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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-c...

Where to find Brian Chesky:
• X: / bchesky
• LinkedIn: / brianchesky

Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: / lennysan
• LinkedIn: / lennyrachitsky

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

Referenced:
• Localmind: https://www.crunchbase.com/organizati...
• Config 2023 in review: https://www.figma.com/blog/config-202...
• Why Founders Fail: The Product CEO Paradox: https://techcrunch.com/2013/08/10/why...
• Hiroki Asai on LinkedIn: / hiroki-asai-a44137110
• Jony Ive on Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/jon...
• Charles Eames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles...
• Airbnb 2023 Winter Release: https://news.airbnb.com/en-in/airbnb-...
• Airbnb 2023 winter release reel: https://x.com/bchesky/status/17222438...
• 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-ye...
• Sam Altman on X: / sama
• Alfred P. Sloan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_...
• Bob Dylan quote: https://quotefancy.com/quote/950807/B...
• 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: / jgebbia
• Nathan Blecharczyk on LinkedIn: / blecharczyk

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

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