WEBVTT - A Conversation with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to our Bloomberg TV, radio and YouTube audiences. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Emily Chang. No sign of a recession when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to travel on Airbnb. At least, the company reported its

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<v Speaker 1>first full year of profitability ever, with knights and experiences

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<v Speaker 1>book now sixteen percent higher than they were a pre

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic shares closing up today, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky joins me. Now, Brian,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for taking the time to join us. As

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<v Speaker 1>always so look, travels robust, but let's talk about the color.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you seeing signs of people making trade offs? Ten

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<v Speaker 1>days turns into seven days, A hundred dollars a night

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<v Speaker 1>turns into seventy five. You know, it's funny. And we

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<v Speaker 1>we are not seeing um any like any like measurable slowdown.

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<v Speaker 1>What we said in our Q one outlook as we're

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<v Speaker 1>expecting pretty steady growth. Now we are expecting a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit more accelerated growth in short and stays, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>that's more of a recovery. We're seeing more recovery short

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<v Speaker 1>term stays. We're seeing more people go to cities, and

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing more people cross borders between urban and cross border.

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<v Speaker 1>That was around eight percent of our Night's book before

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<v Speaker 1>the pandemic. So it's really more a matter of a

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<v Speaker 1>recovery of the old ways of traveling and a real

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<v Speaker 1>sustainability of the new ways, like including people staying longer

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<v Speaker 1>and traveling to more to places. Dave Stevenson, your CFO,

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<v Speaker 1>said yesterday on the call, this is growth mode now,

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<v Speaker 1>not necessarily profit maximization mode. What is growth mode actually

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<v Speaker 1>look like? Well, you know what, there's something kind of

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<v Speaker 1>interesting that I've learned in Silken Valley. I think there's

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<v Speaker 1>this really like simple way of thinking. You're either in

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<v Speaker 1>growth mode or profitability mode. And what I've learned since

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<v Speaker 1>the pandemic is as we've gotten more profitable, we also

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<v Speaker 1>got more efficient. And as we got more efficient, we

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<v Speaker 1>got more focused we were able to grow faster. So

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to continue to do both. But we are

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<v Speaker 1>focused on three priorities this year. Number one, we want

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<v Speaker 1>to affect the core service. We want people to love Airbnb,

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<v Speaker 1>and that means loving every detail about it. So we

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<v Speaker 1>basically did the storyboard of the end end experience for

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<v Speaker 1>a guest and host, and we are listening out all

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<v Speaker 1>the different things that people want to be better a

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<v Speaker 1>VnB and we're trying to systematically fix them one at

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<v Speaker 1>a time. Once we do that, then we need when

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure we have enough host If people are

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<v Speaker 1>watching on TV, they probably have traveled their MNB or

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<v Speaker 1>know someone who has. I want people to say the

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<v Speaker 1>same thing about hosting. They know somebody who is a

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<v Speaker 1>host because it's so mainstream and so popular. And along

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<v Speaker 1>the way, we're actually laying the foundation for us to

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<v Speaker 1>extend beyond our core business, and we're thinking about pretty

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<v Speaker 1>expansive the big ideas. So that's what we mean by

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<v Speaker 1>growth mode, that we are perfecting the core, making hosting mainstream,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're thinking about big ideas beyond beyond the core business.

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<v Speaker 1>But the cool thing is that we can stay really lean,

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<v Speaker 1>really disciplined, because I don't think growth and profitably have

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<v Speaker 1>to be a major trade off. And I hope that's

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<v Speaker 1>what the lesson of Airbnb is that you can do.

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<v Speaker 1>So what are the big ideas beyond the core business?

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<v Speaker 1>Because you know, obviously you made some hard chill voices

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<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic to pull back on some of those, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll just share a couple of small things. But I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I I gotta, I gotta, I gotta have a hook

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<v Speaker 1>to get you to get me back on this show.

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<v Speaker 1>So so I'm gonna I'm gonna hold something back. But

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<v Speaker 1>um so, let me just say that twice a year,

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<v Speaker 1>around May and November, we do these releases the summer

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<v Speaker 1>in winter release. We've got a pretty big idea for May.

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<v Speaker 1>But I'm gonna hold that back. I gotta have you back,

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<v Speaker 1>have me back on the show. But we are thinking about,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, investing a little bit more in experiences, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm really really excited for that opportunity. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>Longer term stays we think is a really continual opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>for us. So we think those are really interesting. We

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<v Speaker 1>also think that there's some really great services for guests

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<v Speaker 1>in hosts that we think they're going to really like,

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<v Speaker 1>and there might even be some things people want to

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<v Speaker 1>pay for. So these are some of the initial ideas

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<v Speaker 1>we have. But you know, a lot of the big

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<v Speaker 1>exciting things I'm gonna have to come back on to

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<v Speaker 1>tell you about, all right, t v D. So long

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<v Speaker 1>term stays you mentioned of Gross Night's book, has that plateau?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you think that's max at this point? I honestly, Um, well,

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<v Speaker 1>let's let's think about from a first principal standpoint, why

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<v Speaker 1>does that business even exist In the first place. That

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<v Speaker 1>business exists because there's a gap between people traveling in

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<v Speaker 1>a short term basis and people signing one year leases.

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<v Speaker 1>And that gap has increased as more people have gotten flexible.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, not everyone works remotely as flexible work of policies,

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<v Speaker 1>but a lot more people than before the pandemic. We're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing a lot more people want to travel for summer.

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<v Speaker 1>We're seeing a lot more people relocating. We're seeing a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more people that are kind of living different places

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<v Speaker 1>month to month. I think this is a very long

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<v Speaker 1>term trend. I think there was an initial like adoption

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<v Speaker 1>that was unique in his vertical nature during the pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it is normalizing, but over the course of

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<v Speaker 1>ten years, that's going to keep going up because people

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<v Speaker 1>are gonna continue to get more flexible. Still, you've got

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<v Speaker 1>inflation layoffs happening almost everywhere but airbnb, and I wonder

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<v Speaker 1>if this catches up, Like, what are you worried about

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<v Speaker 1>when you see a tough few years ahead for the

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<v Speaker 1>global economy. Well, I certainly worry about um, you know

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<v Speaker 1>our host I mean a lot of them live at

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<v Speaker 1>or below meeting income and aravon B is an incredibly

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<v Speaker 1>important way from them to make money. And I think

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<v Speaker 1>the air VYB can be a way for more people

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<v Speaker 1>to become a host. As far as our employees, though,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we did make some hard choices, but here's

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<v Speaker 1>a stat we have five percent fewer employees than before

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<v Speaker 1>the pandemic and we have more revenue. So we're extremely disciplined,

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<v Speaker 1>very focused, were very lean, and I think we're pretty

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<v Speaker 1>insulated from um A reduction four standpoint, and we are

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<v Speaker 1>really lean. We're really focused, and you know, we basically

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<v Speaker 1>made a lot of hard decisions and then we never

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<v Speaker 1>left that discipline. And it was partly because we didn't

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<v Speaker 1>We knew we were living in a time and certainty.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's also because we knew that as we got

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<v Speaker 1>more disciplined in Lean, it actually became a better experience

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<v Speaker 1>to work here. It was easier to get work done,

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<v Speaker 1>it was easier to innovate. So I think that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're ready for whatever storms ahead. Let's talk about the storm.

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<v Speaker 1>We've got fourteen billion dollars in cash a mass. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you thinking about what to do with that? Is

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<v Speaker 1>that just a massive rainy Day recession. Fund Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>hope it's more than that. You know, we are. We

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<v Speaker 1>are absolutely going to be looking at growth opportunities to

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<v Speaker 1>invest in. But one of the lessons I learned from

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<v Speaker 1>before the pandemic is I remember I had a teacher said, Brian,

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<v Speaker 1>you can do everything you want in your life, just

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<v Speaker 1>not at the same time. And so I want us

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<v Speaker 1>to be incredibly rigorous, thinking one step in front of

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<v Speaker 1>the other. But we are absolutely looking at expanding our market,

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<v Speaker 1>going to some new opportunities. So where there's a good opportunity,

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<v Speaker 1>we will invest. Where We're going to continue to be

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<v Speaker 1>extremely disciplined, and you know, expect us to generate a

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<v Speaker 1>lot more free cash flow this year as well. All Right,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna have to have you back to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>new opportunities and big ideas. You've got me curious. Brian Chesky,

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<v Speaker 1>Airbnb CEO. Thank you so much for taking the time. Guys,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll send it back to thank you very much. Elling