Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Brian Chesky’s new playbook

Nov 12, 2023

01:13:28

Snipd AI

Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, shares his contrarian approach to product, growth, and leadership. He discusses how Airbnb shifted their thinking on product management, how they moved away from traditional growth channels, and their newly released features. Brian emphasizes the importance of founders diving into the details, setting ambitious goals, and improving reliability and trust on Airbnb. He also talks about the generous nature of successful founders in the tech industry and his journey from being an artist to an entrepreneur.

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Quick takeaways

Clarity and alignment are essential for founders to balance their vision for the company with the goals and desires of their team

Leaders should not shy away from being involved in the details, as understanding the intricacies of the work leads to more effective guidance and management of teams

Airbnb reimagined product management by combining inbound development with marketing, focusing on senior, cohesive product stories and promoting cross-functional collaboration

Deep dives

Building Clarity and Avoiding Misery in Company Leadership

Founders often compromise between their vision for the company and the desires of their team, leading to dissatisfaction. The key is to provide clarity and align everyone's efforts in the same direction.

Pushing people to think bigger gets them to think in first principles

01:05

Shifting to Product-Centric Growth Strategies

02:15

The Pitfalls of Siloed Departments and How it Happens

03:01

Experts over people managers

01:34

Introduction

5min

Discussion on the Misunderstanding of Product Management at Airbnb

2min

Transformation of Traditional Product Management

26min

A Contrarian Approach to Product, Growth, and Leadership

6min

Improving Reliability and Trust on Airbnb

24min

Generosity and Helpfulness in the Tech Industry

2min

From Artist to Entrepreneur

8min

Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. Under Brian’s leadership, Airbnb has grown into a community of over 4 million hosts who have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guests across over 220 countries and regions. I had the privilege of working under his leadership, so it is a great honor to have him on the show. We discuss:

• How Airbnb has shifted their thinking on product management

• Why bureaucracy happens in companies, and how to avoid it

• The importance of founders diving into the details

• Why Airbnb moved away from traditional growth channels and what they are doing instead

• Airbnb’s newly released features

• How and why Brian encourages his team to set ambitious goals

• Why he says he still has a lot to prove

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/#transcript

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Where to find Brian Chesky:

• X: https://twitter.com/bchesky

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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