Airbnb managed to do one thing – rent – rent is weird. Despite its destructive ripples in the housing market and its rush to clean up fees, the company has managed to capture nearly half of the global booking market. Not only will Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky continue to specialize in what it does, he also hopes to turn the platform into Airbnb to allow users to book services and experiences for services like chefs, beauticians and travel.
Chesky did some media tours to announce the change, spoke with the Wall Street Journal and wired in the most self-tempting tone to hype the vision shift, but we will get the CEO. First, the new Airbnb. According to WSJ, the updated app will now contain three icons representing the house, experience and service. According to Wired, the company has reportedly worked with more than 10,000 suppliers operating in 260 cities in 30 countries. They can be booked directly through the app.
The company also added the experience, which is actually the path it had gone out of business before but was quickly abandoned. The first iteration, known as Airbnb Adventures, and launched in 2019, offers a “worthy mention” experience hosted by local experts before suspending the feature in 2023 to focus on its core products. Obviously, this has completed the focus and re-engages in a huge product. According to Wired, the company has gained 22,000 experiences in 650 cities this time, including some celebrity-led experiences, such as the promised choice of booking seats next to Conan O’Brien at his podcast studio.
To help people guide people through all these choices, the company also reportedly plans to launch an AI-powered concierge that can help people plan a journey of unique experiences and services along the way.
All of this feels very 2010s Silicon Valley, and when it comes to “anything,” everything is all the rage. Among them is the launch of this announcement, which centers around Chez, who is not shy about leaning into the beloved framework of the Genius founder, who has a single vision that no one else can capture. That’s OK, the fact is that this makeover is something Airbnb has tried before, and the other half is just a revelation of things people sometimes book a rental property.
Chesky described sitting down in Wired in late 2023 and writing a declaration for what his company might have written: “I basically went from room to room and just poured over this stream of consciousness declaration, like Jack Kerouac’s writing On the road. “Of course, you can compare your business plan with the work of defining the countercultural movement.
At WSJ, Chesky continued to work on the “Founder Model”, a set of principles that should guide Silicon Valley executives, but largely encouraged tinkerers and tyrants. He also seems to have violated several of his “founder model” principles, including: “Keep small. Stay flat. Stay strong. Have as few people as possible and as few layers as possible.” It’s hard to imagine a bigger and wider than being a “all things” application.
Back on the wire, Chesky declared that he was the spiritual heir to Steve Jobs, who had never met before: “I feel like I know him deeply, professionally in the way that few people do, and in some way, only you can start a tech company by creating a tech company as a creative person and riding a rocket.” But don’t worry, he hasn’t seen himself yet. He told the Diary: “I am more of a disciple. I am more of a painter whom Michelangelo studied. I never said I would be Michelangelo, but I believe in that school of thought.”
You may have forgotten for a second that this is not an artist, but a rich man who hit this on an idea and now tries to attribute it to more wealth by positioning it as a hub of a revolution, with relatively obvious (though perhaps unnecessary) positioning it as a hub of a revolution. My guy, it might be worth booking a therapist to work for your self.
