While many workers push back against micromanagement, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is doubling down on a hands-on approach. The $79 billion rental giant boss says he is still involved in personnel decisions for as many as 50 employees: "Like hire, fire, promote, and manage." Even Chesky admits it may sound like "a lot of work, but it's necessary".
Airbnb may be a globally recognized, $79 billion company with around 7,300 employees, but CEO Brian Chesky says he still manages it like a startup -- including being involved in personnel decisions for around 50 employees.
"I treat them all as my directs," Chesky said on an episode of the Social Radars podcast on Saturday. "I skip level, I co-hire them, and I make decisions on whether or not they're working out and leave the company... Like, hire, fire, promote, and manage."
Even Chesky admits it may sound like "a lot of work, but it's necessary". Conventional leadership advice usually says a CEO should build a top-tier exec team and get out of the way. "That to me is absolutely not what you should do," the rental giant boss slammed. "What you need to do is have relationships with as many people as possible in the company. You need to be as close to the people doing the work as possible."
"The only way to do that is to skip level," the tech billionaire said, adding that he does that by talking to those reporting into his management team. "I want to have a relationship with them."
Chesky rationalised that it's the only way of knowing if your executive team is doing a good job -- but also ensures you're "close to the vision." The job of the founder is "to set the vision every day, it's to set the pace of the company, it's to shape it every single day."
Chesky doubles down on 'founder mode'
It's not the first time the CEO has expressed his belief in having a start-up mentality. At a Y Combinator event in 2024, Chesky delivered a speech on the pitfalls companies face when adopting "manager mode". He recalled "well-meaning people' advising that he let experienced execs run Airbnb, but when he followed this advice, the results were disastrous.
Paul Graham, one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley who attended the talk, published an essay describing Chesky's style after that pivotal realisation as "founder mode."
Since then, Chesky has echoed the same sentiment, emphasizing that the age of artificial intelligence has ushered in a need for a more nimble business hierarchy.
"In the age of AI, my argument is you need to be founder-oriented/founder mode, because you're going to need to be able to move like a startup to be able to adapt," Chesky previously said in June on an episode of The Verge's "Decoder" podcast. "I think these big, professionally managed companies aren't organized to be able to do that, so they don't bode well for this new world."