Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 92% certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

Adora Cheung: Early Airbnb founders fixated entirely on missed growth targets

Adora Cheung · Adora Cheung - How to Set KPIs and Goals · Y Combinator · Aug 1, 2019 · at 21:08

This episode carries Adora Cheung's own address, with nobody on the show putting questions to them. It still counts as said, and it is kept out of every score on their page.

Y Combinator Partner Adora Cheung discusses methods for tracking progress and setting weekly growth targets during a YC Startup School lecture.

0:00 / 0:07exact quote · 7.8s
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“This is in fact what the Airbnb founders did in the beginning. And if they hit the numbers, great. Ah, if they did not, then that's all they would talk about.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

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Assertion Not checkable as stated
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