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.
st3jam's review against another edition
4.0
[a:Leigh Gallagher|3012680|Leigh Gallagher|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] in [b:The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy|32198220|The Airbnb Story How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy|Leigh Gallagher|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474820240s/32198220.jpg|52841427] takes you on a rollercoaster journey which is unconventional, funny and inspiring. My favourite aspect was that she doesn't paint it as a perfect fairytale. Instead, she goes the extra mile by fishing out details otherwise not known and expressing struggles that are either relatable or hard to fathom.
smack's review against another edition
3.0
I love reading books that are both interesting and give me some useful business knowhow.
Not being a user of Airbnb (yet) but familiar with its staggering growth, I wanted the chance to get the inside story, warts and all.
On the whole I really enjoyed this book. It was insightful and you get some really in-depth character profiles of the three founders. My favourite takeaway from the book is that the CEO, Brian Chesky, who had no previous business experience, learnt so quickly by absorbing as much information from experienced leaders as he could. He would be open about not knowing something, seek out people who have the skills he wants, and interrogate them to get the information he wants. As someone who often feels uneasy about admitting I don’t know something this was a fantastic eyeopener.
There are two reasons I didn’t rate this book higher:
1) It was very long-winded. The book felt it should have finished about 50 pages earlier but it just kept going. Towards the end it did feel like the author was just trying to meet a word count, making sentences and paragraphs a lot longer than they needed to be. The one thing that most often causes me to drop down ratings is when books drag on too much towards the end.
2) Most of the time it felt like one big advertisement for Airbnb. I understand that working closely with the founders you’d be fairly limited in what you can say if you want them to approve the book – but I did feel like I could have just been reading Airbnb’s website at times.
Overall this is is a short (around 250 pages), well-written insight into Airbnb’s story. If you’re interested in getting insights from successful businesses then I do recommend this – its positives outweigh its flaws.
Not being a user of Airbnb (yet) but familiar with its staggering growth, I wanted the chance to get the inside story, warts and all.
On the whole I really enjoyed this book. It was insightful and you get some really in-depth character profiles of the three founders. My favourite takeaway from the book is that the CEO, Brian Chesky, who had no previous business experience, learnt so quickly by absorbing as much information from experienced leaders as he could. He would be open about not knowing something, seek out people who have the skills he wants, and interrogate them to get the information he wants. As someone who often feels uneasy about admitting I don’t know something this was a fantastic eyeopener.
There are two reasons I didn’t rate this book higher:
1) It was very long-winded. The book felt it should have finished about 50 pages earlier but it just kept going. Towards the end it did feel like the author was just trying to meet a word count, making sentences and paragraphs a lot longer than they needed to be. The one thing that most often causes me to drop down ratings is when books drag on too much towards the end.
2) Most of the time it felt like one big advertisement for Airbnb. I understand that working closely with the founders you’d be fairly limited in what you can say if you want them to approve the book – but I did feel like I could have just been reading Airbnb’s website at times.
Overall this is is a short (around 250 pages), well-written insight into Airbnb’s story. If you’re interested in getting insights from successful businesses then I do recommend this – its positives outweigh its flaws.
teodonnell13's review against another edition
5.0
This was an excellent, fast-paced read. I picked this up because I was curious about the inner workings of Airbnb, and now I am absolutely hooked on its message and have so much respect for the founders. Gallagher weaves together the gritty origin story of the company with their incredible (not to mention rapid and ever-present) growth and social mission. If you have ever considered sharing your home with Airbnb, this is the book for you!