I’m Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-Founder of Airbnb, and This Is How I Work
When you need a place to stay while traveling, hotels seem almost quirky in the context of modern online marketplaces like Airbnb . Airbnb has quickly become the de facto standard for short-term rentals of apartments and rooms, both for renting and for looking for a roof over your head on vacation.
Founded in 2008 by Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, Airbnb has grown at an impressive pace; their market now includes 34,000 cities in 190 countries and obviously over 600 castles if you’re feeling a bit medieval. Managing such rapid growth is certainly not easy, and as CTO Nathan was tasked with solving complex technical problems while helping to run the business. We spoke with Nathan to find out more about his work and how he works.
Location: San Francisco Current workplace: Co-founder and CTO, Airbnb One word that best describes how you work: Firehose Current mobile device: iPhone 6 Current computer: 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina
First of all, can you tell us a little about your role as CTO at Airbnb?
My duties as CTO have expanded significantly. This originally meant that I wrote the code. Later, this meant that I focused on hiring a team, scoping and analyzing how we create a product. Now I have enough engineering managers with whom I work, so I have no direct technical responsibilities. I remain more directly involved in the areas of business and technical infrastructure, which are some of the most complex technical issues we are working on, such as payments, trust and security. I also apply the same structured approach to problem solving across all areas of the entire company. For example, how to create a system of transparency and accountability for all Airbnb teams.
What apps, software and tools can’t you live without?
- Classmates – I have little time to cook. When I want to eat at home, I often use Postmates to deliver food from my favorite restaurants.
- Kwikset Electronic Home Locks – Whether it’s my Airbnb guest, cleaning lady, or anyone else, electronic locks make it easy to control access to my home while I’m in the office or traveling.
- Trek Madone Road Bike – I Don’t Ride; I ride my bike to the office and the gym whenever possible. In fact, getting to your bike in traffic jams is faster and exercise is a great way to start / end your day.
- Vivino – Vivino is a wine app that allows you to take a photo of a bottle label and get all the information about it, including the price. I receive a lot of wine as a gift, and this allows me to remember who gave me what, and also to make sure that I leave the best bottles for special occasions.
Are you actually renting out to Airbnb guests yourself? Do you tell your guests who you are?
Yes, I am a very active Airbnb host. I have accepted over 40 bookings in the last five months. I was fully booked in high season. No, I am not telling the guests who I am. I want to experience hosting just like our many hosts. Once my guest was a reporter who had met me earlier and therefore recognized me. She was very surprised 🙂
How is your workplace arranged?
My wife and I recently had our first child. My daughter comes to the office twice a week for a couple of hours while my wife does errands. With a standing table, I can let her sleep in front of me (which seems like her happy place) and rock her while working.
Here is the sling ; it’s great because it’s easy to put on. Several other brands are a bit like a puzzle.
What’s your best time-saver or life hack?
I try to complete my calendar in reverse order, from the end of the day to the previous day; I try to reserve the morning for “real work.” I have found that I can concentrate more in the morning, whereas it is more difficult for me to concentrate after being bombarded with meetings, so I try to postpone meetings until later.
What is “real work” for you?
My “real job” can be very varied. Most often, this includes reviewing proposed projects or solutions and providing thoughtful feedback. Airbnb has scaled incredibly quickly, so a lot of my work is about exploring the overall structure and organization of the company, and maintaining the same culture and values ​​as we grow.
What’s your favorite to-do list manager?
My tasks are divided between my calendar, my email, and a simple notepad in which I keep my short list of things I need to keep in mind. To get more detailed notes, I put them in Evernote.
What devices, besides a phone and a computer, can you not live without and why?
My Bose noise canceling headphones are indispensable in the office and when traveling. They prevent me from being distracted by my surroundings.
What are some of the things you do best in everyday life?
I try not to waste a minute around the house. When making coffee ( here’s the coffee maker I use ) or breakfast, I will also water the plants and open the bags. I try to make some progress every day in between other tasks, so that later I do not allocate larger and more valuable chunks of time.
What do you listen to while you work?
Silence or top 40 or electronic dance music, depending on how caffeinated I feel.
What are you reading now?
As a leadership team, we read relevant books together from time to time. We are currently reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less . The downside of too many good opportunities is that it is difficult to focus.
The Information is a subscription (online) publication dedicated to leaders in the technology industry. They publish one article a day, which is very important and relevant, so I think it’s worth reading.
Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I am an introvert in the sense that I often find fatigue in the group, and I like to recuperate myself. That being said, you will find me very interested in discussing most of the topics related to business.
What is your sleep pattern?
Of course, I can go to bed very late, but I try to go to bed early and get up early. I usually wake up from 6 am to 7 am every day. Several days a week I will work out in the gym before work. On other days I will start earlier, before the daytime chaos started 🙂
Fill in the blank: I would like _________ to answer these same questions.
Peter Thiel.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
You can do whatever you want. – Dad
What else would you like to add that might be of interest to readers and fans?
At Airbnb, we say your job changes every six months, even if your role doesn’t officially change. This is the nature of a fast growing company. This is true for the founders too. This year, I diminished my role in directly managing the day-to-day aspects of various teams and the associated labor-intensive requirements, and instead focused my time on more strategic tasks such as planning for 2015. and a framework for ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the organization. Much of what we will be doing is borrowed from the OKR methodology (used by Google and many others), as well as many of the suggestions from the Advantage book.
This interview has been edited for clarity.