The Airbnb phenomenon started in 2008 with humble beginnings, but the innovative company quickly grew into a multi-billion dollar threat to the hotel industry.
Founded by Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, and Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb is a community marketplace that gives anyone a platform to list and book accommodations around the world. Over 60 million people in 190 countries have found apartments, houses, or even castles to stay in. Users can share experiences and give feedback, creating a more efficient way for travelers to find places to stay.
Airbnb began as an idea to make a bit of cash by letting some strangers stay on some extra air mattresses for a few days (that's where the “air” part of Airbnb comes from). But the experience of living with strangers was fascinating, an interesting way to meet new people. They began to see the potential value of a service that would let you book any room the way you normally book a hotel room.
Let's take a look at how each of the founders felt about starting the sharing economy of Airbnb, and what they think about it now.
Joe Gebbia – CPO
Joe Gebbia is the Chief Procurement Officer at Airbnb, and he had a novel experience that led to the creation of the company.
While studying at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2005, Gebbia let a stranger stay the night in his apartment on an air mattress. Despite his worries everything went fine, and a couple of years later he brought up the idea again in San Francisco. A design conference was coming to the city, and the nearby hotels were fully booked. People needed a place to stay, and Gebbia saw an opportunity.
They ended up renting out three air mattresses to a few guests for $20 per night, and fell in love with the idea.
Gebbia now helps lead the company culture and is involved with planning future opportunities to grow in new ways. It's his mission to make sure that Airbnb is as well-designed as possible, and he's passionate about his job.
“Airbnb has been a total dream come true,” Gebbia said. “It's just so enjoyable to see that the effort that goes into crafting good design and caring for all the details was worth it. It is worth it, to put in all that effort, to do what designers are responsible for doing, to be the best designers in the world they possibly can, and it doesn’t matter if that’s a product, it doesn’t matter if its a service, an app, a website, an installation, a chair - that’s our job as designers, to put the best design and best aesthetic out in the world that we possibly can.”
Brian Chesky – CEO
Brian Chesky is Chief Operating Officer at Airbnb. He also went to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he met Joe Gebbia and eventually became his roommate.
Chesky describes his role at Airbnb as similar to a ship's captain. “... I really have two jobs: the first job is, I have to worry about everything below the waterline; anything that can sink the ship,” he said. “Beyond that I have to focus on two to three areas that I’m deeply passionate about—that aren’t below the waterline but that I focus on because I can add unique value, I’m truly passionate about them, and they can truly transform the company if they go well.”
The three areas that Chesky is passionate about are product, brand, and culture. He inspires the company in these areas, coming up with innovative ideas to keep Airbnb on the leading edge of design, in the services they offer and even in the company offices.
Chesky took a very hands-on role when it came to hiring talent, interviewing every new applicant up until the company had around 200 employees. He wanted to make sure that everyone who was hired fit the company culture perfectly, which included the ability to be a good host.
Today, he's concerned with the challenges of keeping a multi-billion dollar business moving with new ideas, and how to act like a small startup even if you're running a very large company. He's also interesting in finding new services that Airbnb can provide to its audience, since large companies tend to have multiple products available at once.
Nathan Blecharczyk – CTO
Nathan Blecharczyk is Chief Technical Officer, leading the team of engineers and guiding the technical strategy of Airbnb.
He met the other founders when he moved to San Francisco in 2007, finding an ad for Joe Gebbia's apartment on Craigslist. They noticed that their skills seemed to fit well together, and they teamed up later on to build the first Airbnb website.
Blecharczyk was originally responsible for the technical work, like coding, but now he manages teams of software engineers who do most of the heavy lifting. He's focused on some of the harder problems that Airbnb faces, like personal privacy, trust, and payment systems.
When it comes to his personal life, Blecharczyk seems to be a person who really lives in the sharing economy he espouses. Even though he's wealthy enough to have a few mansions of his own, he often lists his own home on Airbnb and takes in guests. Over 100 guests have stayed with him, never knowing that they're living with one of the founders of the company. He also stays with Airbnb hosts while traveling, as you'd expect.
Blecharczyk is committed to understanding what the typical Airbnb user goes through, so he wants to get the real experience. “I don't reveal who I am because, first, for privacy reasons, but also because I want to make sure I have the authentic experience that other hosts are experiencing,” he said. “I don't want them to treat me differently.”
Starting with a simple idea and a few air mattresses, the founders of Airbnb are now valued at $3.3 billion each. They've grown their company into a worldwide alternative to costly hotel rooms, building one of the first sharing economies in the process. Airbnb, besides being a service to simply find somewhere to stay, has also become a way for anyone to meet new people from anywhere in the world, creating new communities and friendships as it grows.
