Airbnb has nearly died twice. In 2008 its founders were deep in debt and every investor they approached had said no or never replied, so they kept going by selling Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's cereal at forty dollars a box. In 2020 the pandemic left Airbnb with more cancellations than bookings, two billion dollars of expensive loans and a quarter of its staff gone, seven months before its shares more than doubled on their first day of trading. This episode follows Brian Chesky through both: the airbeds on the floor, the seven rejections, Y Combinator, the door to door work in New York, the apology to hosts, the loans, the layoff letter, the summer of cabins and the stock market debut.
Founder Stories tells the story of one founder per episode, told plainly and in order.
