Storytelling

Challenge:

It’s hard to believe that the ever-successful start-up Airbnb was once making  less than $200 per week. What grew their revenue and transformed Airbnb into  a billion dollar business?

Selection:

Lots of experimentation, risk, and thinking outside of the norm.

Application:

Joe Gebbia and Paul Graham, co-founders of Airbnb, remember going over  numerous charts, graphs, and codes with their design team trying to find some  clue as to why their growth was nearly zero.

Insight:

It wasn’t until Gebbia began moving through the app like a user that he realized  why no one was wanting to book a stay—the pictures looked terrible! Without  any data to back their next decision, Graham and Gebbia decided to rent a  camera, travel to New York and spend some time with their customers to  replace the amateur photos with more professional-looking ones.

Approach:

A week later, their revenue nearly doubled. By taking a risk on a non-scalable  solution, Graham and Gebbia witnessed their dwindling start-up transform into  a thriving enterprise that revolutionized the travel industry.

