As Airbnb took off in the early 2010s, Brian Chesky remembers worrying, “this is just one accident away from being a dead idea.”

That accident finally came in 2011 when a host’s apartment was ransacked. It set off a period of soul searching that became a turning point—the company’s efforts to rebuild trust led it to becoming the global behemoth it is today. In this episode, Brian reveals how this crisis shaped his thinking, and how the lessons would apply to the company’s next defining moments, including a pandemic that shut down global travel.

Featuring:

Brian Chesky
Brian Chesky is the cofounder and CEO of Airbnb. In 2007, Brian and Joe Gebbia became Airbnb’s first hosts and have grown the company to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guests.

Ellie Mertz
Ellie Mertz is the vice president of finance at Airbnb who helped the company navigate both the COVID-19 pandemic and the company’s subsequent 2020 IPO. Ellie serves on the board of DoorDash and Faire.

Alfred Lin
Alfred Lin is a partner at Sequoia on the seed/early team. He sits on the boards of Airbnb, DoorDash, Houzz, Zipline and more.

Learn more at cruciblemoments.com