Pivot

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky prides himself on thinking very differently than other CEOs, and his answers to the Decoder questions about how he structures and manages his company were almost always the opposite of what I’m used to hearing on the show. Airbnb is pretty much a single team, focused on a single product, and it all rolls up to Brian. That’s very different from most other big companies, which have lots of divisions and overlapping lines of authority.

And Airbnb’s relationship to cities is changing as tourism changes. Airbnb used to be the poster child for a tech company that showed up without permission and fought with regulators, but as the company has grown and the pandemic has changed things, it’s entered what is hopefully a more mature phase — it just came to a deal with New York City after ten years of argument. I asked Brian about that and about what it’s like to run a public company now — the transition from scrappy startup to public company engaged with regulators is a big one.

Of course, I also had to ask about cryptocurrency and the metaverse — does Brian think we’re all going to be visiting virtual NFT museums on vacations in the future? You have to listen and find out.

Okay, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, here we go.

Transcript:

https://www.theverge.com/e/22547463

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Today’s episode was produced by Creighton DeSimone, and Andrew Marino, our research was done by Liz Lian. And we are edited by Callie Wright. Our music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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This episode takes a look back at 12 months of the most aspirational friendship in podcasting. Kara and Scott review a year's worth of hot takes, bold ideas, jealous fits, civil disagreements, and heartwarming family vacations. Come for the memories, stay for the triggers!

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In this episode, Kara and Scott dedicate a full show to the questions you've sent in! They answer questions on responsible gambling, the future of transportation, green energy investments, and more. They also reveal their favorite interviews over the past year, as well as their New Year's resolutions for 2022.

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Kara, Scott and a handful of Friends of Pivot make some predictions about what 2022 has in store for the Metaverse, China, Apple and more.

In this episode, we hear predictions from Co-Anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box Andrew Ross Sorkin, LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, Senator Amy Klobuchar, author Cory Doctorow, WSJ Senior Personal Technology Columnist Joanna Stern, NBC News Senior Business correspondent Stephanie Ruhle, NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran, author Sheera Frenkel, and actor George Hahn.

Send us your Listener Mail questions through our site, nymag.com/pivot and use Yappa to leave a video or audio message.

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Kara and Scott discuss a massive Amazon Web Services outage, Trump Media's new CEO, and Tim Cook’s Chinese diplomacy. Also, what BuzzFeed's stock launch means for the rest of us. Plus, a prediction on who will acquire Twitter.

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Kara and Scott discuss Twitter’s split into three divisions, Spotify’s royalty dispute with comedians, and the charges against parents of the Michigan school shooting suspect. Also, CNN’s messy Cuomo breakup, and Donald Trump’s media group says it’s raised $1 billion. Plus, Friends of Pivot Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Peterson on their new book, “OUT OF OFFICE: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home.”

You can find Charlie and Anne on Twitter at @cwarzel and @annehelen.

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Kara and Scott discuss Twitter’s new anti-harassment policy, Chris Cuomo’s indefinite suspension from CNN, and Stacey Abrams running for Governor in Georgia. Also, UK’s Competition Watchdog tells Meta to sell off GIPHY. CEOs and insiders have sold off a record number of stocks in 2021. Plus, Scott gives us some predictions on SpaceX and Twitter.

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Kara and Scott discuss the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, Jack Dorsey's Twitter exit, and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri's upcoming congressional testimony. Also, a bidding war for an original U.S. Constitution, and the pressure on ride-sharing giant Didi to delist from the NY Stock Exchange. Plus, Friend of Pivot, and author of the book “Woke Racism,” John McWhorter.

You can find John on Twitter at @JohnHMcWhorter.

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Kara and Scott discuss Amazon reportedly leaving customer data exposed inside the company, Build Back Better passing the House, and Apple’s back-to-the-office plan. Plus, Elizabeth Holmes testifies in her own trial.

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Kara is back with Scott to discuss Peloton's new stock offering, the Miramax versus Tarantino battle over Pulp Fiction NFTs, and alarming updates in Activision's sexual misconduct allegations. Plus, Netflix reveals its most popular content and an iconic arena gets a crypto name change. Plus, Scott gives us a prediction on the Metaverse.

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