adopted a hybrid policy, Chesky’s back in the office several days a week, and they’re two years into that new structure. So that’s pure Decoder bait. I wanted to ask Chesky how that restructure is going. Has it really made the company more agile and cohesive like he hoped? Has the bet on working from anywhere paid off?
Links:
Brian Chesky's tweet announcing the summer 2023 launch
Microsoft thinks AI can beat Google at search — CEO Satya Nadella explains why
Samsung caught faking zoom photos of the Moon
Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Sr Audio Director is Andrew Marino and our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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How great leaders respond in a crisis, w/Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
After guiding the company through a near-death experience, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about what he learned and how responding to a crisis both reveals your character and teaches you what’s most important. Recorded live on stage at the Masters of Scale Summit in San Francisco.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com/
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on early rejection, customer focus & AI’s future in hospitality | E1735
Airbnb CEO and Co-Founder Brian Chesky joins Jason to tell the story of Airbnb’s early startup struggles (1:29) and discuss how the company has restructured operations to heighten focus on the product and its customers (16:05). They dive into addressing customer complaints, hyper-focused marketing, the AI opportunity for Airbnb, and much more (40:26).
(0:00) Airbnb’s Brain Chesky joins Jason
(1:29) Brian’s experience with early rejection
(14:48) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
(16:05) Airbnb’s company structure and focusing on product first
(25:26) Miro - Sign up for a free account at https://miro.com/startups
(26:42) Staying focused, getting permission from your customers, and Airbnb’s new updates
(38:53) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
(40:26) Addressing customer complaints and Brian’s philosophy on remote work
(49:23) AI’s future in hospitality and Brian’s personal experience with ChatGPT
FOLLOW Brian: https://twitter.com/bchesky
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
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Airbnb’s CEO on Nomadic Life, Loneliness… and Cleaning Fees
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky took the company public, laid off 25% of its staff and navigated worker demands for flexibility – all during the pandemic. Oh, and his mom moved in (and made him quiche every day). In this conversation with Kara, Brian discusses the challenge of being professionally successful and, sometimes, personally lonely. They talk about how the pandemic may have permanently changed how we work, travel and live. And Kara gets answers about the company’s lack of transparency on those dreaded cleaning fees.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about billionaires owning social media networks. They discuss Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to be riding the MAGA train to amass power in the Republican party. And they reflect on the story of Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi, who caused a stir on social media this week in the midst of the nation’s anti-government protests.
… oh yes, and they dispense some dating advice. If you want advice – it doesn’t have to be about dating – call 1-888-KARA-PLZ!
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Airbnb's Brian Chesky: Do things that don’t scale
In honor of our five year anniversary of Masters of Scale, we're revisiting our first episode ever, featuring Airbnb's Brian Chesky.
If you want your company to truly scale, you first have to do things that don't scale. Handcraft the core experience. Get your hands dirty. Serve your customers one-by-one. And don't stop until you know exactly what they want. That's what Brian Chesky did. As CEO of Airbnb, Brian’s early work was more akin to a traveling salesman. He takes us back to his lean years — when he went door-to-door, meeting Airbnb hosts in person — and shares the imaginative route to crafting what he calls an "11-star experience.”
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
BONUS EPISODE! Live from Pivot MIA: Kara & Scott in conversation with Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb
Kara and Scott chat with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky about the future of the travel industry, housing, workplace culture, human interaction, and why the pandemic was the “ultimate growing-up experience” for business founders. Plus, he tells the audience all about his stay at a “themed fairytale princess Cinderella cottage.”
Send us your Listener Mail questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or via Yappa, at nymag.com/pivot.
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Lessons that matter most: What we’ve learned from 100 episodes of Masters of Scale
What’s harder about entrepreneurship than most people realize? How do you overcome your own doubts? Can you really trust your team? In this special episode, Reid Hoffman and Masters of Scale executive producer June Cohen gather five of their favorite guests – Brian Chesky, Tyra Banks, Angela Ahrendts, Sallie Krawcheck, and Franklin Leonard — for a raw, honest, open dialogue filled with nonstop insights on those questions and many more. Sharing personal confessions and in-the-trenches stories, Reid’s guests provide unforgettable lessons from their leadership journeys. In commemoration of Reid’s 100th episode.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Guest Episode: Decoder with Nilay Patel: Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky prides himself on thinking very differently than other CEOs, and his answers to the Decoder questions about how he structures and manages his company were almost always the opposite of what I’m used to hearing on the show. Airbnb is pretty much a single team, focused on a single product, and it all rolls up to Brian. That’s very different from most other big companies, which have lots of divisions and overlapping lines of authority.
And Airbnb’s relationship to cities is changing as tourism changes. Airbnb used to be the poster child for a tech company that showed up without permission and fought with regulators, but as the company has grown and the pandemic has changed things, it’s entered what is hopefully a more mature phase — it just came to a deal with New York City after ten years of argument. I asked Brian about that and about what it’s like to run a public company now — the transition from scrappy startup to public company engaged with regulators is a big one.
Of course, I also had to ask about cryptocurrency and the metaverse — does Brian think we’re all going to be visiting virtual NFT museums on vacations in the future? You have to listen and find out.
Okay, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, here we go.
Transcript:
https://www.theverge.com/e/22547463
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, and Andrew Marino, our research was done by Liz Lian. And we are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Why the future of work is the future of travel, with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky prides himself on thinking very differently than other CEOs, and his answers to the Decoder questions about how he structures and manages his company were almost always the opposite of what I’m used to hearing on the show. Airbnb is pretty much a single team, focused on a single product, and it all rolls up to Brian. That’s very different from most other big companies, which have lots of divisions and overlapping lines of authority.
And Airbnb’s relationship to cities is changing as tourism changes. Airbnb used to be the poster child for a tech company that showed up without permission and fought with regulators, but as the company has grown and the pandemic has changed things, it’s entered what is hopefully a more mature phase — it just came to a deal with New York City after ten years of argument. I asked Brian about that and about what it’s like to run a public company now — the transition from scrappy startup to public company engaged with regulators is a big one.
Of course, I also had to ask about cryptocurrency and the metaverse — does Brian think we’re all going to be visiting virtual NFT museums on vacations in the future? You have to listen and find out.
Okay, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, here we go.
Links:
Can Brian Chesky Save Airbnb?
Jony Ive is bringing his design talents to... Airbnb
Zillow reportedly needs to sell 7,000 houses after it bought too many
City of New York and Airbnb Reach Settlement Agreement
Airbnb hosts discriminate against black guests based on names, study suggests
Transcript:
https://www.theverge.com/e/22547463
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, and Andrew Marino, our research was done by Liz Lian. And we are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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Airbnb's Brian Chesky: "We died and were reborn." A special Rapid Response
Headlines last April predicted death for Airbnb. How could it survive a pandemic that stopped their core business cold? As the business cratered (in 8 weeks, they lost 80% of revenue), CEO Brian Chesky realized: It was a moment to step back, rethink and do more than anyone expected. So after putting a planned IPO on hold, he and his team started planning Airbnb's "illogical rebound." In this special Rapid Response interview with Bob Safian, Brian shares candid, never-before-heard stories about the advice he got from Barack Obama, and about the eye-popping December 2020 IPO at a valuation that left even him speechless. He speaks truthfully about the uncertainty, the anxiety, and the loneliness entrepreneurs are feeling as they fight for the future of their teams, their companies, and their vision.
Read a transcript of this episode at https://mastersofscale.com
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How I Built Resilience: Brian Chesky of Airbnb
In the early stages of the lockdown, Airbnb was in a freefall: it lost 80 percent of its business and laid off a quarter of its staff. But CEO Brian Chesky tells Guy that as people start to travel again—in cars, and closer to home—the company is beginning to recover. These conversations are excerpts from our How I Built Resilience series, where Guy talks online with founders and entrepreneurs about how they're navigating turbulent times.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Recode Decode: Brian Chesky
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky returns to Recode Decode to talk with Kara Swisher about how the company is "going back to [its] roots" after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its IPO; the future of travel and hospitality in a world with way fewer people taking airplanes; and how Airbnb tried to "lead by example" in its severance payments and benefits to laid-off employees. Chesky also talks about the delay of projects such as a previously-announced flight booking program, why fewer people will work from only one city when their lives get back to normal, and why raising $2 billion in debt was the right move for the company when everything was on fire. Plus: He tries to convince Kara that "Pittsburgh is the new Paris."
Featuring:
Brian Chesky (@bchesky), CEO, Airbnb
Host:
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large
More to explore:
On Reset, Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why — and how — tech is changing everything.
On Recode Media, Peter Kafka interviews business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters about the collision of tech and media.
On Pivot, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the big tech news stories of the week, who's winning, who's failing, and what comes next.
And on Land of the Giants, Jason Del Rey chronicled the rise of Amazon. Season 2 will focus on Netflix and is coming soon!
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Rapid Response: Airbnb’s Brian Chesky: "Crisis is pushing us back to our roots"
As the pandemic hit, Airbnb was preparing for an IPO. Within a matter of days, everything changed dramatically, as travel worldwide screamed to a halt. “I felt like I was captain of a ship and a torpedo hit the side,” says CEO Brian Chesky. Airbnb responded quickly, announcing that they'd override host rules and allow for guest cancellations. They went on to establish a relief fund for hosts, lobby the U.S. Congress to include hosts in the CARES stimulus package; open up a new business line of virtual experiences, and raise an astounding one billion dollars in new capital — all with the goal of both weathering the storm and laying the groundwork for the new era of travel that Chesky firmly believes will follow. Chesky takes our co-host Bob Safian through the last few weeks, shares what gives him hope and explains why he’s bringing Airbnb back to its roots as a scrappy, resilient startup that can adapt and evolve.
Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.com
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Recode Decode: Brian Chesky
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the recent mass shooting at an Airbnb in Orinda, Calif., how the company is changing its policies to keep guests safer, and what Chesky wishes he had done differently when Airbnb was smaller. They also discuss Airbnb's first brush with notoriety in 2011 and how Chesky "bungled" his response at the time, the importance of meeting with people who hate you, and why Silicon Valley execs should confront the human cost of their products. Plus: The time Chesky had to sleep with a parrot, and the Airbnb with a friendly ghost named Stanley.
Read a full transcript of this interview here.
Featuring:
Brian Chesky (@bchesky), CEO and co-founder of Airbnb
Hosts:
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large
More to explore:
Subscribe for free to Reset, Recode's new podcast that explores why — and how — tech is changing everything.
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Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.
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Twitter: @Recode and @voxdotcom
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#326: Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Brian Chesky of Airbnb, and How to Scale to 100M+ Users
"In order to scale, you have to do things that don't scale." — Reid Hoffman
This episode is a showcase from Masters of Scale, one of the few podcasts I recommend repeatedly to entrepreneurs. It's a conversation between LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman (@reidhoffman) and Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky (@bchesky), and it focuses on how you can scale your company by, paradoxically, doing things that don't scale.
This is, in some ways, part two of my conversation with Airbnb's co-founder Joe Gebbia (which you can check out here). I also highly recommend subscribing to Masters of Scale, which just began its third season and features interviews with the founders of Spotify, Instagram, TaskRabbit, Shake Shack, and Glossier, among many others.
And if you're looking for a companion piece to read with this episode, I can recommend none better than 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly (@kevin2kelly).
Please enjoy this short conversation between Reid Hoffman and Brian Chesky, with a few cameo appearances in the mix.
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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
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Recode Decode: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky (Live at Code 2018)
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky talks with Recode’s Kara Swisher and Dan Frommer at the 2018 Code Conference. Chesky talks about Airbnb’s expansion into “the experience economy," encouraging local hosts to help visitors find fun activities in their area. He also discusses how the company thinks about expanding internationally and how it’s dealing with regulatory challenges in cities like San Francisco and New York. Plus: How much responsibility should Airbnb take for what its customers do in their properties?
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Recode Decode: How Silicon Valley is responding to the immigration crisis
Charlotte and Dave Willner, creators of the hugely successful Facebook fundraising campaign called “Reunite an immigrant parent with their child,” talk with Recode’s Kara Swisher about how they raised more than $20 million in one week for RAICES, a legal services nonprofit in Texas. Although the Willners originally set out to raise only $1,500, they say RAICES can and will use all the money it can get as it grapples with the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that separated immigrant children from their parents. Later in the show, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky (who is Dave Willner’s boss) joins Swisher in studio to talk about the factors that tech executives must weigh if they want to be involved in political issues. Chesky first took a stand after the Muslim travel ban in early 2017, but speaking out about the immigration crisis was easier because, “I’m already on the wrong side of the White House.”
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