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kimbersul's review against another edition
2.0
While an interesting read on becoming a disruptive force in an established industry, it was very one-sided. The continued ignorance of what can go wrong as their growth trajectory continues, is alarming. What they haven't realized is that they are no longer as dissimilar as they would like to think they are from the hotel giants. It may not look the same,but it is. Those days are long gone as they continue to move towards the all dominating dollar as their mantra. And not for nothing, there is a reason that community zoning exists so that residential neighborhoods stay just that and not areas of commercial enterprise, with all its descriptiveness. I did not respect their disingenuous rationale in that regard at all.
btwalsh's review against another edition
3.0
Airbnb may be remarkable, but this book isn't. Stick with Brad Stone's book and any podcast like Masters of Scale where they interview Chesky directly. There's nothing new here.
kitkat2500's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting book about how Airbnb got started. The author also delves into the reasons the company is successful as well as a broad discussion of the evolving travel industry. Recommended reading!
fsuarez's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
I found it very interesting to read about the origins of AirBnb and how they disrupted and transformed the travel and hospitality industry.
trackofwords's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting, journalistic look at a this fascinating company covering a good range of topics with plenty of insight from the founders, and various people involved over the years.
There should be something here for everyone, although it's actually a little hard to pigeonhole - perhaps a little too business-focused for the casual reader, but lacking a touch of the real nitty gritty detail to work fully as a business book for someone wanting to really absorb the thoughts and processes of Chesky, Gebbia and Blecharczyk. The detail when it's available is really valuable, and it's scarily vivid at times (like when detailing some of the major safety scares the company experienced), but sometimes when reading about the founders' hard graft/luck/ability to rope in the right people it feels like it could do with a bit more depth...or a bit more involvement from the people in question.
That being said, it's meticulously researched and largely well structured, just dipping a little in interest over the middle but picking up again towards the end. Thankfully the author also remained slightly sceptical of the company's occasionally cringe-worthy idealism, so it all feels suitably impartial. There's no doubt that Airbnb has had a massive impact in its short life so far, so while it's natural to take their public image with a bit of a pinch of salt...you can't help admire what they've achieved.
Definitely worth a read if you're after an interesting story about a modern, high-flying company...and one that's undoubtedly a little left of centre.
There should be something here for everyone, although it's actually a little hard to pigeonhole - perhaps a little too business-focused for the casual reader, but lacking a touch of the real nitty gritty detail to work fully as a business book for someone wanting to really absorb the thoughts and processes of Chesky, Gebbia and Blecharczyk. The detail when it's available is really valuable, and it's scarily vivid at times (like when detailing some of the major safety scares the company experienced), but sometimes when reading about the founders' hard graft/luck/ability to rope in the right people it feels like it could do with a bit more depth...or a bit more involvement from the people in question.
That being said, it's meticulously researched and largely well structured, just dipping a little in interest over the middle but picking up again towards the end. Thankfully the author also remained slightly sceptical of the company's occasionally cringe-worthy idealism, so it all feels suitably impartial. There's no doubt that Airbnb has had a massive impact in its short life so far, so while it's natural to take their public image with a bit of a pinch of salt...you can't help admire what they've achieved.
Definitely worth a read if you're after an interesting story about a modern, high-flying company...and one that's undoubtedly a little left of centre.