Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said “the world is rooting against” Big Tech in a new episode of Axios on HBO. In the episode, Chesky warned Big Tech of the risks in startup investment culture. He also discussed Airbnb’s new discrimination rules and a possible vacation spike as workers use their paid time off.
Axios on HBO is a documentary news program that airs every two weeks. It features big names in business, tech and finance, government, and other fields.
Big Tech vs. the World
Chesky thinks Big Tech faces a lot of risks at the moment. “The world is rooting against them because they don’t think they have society’s interest in their favor,” Chesky remarked.
He recalled that when he came to Silicon Valley, there was less skepticism about the whole industry. This, according to him, can be deemed as helpful. After all, living in a world that’s completely skeptical can be hard to offer new ideas. All the more it will be harder to offer ideas that the audience will embrace.
However, he said that a world without skepticism could also lead to big downsides. “I think that the lesson is that…we have to be a little more skeptical of things, probably a bit earlier.”
Allen asked about his take on all the big investment money given to WeWork’s Adam Neumann. To which, Chesky offered interesting thoughts.
Chesky said that a fear of looking stupid is the reason why investors are duped by startup companies. He also thinks that there’s a perpetual culture where people “completely swing for the fences.” This, according to him, is due to people’s fear of missing out.
Discrimination, Diversity on the Platform
Chesky also talked about new community guidelines to make Airbnb a safer space for its hosts and guests.
In 2016, the firm came under fire because of reported discrimination against Black hosts and renters, something the venture still struggles with today.
For a while, #AirbnbWhileBlack trended on Twitter. In addition, other forums discussing the issue accused the company of allowing racism on its platform. To counter this, the venture launched Community Commitment in the same year.
The policy required hosts and guests to pledge to treat Airbnb users “without judgment or bias,” regardless of race, ethnicity, age, religion, national origin, age, and gender orientation.
Chesky reveals that 1.3 million users did not commit to the pledge. “And we kicked them all off site.”
Growth and Losses Amid Pandemic
In other news, Chesky expects positive growth for the company. “We’re going to be entering… a new golden age of travel, where suddenly people…have a record accrual of PTO (paid-time-off) and they’ve been landlocked,” he shares.
During the interview, Chesky also revealed interesting poll results from a survey Airbnb did on five big markets, the US, Mexico, the UK, France, and Australia.
The poll, answered by 7,500 consumer respondents, revealed that 64 percent of people were interested in living away from their companies. They opt to travel to the company occasionally instead.
Amid the pandemic, remote work is also turning out to be a good driver of sales. Also, Chesky said that half of the firm’s sales consist of stays longer than a week. In fact, one-fifth of business sales come from stays longer than a month.
Just like the rest of the hospitality field, Airbnb’s revenue fell in 2020 when lockdown rules were issued by countries, and the past year’s growth was mostly flat because of unsure conditions.
However, Airbnb stock value is likely to improve post-pandemic. After all, it seems that recreational demand is improving in many areas. Also, projections see sales increase thanks to remote work, travels to rural areas, and vacation spikes.
