Summary Brian Cheskyâs new playbook (Youtube) youtu.be
14,833 words - YouTube video - View YouTube video
One Line
Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, focuses on product quality, communication, and brand building rather than traditional growth channels in his leadership approach.
Slides
Slide Presentation (9 slides)
Key Points
- Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, discusses his new approach to running the company, emphasizing clarity, alignment, and hands-on leadership.
- Chesky's new approach involves a shift towards building the best product and effective communication, moving away from traditional growth channels.
- The importance of a single roadmap, involvement in design and feature decisions, and combining inbound product development with outbound marketing.
- Transitioning to a functional model, reducing projects and management layers, and ensuring expertise in every executive's domain.
- Setting ambitious goals, pushing for 10x thinking, making faster decisions, and having a bias for action.
- Emphasis on creating a great guest experience through tools for hosts, AI-powered photo tours, and a growth mindset organization.
- Speaker A shares insights on avoiding burnout, maintaining balance, being hands-on, and continuous growth as a leader in tech and business.
Summaries
19 word summary
Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky prioritizes product quality, communication, and brand building over traditional growth channels in new leadership approach.
64 word summary
Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder, outlines his new leadership approach emphasizing clarity and alignment. He shifts focus from traditional growth channels to product quality and effective communication. Chesky addresses frustration in tech industry design, advocating for cohesive product development. He distinguishes between performance and brand marketing, stressing the importance of customer education and long-term brand building. He made significant changes to Airbnb's structure and operations.
152 word summary
Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, discusses his new approach to running the company in a recent interview. He emphasizes the importance of clarity and alignment in leadership, rejecting the idea of compromising between different visions for the company. His new approach involves a shift away from traditional growth channels, such as paid marketing, and a focus on building the best possible product and effectively communicating its value to customers. Chesky also addresses the frustration felt by designers in the tech industry, highlighting the need for a cohesive product development process that integrates design, engineering, and marketing. He discusses his views on marketing, distinguishing between performance marketing and brand marketing, and emphasizes the importance of educating customers about new products and investing in long-term brand building. Chesky made significant changes to the structure and operations of Airbnb, including reducing the number of projects, removing layers of management, and transitioning to a functional model.
332 word summary
Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, discusses his new approach to running the company in a recent interview. He emphasizes the importance of clarity and alignment in leadership, rejecting the idea of compromising between different visions for the company. His new approach involves a shift away from traditional growth channels, such as paid marketing, and a focus on building the best possible product and effectively communicating its value to customers. This approach also involves combining inbound product development responsibilities with outbound marketing responsibilities and offboarding program management functions to program managers.
Chesky also addresses the frustration felt by designers in the tech industry, highlighting the need for a cohesive product development process that integrates design, engineering, and marketing. He discusses the negative impact of divisional structures within companies, leading to slow decision-making, bureaucracy, and lack of accountability. This approach aims to create a cohesive system where a smaller, more senior team manages by influence and ensures that everyone understands how to talk about and market the product.
Chesky also discusses his views on marketing, distinguishing between performance marketing and brand marketing. He emphasizes the importance of educating customers about new products and investing in long-term brand building rather than solely focusing on short-term metrics. The interview also touches on Chesky's journey as a founder and CEO, including his realization that delegating too much responsibility led to slower decision-making and a lack of clarity within the company.
Chesky made significant changes to the structure and operations of Airbnb, including reducing the number of projects, removing layers of management, and transitioning to a functional model. He emphasized the importance of having fewer, more senior employees and ensuring that every executive was an expert in their functional domain. He also created a new function called product marketing and made the group much smaller, reassigning many product managers as program managers. Overall, Chesky's new playbook involves a more hands-on approach to leadership, emphasizing the need for clarity, alignment, and cohesive decision-making across all aspects of the company.
1024 word summary
Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, discusses his new approach to running the company in a recent interview. He emphasizes the importance of clarity and alignment in leadership, rejecting the idea of compromising between different visions for the company. He advocates for leaders to be involved in the details of the company's operations and product development, rather than delegating these responsibilities.
Chesky's new approach involves a shift away from traditional growth channels, such as paid marketing, and a focus on building the best possible product and effectively communicating its value to customers. He emphasizes the importance of a single roadmap across the entire company and staying closely involved in every design and feature decision. This approach also involves combining inbound product development responsibilities with outbound marketing responsibilities and offboarding program management functions to program managers.
Chesky also addresses the frustration felt by designers in the tech industry, highlighting the need for a cohesive product development process that integrates design, engineering, and marketing. He discusses the negative impact of divisional structures within companies, leading to slow decision-making, bureaucracy, and lack of accountability. This approach aims to create a cohesive system where a smaller, more senior team manages by influence and ensures that everyone understands how to talk about and market the product.
Chesky also discusses his views on marketing, distinguishing between performance marketing and brand marketing. He emphasizes the importance of educating customers about new products and investing in long-term brand building rather than solely focusing on short-term metrics. He describes a rolling two-year product plan with biannual updates and highlights the need for a cohesive story to drive product development.
The interview also touches on Chesky's journey as a founder and CEO, including his realization that delegating too much responsibility led to slower decision-making and a lack of clarity within the company. He describes a dream of running the company more like a startup and reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Airbnb's business, leading to a near-death experience that prompted him to reevaluate his approach to leadership.
Overall, Chesky's new playbook involves a more hands-on approach to leadership, emphasizing the need for clarity, alignment, and cohesive decision-making across all aspects of the company. This includes a focus on product development, marketing, and long-term brand building to ensure sustained growth and success for Airbnb.
Brian Chesky made significant changes to the structure and operations of Airbnb, including reducing the number of projects, removing layers of management, and transitioning to a functional model. He emphasized the importance of having fewer, more senior employees and ensuring that every executive was an expert in their functional domain. Chesky also implemented a shared consciousness among the top 30-40 people in the company and emphasized the use of a roadmap that is updated monthly to adapt to unexpected events.
He created a new function called product marketing and made the group much smaller, reassigning many product managers as program managers. Chesky also established a CEO review schedule to assess the progress of projects, ensuring that every project was on track to ship. He focused on being involved in every single detail and emphasized the importance of being in the details to drive the product forward.
Chesky introduced the concept of "guest favorites" to combine the uniqueness of Airbnb with the reliability expected in a hotel. He also overhauled the host tab to provide great tools for hosts and create a great experience for guests. He emphasized that creating a great guest experience starts with building great tools for hosts.
Chesky encouraged setting ambitious goals and pushing people to think bigger, often asking how to 10x an idea. He believed that adding a 0 conceptually helped teams understand a problem and emphasized the importance of setting the pace of the team by making faster decisions and having a bias for action. He also highlighted the role of a leader in seeing potential in people that they may not see themselves and pushing them to reach their full potential.
In addition, Chesky discussed the transition from flat design to a more three-dimensional, colorful aesthetic in interface design, as well as the use of AI-powered photo tours to organize photos by room. He also highlighted the importance of building great tools for hosts and creating a growth mindset organization.
Finally, Chesky emphasized the significance of creating a great guest experience by providing great tools for hosts and seeing potential in people that they may not see themselves. He also discussed the importance of pushing teams to set ambitious goals and think bigger, while also setting the pace of the team and making faster decisions.
Speaker A shares insights on avoiding burnout and creating balance in a leadership role. He emphasizes the importance of being hands-on and involved in the details, leading to a shared consciousness and a culture of empowerment. By being more involved initially, he was able to create a more cohesive team and reduce conflicts in the company. He also stresses the importance of taking time away from work, exercising, maintaining healthy relationships, and getting enough sleep to avoid burnout.
In response to a question about inspiring leaders in tech and business, Speaker A expresses his belief that he still has a lot to prove and maintains a beginner's mindset. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity, learning, and reaching out for help. He believes that constantly evolving and growing is essential for continued success.
He shares a fun fact about his background as an artist and designer before Airbnb, highlighting the value of intuition, imagination, design, and curiosity in running a successful company. Speaker A also emphasizes the importance of being well-rounded and having a holistic approach to thinking about the world.
Speaker B expresses appreciation for Speaker A's insights and the transition into the creation story of Airbnb, which is considered important and interesting. The conversation concludes with thanks and well wishes from both speakers.
Overall, the conversation delves into the importance of avoiding burnout, maintaining balance, and continually growing as a leader. Speaker A's emphasis on being hands-on, maintaining a beginner's mindset, and valuing creativity and curiosity provides valuable insights for aspiring leaders in tech and business.
1024 word summary
Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, discusses his new approach to running the company in a recent interview. He emphasizes the importance of clarity and alignment in leadership, rejecting the idea of compromising between different visions for the company. He advocates for leaders to be involved in the details of the company's operations and product development, rather than delegating these responsibilities.
Chesky's new approach involves a shift away from traditional growth channels, such as paid marketing, and a focus on building the best possible product and effectively communicating its value to customers. He emphasizes the importance of a single roadmap across the entire company and staying closely involved in every design and feature decision. This approach also involves combining inbound product development responsibilities with outbound marketing responsibilities and offboarding program management functions to program managers.
Chesky also addresses the frustration felt by designers in the tech industry, highlighting the need for a cohesive product development process that integrates design, engineering, and marketing. He discusses the negative impact of divisional structures within companies, leading to slow decision-making, bureaucracy, and lack of accountability. This approach aims to create a cohesive system where a smaller, more senior team manages by influence and ensures that everyone understands how to talk about and market the product.
Chesky also discusses his views on marketing, distinguishing between performance marketing and brand marketing. He emphasizes the importance of educating customers about new products and investing in long-term brand building rather than solely focusing on short-term metrics. He describes a rolling two-year product plan with biannual updates and highlights the need for a cohesive story to drive product development.
The interview also touches on Chesky's journey as a founder and CEO, including his realization that delegating too much responsibility led to slower decision-making and a lack of clarity within the company. He describes a dream of running the company more like a startup and reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Airbnb's business, leading to a near-death experience that prompted him to reevaluate his approach to leadership.
Overall, Chesky's new playbook involves a more hands-on approach to leadership, emphasizing the need for clarity, alignment, and cohesive decision-making across all aspects of the company. This includes a focus on product development, marketing, and long-term brand building to ensure sustained growth and success for Airbnb.
Brian Chesky made significant changes to the structure and operations of Airbnb, including reducing the number of projects, removing layers of management, and transitioning to a functional model. He emphasized the importance of having fewer, more senior employees and ensuring that every executive was an expert in their functional domain. Chesky also implemented a shared consciousness among the top 30-40 people in the company and emphasized the use of a roadmap that is updated monthly to adapt to unexpected events.
He created a new function called product marketing and made the group much smaller, reassigning many product managers as program managers. Chesky also established a CEO review schedule to assess the progress of projects, ensuring that every project was on track to ship. He focused on being involved in every single detail and emphasized the importance of being in the details to drive the product forward.
Chesky introduced the concept of “guest favorites” to combine the uniqueness of Airbnb with the reliability expected in a hotel. He also overhauled the host tab to provide great tools for hosts and create a great experience for guests. He emphasized that creating a great guest experience starts with building great tools for hosts.
Chesky encouraged setting ambitious goals and pushing people to think bigger, often asking how to 10x an idea. He believed that adding a 0 conceptually helped teams understand a problem and emphasized the importance of setting the pace of the team by making faster decisions and having a bias for action. He also highlighted the role of a leader in seeing potential in people that they may not see themselves and pushing them to reach their full potential.
In addition, Chesky discussed the transition from flat design to a more three-dimensional, colorful aesthetic in interface design, as well as the use of AI-powered photo tours to organize photos by room. He also highlighted the importance of building great tools for hosts and creating a growth mindset organization.
Finally, Chesky emphasized the significance of creating a great guest experience by providing great tools for hosts and seeing potential in people that they may not see themselves. He also discussed the importance of pushing teams to set ambitious goals and think bigger, while also setting the pace of the team and making faster decisions.
Speaker A shares insights on avoiding burnout and creating balance in a leadership role. He emphasizes the importance of being hands-on and involved in the details, leading to a shared consciousness and a culture of empowerment. By being more involved initially, he was able to create a more cohesive team and reduce conflicts in the company. He also stresses the importance of taking time away from work, exercising, maintaining healthy relationships, and getting enough sleep to avoid burnout.
In response to a question about inspiring leaders in tech and business, Speaker A expresses his belief that he still has a lot to prove and maintains a beginner's mindset. He emphasizes the importance of curiosity, learning, and reaching out for help. He believes that constantly evolving and growing is essential for continued success.
He shares a fun fact about his background as an artist and designer before Airbnb, highlighting the value of intuition, imagination, design, and curiosity in running a successful company. Speaker A also emphasizes the importance of being well-rounded and having a holistic approach to thinking about the world.
Speaker B expresses appreciation for Speaker A's insights and the transition into the creation story of Airbnb, which is considered important and interesting. The conversation concludes with thanks and well wishes from both speakers.
Overall, the conversation delves into the importance of avoiding burnout, maintaining balance, and continually growing as a leader. Speaker A's emphasis on being hands-on, maintaining a beginner's mindset, and valuing creativity and curiosity provides valuable insights for aspiring leaders in tech and business.