Book Report – The Airbnb Story by Leigh Gallagher

Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were flat broke. Unemployed and desperate, the two art school grads decided to raise money by renting out air mattress space in their San Francisco apartment when a big design conference came to town and hotel rooms proved hard to come by. While the brainstorm was meant to buy themselves another month of lodging to continue to attempt to make something people want, it turned out that this was to be the offering, at first named AirBed & Breakfast and then simply Airbnb (it’s cleaner, no?). Thus begins The Airbnb Story by Leigh Gallagher, one hell of a brand new business book. Gallagher gained direct access to Chesky, Gebbia, and their third cofounder, the savant-like programmer Nathan Blecharczyk, along with the Who’s Who of Silicon Valley big shots who either did – or whoops, didn’t – invest in the nutty concept of renting out space in one’s home to complete strangers. The eventual result, of course, was a viral hit with tens of billions of dollars in value built in well under a decade, rocking the tired hotel industry to its core.

But it wasn’t easy. Gallagher reports on the tireless, go-for-broke approach the cofounders employed in getting the company off the ground. As the concept first took root in New York – and nowhere else – the upstarts found themselves travelling cross-country week after week having been coached by the legendary Paul Graham (he of launchpad Y Combinator fame) to “go to your users!” At the time, they were trying to perfect the model whereby the homeowner would not only be on premises to greet their guests but literally make them breakfast as well. In perhaps the funniest tale – and biggest go-figure aha moment – Airbnb was challenged by Barry Manilow’s touring drummer to allow him to advertise his entire residence on the site so he could focus on keeping time in Vancouver or Vegas for the man who writes the songs that make the whole world sing (about love and special things) and not, you know, have to whip up scrambled eggs in the morning. They bit and it worked, in a huge way. Business lesson: we should interview our clients and at least consider their suggestions, even if the only thing they’re known for are the soft fills on “Mandy.”

Fun war stories aside, there is of course the controversy. When you have a rocket ship of a startup, there will be haters and detractors, some due to pure jealousy and others with legitimate concerns. One serious matter is the growing housing crisis in cities worldwide. Sites such as Airbnb help property owners capitalize on profitable short-term rental opportunities while removing said dwellings from the traditional inventory, driving up prices on now more limited housing. (See the 3/12/17 Boston Sunday Globe blurb on how this is currently playing out in Cambridge, MA.) The author does her level best to get Chesky – the company’s default CEO and spokesperson – to own up but he is the master of time-for-Wapner recitations of Airbnb’s “belong anywhere transformation journey” mission statement. Who can blame him? If you were a throwback hippy inventor who stumbled upon more than three billion dollars of personal net worth, you’d likely stick to the script as well. And to his and his partners’ enduring credit, they come off as genuine, committed guys who don’t just drink the corporate Kool-Aid as much as pump it through their veins. More power to Gallagher for helping us see behind the curtain on this wildly successful venture, making the reader wonder what my father-in-law always says: “Why didn’t we think of that?”