airbnb Archives

Airbnb Rooms: When Rebranding Works Backwards

Many businesses have humble origins. Bill Gates built Microsoft out of an Albuquerque garage, while Airbnb began with three air mattresses on the floor of a San Francisco loft. It’s in the nature of success...

byGrant Polachek

September 11, 2023

How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Gig Economy (and How Freelancers Can Pivot)

It’s hard to see any area of work and life that has been left untouched by COVID-19. This unprecedented pandemic has impacted industries and businesses of all sizes, and that includes the gig economy. In...

byJohn Rampton

January 13, 2022

How the Gig Economy is Transforming Entrepreneurship

Think about the last time you trekked across town, ordered food or looked for a place to stay in a new city. The common thread linking all three experiences is that, chances are, you used...

byMichelle Delgado

December 17, 2021

Tips for Turning Your Side Hustle Into a Thriving Full-Time Business

The story of my company, White Spider, began when I rented out the guest bedroom of my San Francisco apartment. I initially did it to make some quick cash to buy a used bike, but...

byMel Hignell

September 15, 2021

The 5 Types of Entrepreneurs You Need on Your Startup’s Team

When you’re just getting started in a new business, what types of people do you need to attract to work alongside you? We studied that very challenge while researching our new book, “The Entrepreneur’s Faces.”...

byJonathan Littman and Susanna Camp

December 15, 2020

Former Airbnb Chief Ethics Officer Says Integrity is a Superpower in Business

The following is adapted from "Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution" by Rob Chesnut (St. Martin’s Press, July 28, 2020) At Airbnb, the founders of the company realized from the beginning that...

byRob Chesnut

August 25, 2020

Surviving Capital Raising During Marketplace Disruption From COVID-19

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on financial markets around the globe, which presents a formidable challenge for startups when it comes to raising capital. While investors generally hedge risk during uncertain and unpredictable times, the current...

byRyan Rafols

June 16, 2020

Why Empathy Makes Your Customers Love You More

The following is excerpted from The Empathy Edge: Harnessing the Value of Compassion as an Engine for Success (A Playbook for Brands, Leaders, and Teams) by Maria Ross, 2019, Page Two When you encourage empathy...

byMaria Ross

November 19, 2019

Use This Marketing Tactic to Boost Customer Engagement and Get More Sales

I’m sure you’ve seen this message (or something similar) on the bottom of a website when you’re shopping for clothes or a trip: “3 left at this price!” It’s a classic example of a nudge, one...

byJonathan Senin

September 12, 2019

The Age of Resemblance: What Startups Can Learn When Successful Brands Start to Look the Same

Recently, at the AWS Loft in San Francisco, HubSpot’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Halligan, discussed how you build a startup and said, “I woke up this morning on my Casper mattress. I put on my...

byKim Walsh

June 25, 2019

What 5 Global Businesses Get Right About Mission Statements

The most successful mission statements often have several key elements in common. Such statements are crafted to share, in brief, the short- and long-term plans of an organization. Mission statements have quickly turned into declarations that...

byDeborah Sweeney

May 16, 2019

How Partnerships Can Elevate Your Startup’s Brand

When your brand is in the startup phase, one of the biggest challenges is growing your audience, let alone doing so cost-effectively. Traditional paid channels like social media and marketing campaigns require significant purse strings,...

byAlex Song

April 16, 2019

How This Entrepreneur Built a Side Hustle by Copying His Competitors

The following is excerpted from "How to Be a Capitalist Without Any Capital: The Four Rules You Must Break To Get Rich" by Nathan Latka, in agreement with Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group,...

byNathan Latka

February 26, 2019

Find Your Why and Identify Problems Worth Solving by Collecting and Connecting the Dots

The following is excerpted from "Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Earn Your Freedom and Do Work That Matters" by Steve Glaveski. Published by Wiley January 2019. All rights reserved. In the past 10 years, I’ve...

bySteve Glaveski

January 29, 2019

4 Ways to Make Your Startup Appeal to Modern Buyers

It's no secret that buyers have evolved with the digital age. With information at their fingertips and a need for speed, modern consumers are demanding more from businesses than ever before. While many companies are...

byJake Braly

October 1, 2018

To Innovate From Inside Your Industry, Get Inside the Heads of Your Customers

When you’re an expert in your field, it can be hard to challenge the assumptions that have helped you build your business and get to where you are today. However, those same assumptions won’t always...

byHamlet Batista

July 5, 2018

Think You’re Too Busy to Start a Side Hustle? Why You Might Be Wrong and 10 Ideas to Get Started

The term “side hustle” is a relatively new one, but the idea has been around for decades. Your full-time job likely supplies you with the income you need to stay afloat, but if you had...

byAnna Johansson

May 19, 2018

Start a Successful Business: Debunking the Myth of Innovation

The following is excerpted from "Start a Successful Business: Expert Advice to Take Your Startup from Idea to Empire" by Colleen DeBaise © 2018 AMACOM/AMA All rights reserved. Published by AMACOM Books www.amacombooks.org Division of American Management...

byColleen DeBaise

February 13, 2018

The Startup Accelerator Guide: Choosing an In-Person or Virtual Program

The number of accelerator programs in the U.S. has grown tenfold over the last 10 years, meaning there are now over 250 accelerator programs available globally, each with their own industry specializations, benefits and drawbacks. There...

byNevin Shetty

December 2, 2017

4 Reasons to Get Your Side Hustle On

"Side hustle" is the new buzzword of this generation, but what exactly does it mean? To get your side hustle on means that in addition to your day job, you also have a second stream...

byBen Walker

September 28, 2017