Blitzscaling 18: Brian Chesky on Launching Airbnb and the Challenges of Scale

This is session 18 of Technology-enabled Blitzscaling, a Stanford University class taught by Reid Hoffman, John Lilly, Allen Blue, and Chris Yeh. This class features Reed Hoffman interviewing **Brian Chesky**, the Co-Founder and CEO of Airbnb.

[khalidkhalil]

Reid Hoffman, if you’re reading this, thank you for not interrupting him and let him speak.

[clintwestwood]

notice how much he says "we" and "our".
sign of a great leader

[zachh]

This is the best startup talk I've ever watched. Brian is a wealth of knowledge and an amazing story teller. Reid is a very patient interviewer that let's his hosts talk. Thanks for the priceless insights.

[Charles]

This is the best billionaire storyteller I've listened to, he's got my attention in the palm of his hands. Brilliant

[GoodPearls]

Shit! This is worth more than I could possibly put into words. Almost 10 years later after this talk and it's more RELEVANT than EVER!!! CRAP!

[sagechris]

I LOVE that this guy is not a programmer, he's into art which is close, he's creative. But he is not an engineer. LOVE THIS STORY

[iphonejackass]

I reckon a movie like The Social Network but based on Brian and airbnb would be awesome! Anyone agree?

[samerrkhann]

Reid himself possesses a river of startup knowledge but It's really amazing to see how carefully he is listening to Brian like he's also learning like rest of the class. Cheers to you Mr. Hoffman ✨

[chrise]

This dude really said bless you in the middle of the beginning of his story. Legend.

[swastik]

I have literally gathered 6 pages of notes from this session. what an incredible learning experience! Gained a lot of new insights. Absolutely Loved it!

[CO_]

So many great lines: the difference between entrepreneur and unemployed is mindset.

[tabmarcio]

This is, as many others in the Blitzscaling series, one of the best talks I have seen. The way which Reid collaborates (also seeing in John Lilly's behavior) is just amazing. These folks are collaborating indeed and are after looking at scalability as a art and also as theory.

[pwbgoteam]

Love this video. Brian is such an authentic entrepreneur who has now become one of the world’s most impactful CEOs. Reid did a great job interviewing Brian and an even better job investing and coaching Brian.

[bvinvestments]

What a pleasure to have an interviewer who let the guest speak and don't seeks atention! Hard to find

[sahilvasava]

This talk contains so many insights that I gave up taking notes and soaked it all in and bookmarked it. I will rewatch again and again until I squeezed out every drop of insight from this talk. Brian Chesky is awesome!

[kasyapchakra]

This was amazing storytelling, felt like I was right there building the company with him

[SouhailEntertainment]

Introduction and Overview - 00:00:00
Story of Airbnb: The Early Days - 00:00:37
Airbeds and Breakfast: The Origin of the Name - 00:04:54
Early Struggles and Pivots - 00:07:04
Raising Funds and Facing Rejections - 00:12:14
Turning Point: Joining Y Combinator - 00:19:06
Doing Things That Don’t Scale - 00:22:16
The Importance of Creating 100 True Fans - 00:23:24
Launching in New Cities and Creating Network Effects - 00:26:43
Unique Challenges: International Competition - 00:31:45
Seven-Star Design Concept - 00:30:45
Building and Scaling Company Culture - 00:39:05
Navigating Government Relations and Regulations - 01:07:59
Learning and Adaptability in Leadership - 01:24:50
Recent Challenges and Terrorist Attacks in Paris - 01:24:20
Final Thoughts on Scaling and New Product Development - 01:35:30

[mikemaresh]

Awesome video! Brian Chesky does a great job at conveying his thoughts and principals while simultaneously coming across with genuine delivery.

[jl]

Brian Chesky is the best entrepreneur, mentor, and product-focused person in the community of entrepreneurs, that I've never met. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

[alexi.]

This guy is the reason I bought Airbnb Stock and won't let it go even if the price tanks for some time. I have 100% faith in him and his ability to grow the company bigger and bigger and bigger