Introduction

Alex Schleifer was the long-time Chief Design Officer at Airbnb where he grew the team from ~35 to over 600 people. So this conversation is an inside look at what makes design at Airbnb so special. We discuss:

• How to create a culture of decisiveness
• Why great design leaders are like chefs
• How to succeed in executive CRITs at Airbnb
• How designers should prepare for an AI future
• What it means to operate with a “first team” mindset
• What it takes to achieve Airbnb’s level of craft at scale
• Which elements of the Airbnb culture you can instill for your team
• a lot more

Alex’s Twitter and Linkedin

Alex’s “People vs. Algorithms” podcast

Mentioned Airbnb alumni:

• Katie Dill (Head of Design at Stripe)
• Ethan Eismann (SVP Design at Slack)
• Karri Saarinen (CEO at Linear)