The Leap Academy Podcast with Ilana Golan is all about honest and inspiring conversations about what it really takes to leap to bigger things, amazing careers, and craft the life you want.
Stories and tips you won't find anywhere else.
Ilana speaks with some of the world's most influential people, experts, and thinkers who created incredible careers, massive impact, built a reputation, and an extraordinary life.
Together we discover the untold truths, the emotions, and important lessons that enabled them to reinvent themselves & leap.
We take our audience on a journey that will not only inspire but also teach concrete lessons on how to leap careers: fast-track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, build a personal brand, portfolio career, and much more.
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The Leap Academy Podcast with Ilana Golan is all about honest and inspiring conversations about what it really takes to leap to bigger things, amazing careers, and craft the life you want.
Stories and tips you won't find anywhere else.
Ilana speaks with some of the world's most influential people, experts, and thinkers who created incredible careers, massive impact, built a reputation, and an extraordinary life.
Together we discover the untold truths, the emotions, and important lessons that enabled them to reinvent themselves & leap.
We take our audience on a journey that will not only inspire but also teach concrete lessons on how to leap careers: fast-track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, build a personal brand, portfolio career, and much more.
Nathan Blecharczyk: The Raw Truth of Scaling Airbnb to a $75B Empire | E122
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
1 hour 12 minutes
2 months ago
Nathan Blecharczyk: The Raw Truth of Scaling Airbnb to a $75B Empire | E122
Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of Airbnb, built his first software business as a teenager, earning nearly a million dollars before shutting it down to attend Harvard. Years later, Nathan and his roommates turned an air mattress idea into Airbnb, facing investor rejection, financial hardship, and moments when quitting seemed inevitable. From creating satirical cereal boxes to joining Y Combinator after a near-failed interview, Nathan’s story is one of perseverance and resilience. He shares how Airbnb overcame early struggles, scaled globally, and survived COVID-19 to go public successfully.
Nathan Blecharczyk is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Airbnb, where he helped grow the platform from a spare air mattress idea to a $75 billion global travel company. According to Forbes, he is one of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of $9 billion.
In this episode, Ilana and Nathan will discuss:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:36) Building a Software Business as a Teen
(05:28) Harvard, First Job, and the Decision to Move West
(11:58) The Birth of AirBed & Breakfast
(15:07) Landing Their First Guests and Gaining Early Validation
(18:03) Investor Rejection and the Obama O’s Cereal Stunt
(30:45) Applying to Y Combinator and Getting In
(36:29) Finding Evangelists and Meeting Hosts in New York
(42:34) From $200 a Week to $4,200: Airbnb’s First Growth Curve
(44:59) Global Expansion, Competitors, and Building Teams Abroad
(52:22) The 2020 Crisis: COVID, Collapse, and Reinvention
(59:21) The Future of Travel
Nathan Blecharczyk is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Airbnb, where he helped grow the platform from a spare air mattress idea to a $75 billion global travel company. A Harvard graduate and self-taught programmer, Nathan has been instrumental in Airbnb’s international expansion and strategy, navigating challenges from investor rejection to the COVID-19 crisis. According to Forbes, he is one of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of $9 billion.
Connect with Nathan:
Nathan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blecharczyk
Airbnb’s Website: https://www.airbnb.com
Resources Mentioned:
Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.comOnly the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challenge/dp/0385483821
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Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
The Leap Academy Podcast with Ilana Golan is all about honest and inspiring conversations about what it really takes to leap to bigger things, amazing careers, and craft the life you want.
Stories and tips you won't find anywhere else.
Ilana speaks with some of the world's most influential people, experts, and thinkers who created incredible careers, massive impact, built a reputation, and an extraordinary life.
Together we discover the untold truths, the emotions, and important lessons that enabled them to reinvent themselves & leap.
We take our audience on a journey that will not only inspire but also teach concrete lessons on how to leap careers: fast-track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, build a personal brand, portfolio career, and much more.
