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Brian Chesky

1 episode

Episodes

Brian Chesky’s new playbook

Nov 12, 20231h 13m

Guest: Brian Chesky - CEO and co-founder of Airbnb. Brian started Airbnb in his apartment with co-founders Joe and Nate, transforming it into an $80 billion global business with a presence in 220 countries. Key Takeaways: Leadership in Details: Brian emphasizes the importance of leaders being deeply involved in the details of their company, distinguishing between micromanagement and being informed to ensure quality and alignment. Unified Roadmap: Airbnb operates with a single, rolling two-year roadmap updated every six months, ensuring all teams row in the same direction and focus on cohesive product development. Product and Marketing Integration: Airbnb has merged product management with product marketing, ensuring that those who build the product also understand and communicate its market value effectively. Functional Over Divisional Structure: The company shifted from a divisional to a functional model, reducing bureaucracy and enhancing collaboration across design, engineering, and marketing. Focus on Reliability: The introduction of "Guest Favorites" aims to combine Airbnb's unique offerings with hotel-like reliability, addressing a key consumer concern. Topics Covered: Leadership and management, product development, company structure, marketing integration, Airbnb's product strategy, personal growth and balance, innovation in design.

Notable Quotes

β€œWay too many founders apologize for how they want to run the company. They find some midpoint between how they want to run a company and how the people they lead want to run the company. That's a good way to make everyone miserable.”

Leadership

β€œYou can't build a product unless you know how to talk about the product.”

Product Management

β€œI think that intuition, imagination, design, curiosity, I think we need more of that.”

Creativity in Business