The sharing economy is about making use of any idle resource out there. We do love seeing other sharing-economy companies flourish.
At Airbnb, we're trying to build a culture that supports details, celebrates them, and gives our teams creative license to pursue them.
From natural disasters to the refugee crises, the impact we can have as individuals might seem limited. But as many of our hosts know, sharing your home for even a few nights can make a tremendous difference in someone's life.
After World War II, communities and the trust they fostered began to erode in the United States. We moved away from dense city centers to fenced in suburban lots separated by broad highways.
While the Cold War had us questioning our next-door neighbors, big brands emerged to capture our trust. We became consumers.
To be truly empathetic, we have to acknowledge that we're all human, we're all flawed, and that life can be difficult.
I'll never forget my first Art Basel.
Given Miami's unique role in Airbnb's roots, I'm particularly proud of how South Floridians have embraced home sharing as an opportunity to earn supplemental income and catalyze economic development in their communities.
As with any new and innovative industry, entrenched interests - particularly the hotel industry - have attempted to squash the home-sharing movement.
Scheduled shipping is one of many inventions that has made New York a global capital of innovation and creativity - from Willis Carrier's invention of air conditioning in Buffalo and George Eastman's breakthrough film technology in Rochester to the rise of hip-hop in the South Bronx and the world's first cell phone call in Midtown Manhattan.
In New York, ingenuity goes hand-in-hand with the hustle to survive.
By helping New Yorkers turn their greatest expense - their home - into an asset, Airbnb is a vehicle that artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators can use to earn extra money to pursue their passion.
In art school, you learn that design is much more than the look and feel of something - it's the whole experience.
What if cities embraced a culture of sharing? I see a future of shared cities that bring us community and connection instead of isolation and separation.
What we're doing with Airbnb feels like the nexus of everything that is right. We're helping people be more resourceful with the space they already have, and we're connecting people around the world.
We do believe in an inside-out culture. If we hold our hosts and guests to an expectation of acceptance and belonging, it has to start within our company. Otherwise, how on earth do we have the credibility to hold them accountable if we're not doing it to ourselves?
I've experienced firsthand the disconnect between furniture, their environments, and the way people work.
There's no reason any company should be limited by its physical environment.
Any time there is a new idea, it can take some time for policy to catch up to it.
We have seen things in the twentieth century like the ATM machine, the VCR, and even the car. The electric car was invented in 1920, and here we, 100 years later, it is only now becoming an actual thing. So it doesn't surprise me that new ideas are met with a lot of questions.
When trust works out right, it can be absolutely magical.
We're a community-driven brand, but at the same time, we want every host in every home to recognize that they're all individuals, and to use Airbnb as an expression of their individuality.
Design can overcome our most deeply rooted stranger-danger bias.
In the post-war United States, you had this race to the suburbs. Cities shrank, the suburbs got bigger - and the notion of community changed drastically. You went from all being very close together to all being spaced apart and slightly suspicious of one another.
The hotel industry is a very modern invention - it only really started to become branded in the 1950s.
We expect Seoul to be one of our most important markets not only in Asia but around the world.
Staying at Airbnb listings gives me the opportunity to truly understand and experience the local culture of the countries I visit.
I think Pixar's done an amazing job integrating art and science. They really get this idea that art and engineering work side by side.
I have the privilege of working with our in-house design studio, called Samara, and our humanitarian team, called Human. Samara is thinking about the future of Airbnb, and Human is working on ways to leverage our platform outside the cause of day-to-day business.
For me, one of my personal inspirations was designers in the mid-20th century named Charles and Ray Eames.
Every apartment I've ever lived in has had a space to make, create, and get stuff done within eyesight of my bed.
When it comes to technology and the home, I really don't want to see any of it.
People assume that the smarter your home, the better your life, but in reality, technology so often gets in the way of leading a good life.
Cities are a melting pot for different ideas, and diversity brings a high-energy rhythm that I don't think we'd know was gone until it was too late.
The fear of mistakes is the fast track to irrelevance.
We encourage employees to ship new features on day one, which immediately encourages them to come up with something creative and different.