Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky explains why early-stage startups should iterate on their product launches and PR narratives rather than betting on one exclusive announcement.
Insight
Chesky: Start PR with small blogs before pitching mainstream media
“The answer that it was, it always started as like an invert, like a pyramid and you always start at the bottom. And you work your way up to mainstream media. And the top of the pyramid is CNN, or New York Times. The bottom of the pyramid are all, any person th…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chesky: Paul Graham doubted Airbnb's idea but praised founders' resourcefulness
“It, the long story short is we ended up getting in Y Combinator, and I remember on the interview, he brought the cereal, and, you know, Paul Graham said, I remember him saying, like, he wasn't entirely sure of the idea. He said, well, it sounds different, but …”
Insight
Chesky: Making 100 people love a product is the hardest startup hurdle
“And the other idea, and this is actually something that Paul Buckeye is one of the speakers at Wycombe as well, he said,
He said, make something that a hundred people love.
And it may take a year, it may take two years for a hundred people to love it, but that…”
Assertion Contradicted
Chesky: Airbnb was the first to combine host and space photos
“On couch surfing, you saw the photo of the person. On Craigslist, you saw the photo of the place, but on no website did you see both, like, the person and their place. I think that was one really important ingredient that made it really compelling.”
Insight
Chesky: Small Companies Can Retell Their Story Repeatedly With New Angles
“So, you know, when you're a really small company, like, you have the opportunity to retell your story many, many times. As long as every time you tell it, there's something different about it.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chesky: Meeting Barry Manilow's drummer inspired Airbnb's whole-home listings
“Barry Manilow's drummer changed the course of our company forever because we met Barry Manilow's drummer.
He, we realized that he didn't want to just list his bedroom.
He wanted to list his entire apartment.
Why?
Because he goes on tour with Barry.
And they go…”