- CEO Brian Chesky said Airbnb is at an inflection point and is now focused on growing its existing and new businesses overall.
- That responsibility will be led by the company's new chief business officer, Dave Stephenson, who was previously CFO.
- According to Stevenson, the main driver of growth is international expansion, which includes improvements for both guests and hosts, including new check-in methods, linen services, fully stocked refrigerators, and traveler transportation. It may also include further offerings to improve the experience.
Dave Stephenson, who was recently named Airbnb's chief business officer, plays a key role in the company's future growth plans.
He also serves as an Airbnb host, another role critical to its growth.
Stevenson, who joined the company from Amazon and has been Airbnb's chief financial officer since 2018, has been hosting a cabin outside Seattle, Washington, for the past few years. While those staying in his cabin may not know his position within the company, Stevenson's approach shows he's looking toward Airbnb's future.
An avid skier and hiker, Stevenson is quick to share details of the best trails with guests. The cabin is equipped with a pizza oven, and Mr. Stevenson can provide pizza dough recipes, coffee shop recommendations, and anything else guests might need.
“I enjoy sharing places that are important to me with others,” he said. “I think they appreciate the local knowledge, and I think they understand how much I care. As a guest, I think, 'Wow, this host has me and their It feels good to know that they really care about your experience.”
When Stevenson took over this new CBO role earlier this year, Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky told employees in a memo that this was a “tipping point” for the company. The company said it will focus on growth across existing and new businesses. business.
“As we expand beyond our core, it is paramount that we have an executive focused on our long-term growth plans,” Chesky said in the memo. “There is no better person than Dave to accomplish this. There is no one better than that.”
For Stevenson, these long-term growth plans are focused on three key elements: driving international expansion, increasing the number of hosts on the platform, and building additional experiences and services.
International expansion is key for Airbnb, and Stevenson spends much of his time fostering international expansion, including in Germany, South Korea and Brazil. Part of this is ensuring that “all functions work together to deliver the expected results,” whether that's ensuring the resonance of country-specific marketing plans or other needs. regardless of whether there are regionally specific aspects, he said. You have to adjust to be successful. For example, Germany has local certifications to make consumers more comfortable, and Stevenson said the company is making sure they have them. There's also Weisenstein Palace, his 18th-century castle in Bavaria featured in the Netflix series The Empress, available for exclusive Airbnb stays.
“It just confirms that we are very careful about how we present ourselves in the country,” he said.
When it comes to the experience, that's what Stevenson has helped provide to Washington guests and why they keep coming back to Airbnb as well as its properties. “We will continue to focus on the unique initiatives we can do to enhance the guest experience,” he said.
Airbnb also aims to expand its services to make it easier to be a host as well as a guest. This could include helping hosts facilitate check-in or helping guests obtain needed items such as linens. Guests may also be provided with transportation to the airport and a fully stocked refrigerator, he said.
“The deeper our relationships with our guests and hosts, the better we can understand what their needs are and the better we can match them,” he said. “The higher the satisfaction level, the better the experience for both parties and the more likely the host is to stay. [on Airbnb] And your guests are more likely to want to come back and try your Airbnb elsewhere. ”
Linking finance and performance
When Stevenson joined Airbnb as CFO from Amazon in 2018, he said one of the things he tried to bring to the company was a “more operationally rigorous financial structure.”
In many ways, that means operating much like a COO, he said. “As CFOs, we think about business metrics, customer metrics, revenue metrics. All of these factors, how you actually run your business, are just as important as the finances.”
The CFO role has evolved far beyond traditional finance functions, with a focus on operations, supply chain, and even cybersecurity. The role of CFO with more responsibility also applies to Airbnb's Stevenson, who was also named head of employee experience in 2021, overseeing talent and leadership development as well as recruiting and compensation. .
Mr. Stevenson assumed this new CBO role at the beginning of the year, but following the company's quarterly results release in February, former Airbnb Vice President of Finance Ellie Mertz began the transition to replace Mr. Stevenson as CFO. did.
“Finance is like Switzerland in terms of how it works and how it functions,” Stevenson said. “The chief business officer is in some ways an extension of that, a neutral function that makes sure all the other functions are working together effectively and working really well.”
