Airbnb: Joe Gebbia (2017)

How I Built This · 28 Aug 2017 · 42m

What this episode covers

Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, explains how a rent hike and a design conference led to a side hustle that evolved into a global platform. He details the 'Visa round' of maxed-out credit cards, the failed SXSW launch, and the breakthrough 'Obama O's' cereal stunt that secured Y Combinator acceptance. Gebbia describes the critical pivot from coding to 'doing things that don't scale,' specifically flying to New York to take professional photos and redesign the user interface based on direct host feedback.

Mentioned

Companies
Airbnb, Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, TP Foam
Products
Obama O's, McCain O's, Crit Buns
Also
Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, Nate Blecharczyk, Paul Graham, Michael Vennitti

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