He couldn't afford rent. Now he is the head of the Empire. “Summit of luxury”
How do you feel in the morning after waking up? Being a world king of beds – is it inspiring or stressful?
Thank you, I feel very good. Development is exciting and is a challenge. We revolutionized the tourism industry, we have a community that grows every day and we are constantly developing. In addition, I have a charming new roommate that wakes me up in the morning: Chloe, a young Golden Retriever bitch.
Your application has registered 2 billion reservations so far. What do you know about people?
Many people think that we know everything about everyone. This is of course nonsense. While traveling, I noticed that people like to ride on segway, gather around the paintings, because everyone else gathers around them, and during the journey they do things that locals would never have done. However, I am much more interested in two completely different observations.
I know that people are essentially good. Care for others is deeply rooted in our nature. The second observation concerns the growing loneliness. More and more people feel extremely lonely.
How do you find this?
I will give an example: Have you ever dreamed about your mobile phone at night? I don't. If electronic devices and social media really fascinated us, we would dream about them. When in 2007, at the age of 26, I came to the Silicon Valley, the Internet was still quite a new phenomenon, social platforms were a complete novelty, and the iPhone was just hit the market. Then it was promised that the internet would connect us all. For a long time it looked like it would be so. Today, the situation is completely different. It is as if something fundamental has been accidentally changed, as during a failed operation. We sit in front of the phone, staring mindlessly at the light of our devices. Many have lost contact with real life.
Artificial intelligence It can be able to copy authenticity – and it's triple.
Please do not understand me wrong, smartphones have contributed to many progress and enabled many things, just like artificial intelligence. I know it myself: you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do, while still lying in bed, is checking IMessage, Twitter and e -mail. Five minutes quickly turns into 10, 10 in 20 – this is not a good idea. Apathy is growing because we only perceive things abstractly, without an emotional, real relationship.
Are you part of the problem? Technology companies have been linked to us, and now we have to sleep in it.
I understand the point of view, even if I perceive our role in this matter differently. The fact is that about a third of men under 30 was never on a date. It's sad. For the first time in US history, more women than men live without a partner. There are many theories on this subject. Lonely people allegedly tend to repel others. Those who are lonely looking for comfortable, not very risky relationships. But this is today's life: scrolling the screen until the doctor comes. But what does it do with us? Digital technology kills the community. I don't think people are created for loneliness.
What do you want to do?
I want to help people regain their lives.
Save the world?
I want to shape it. We want to use technology as a means to the goal to come back to people in the real world, where they can have real experience and make real friendships in real communities. Our platform currently offers much more than just booking accommodation. It can be said that we are going through a “iconic phrase”: from beds to general service provider. We are working on this steam. We also want to introduce the culture of visited places to travelers through unique trips that can be reserved for people from a given region. It's about creating experiences.
When, as Bill Gates recently predicted, almost nobody will work in 20 years, people will have a lot of free time.
I don't believe in Gates forecasts. Artificial intelligence will reduce the demand for many professions and replace many jobs, perhaps to a lesser extent in the tourism industry. But there are truths that will continue to apply in 10 or 20 years: people will always work, as they will always travel, only in a different way.
This is the curiosity of what is unpredictable, temporary escape from everyday life – travels influence us. I believe that in the future people will travel even more, but they will choose less known, more distant places and stay longer. Many people work on the way today. I believe that travel and life will be more and more connected. For many, distant places are a better office.
With all due respect for your enthusiasm: cities are full of tourists, protests, also against your platform, intensify. There are allegations that Airbnb takes a valuable life space and contributes to the shortage of flats in the centers, especially in Europe. How do you perceive your responsibility in this area?
Airbnb was created as a platform offering inexpensive accommodation. My roommate and me, who in 2007 studied design in San Francisco, were no longer able to pay rent. Our intention has always been to make the living space more affordable. Almost 50 percent Our hosts in Europe rents rooms or apartments through us because they are unable to cover the costs of living in a different way. It has never been our intention for some to rent their apartments permanently.
Renting almost 66 thousand has just been suspended in Spain. apartments. La Barceloneta was an idyllic port district until her waves of tourists from Airbnb invaded. Barcelona He wants to completely prohibit the company's activities.
I know these accusations, but I have answers to them. Over the past 10 years, real estate prices in Barcelona have increased by 60 percent. On the other hand, the number of our accommodation has actually dropped, so you can't blame us. Of course, people see all these tourists, but they are often people on vacation with a cruise, and in Barcelona 70 percent. They are hotel guests.
In Berlin, accommodation facilities from our platform account for less than 0.2 percent. housing resources. I think Airbnb is a scapegoat for the difficult situation of many tenants and unsuccessful policy. The essence of a housing problem in many cities is that despite intensive urbanization in recent decades, too few apartments have been built. In short, as a company, we are open to city fears.
For example, it makes sense to introduce modern regulations adapted to a specific city, which effectively protect the living space, and at the same time allow hosts to occasionally share their own homes. Uncomplicated registration systems can facilitate a lot. There would be fewer vacancy thanks to thoughtful urban planning. I would like cities to perceive us as partners who can develop solutions for city challenges.
You studied Design. Where does the sense of aesthetics disappoint – in business classes, in a supermarket, with sofas covers?
I prefer to remember beautiful things. Life is as good as our thoughts. One of the most interesting places was the bedroom in the museum. We organized it ourselves during the Paris Games: accommodation in the clock hall of the famous Musee d'Orsay, including dinner on a roof terrace with a view of the opening ceremony. Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of the Olympic candle, was the host and designer of the room. In the past, you would need dozens of phone numbers, contacts, VIP passes and God knows what else, but today the application is enough – and we open gates and doors in front of you.
Brian Chesky
Can luxury still be improved?
Today, the peak of exclusivity is time. Many people have enough money. Airbnb is now working like a concierge in a luxury hotel. Regardless of whether you need a tailor in a short term, hairdresser or private protection, you can book it all – and if you want, in the most beautiful villas or castles. We will continue to broaden our offer of luxury accommodation for weddings or events organized by luxury brands. I think that at some point we will be able to offer even more than five -star hotels.
However, you do not offer dating tips. We live in a world where many people are not in a relationship. And what are holidays without flirting? Why do you completely ignore this topic?
The user's profile is “contacts”. You can show who you traveled with. Other platforms work better in the association of couples.
Swimming in the Gwyneth Paltrow pool, watching a football match on the Philipp Lahma sofa, sleeping in bed Leonardo DiCapprio like a private guest: Why do stars allow completely strangers into their salons?
With all due respect, but you don't understand people. Many of them are proud and like to show it. People who have achieved a lot are often clever businessmen. And those who rent their homes can use profits for the maintenance of real estate and their renovations, the repayment of a mortgage or employee remuneration. It's great when the money returns, thanks to which keeping the property pays off. This applies especially to historic houses. Europe has a rich cultural heritage.
Buckingham Palace, Meghan Markle – who are famous hosts are on your dream list, and who refused to hospitality?
Once I knocked on the door of the White House in front of Donald Trump – no chance. My dream: Night in the Vatican, including espresso with the Pope!
