Airbnb’s Brian Chesky: ‘We Used To Create Content Online. Now We Create Industries’

Ingrid Lunden

Ingrid is a reporter for TechCrunch, joining February 2012, based out of London. She comes from paidContent.org, where she was a staff writer, and has in the past also written freelance regularly for other publications such as the Financial Times. Ingrid covers mobile, digital media, advertising and the spaces where these intersect. When it comes to work, she feels most... → Learn More

Thursday, January 31st, 2013
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brian chesky airbnb

Airbnb was one of the trailblazers of the sharing economy, and so, when CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky today accepted the award for best collaborative consumption service — the first time the category has been a in the Crunchies — he dedicated the award to everyone: “I want to share this award with all of you,” he said.

Backstage, Chesky talked about how Airbnb was borne out of a particularly tight month when he and the other co-founders couldn’t make rent. “We started Airbnb before there was a shared economy, before the idea of collaborative consumption,” he recalled. People thought they were crazy. “Their response was, ‘Are you kidding me? Why are you even doing this?’… But I think people will look back on this time: before, people were able to create content. Now they can create industries.”

He notes that one of the company’s biggest challenges is to stay consistent as they continue to scale. “We now have thousands of travellers expecting a great experience every time,” he said.

Watch the full video below.


Company: Airbnb
Website: airbnb.com
Launch Date: 2007
Funding: $120M

Founded in August 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique spaces around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more that 26,000 cities and 192 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community...

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