ABC 4: From Zero to Billions - Airbnb’s Winning Empathy and Hustle Strategy

Advice of the Week

How Airbnb Poached Users From Craigslist By Solving for Trust

I always say the best product leaders have a**“do whatever it takes” **attitude to move the product forward in service of their customers.

And that’s exactly what Brian, and Joe did in the early days of Airbnb when they couldn’t pay rent.

You see, they were not your traditional Silicon Valley founder pair—they **both **came from design backgrounds. Usually, the common makeup of a tech startup is a product/design-focused founder and a technology-focused founder. They brought in Nathan later for that focus, but they bootstrapped originally purely with their design, empathy, and hustle skills.

One significant part of their story that I believe serves as a great testament to **empathy being a business and career builder **was how they implemented a growth hack to acquire users at low cost from Craigslist, where the majority of short-term rental transactions were being done at the time.

I remember back when I did my first Craigslist deal to sell a used phone as a teenager… I was scared. I heard about people getting robbed, but I really wanted to get some money for my used phone. I took the plunge and met a person in front of a police station.

I’m sure many can relate to doing deals on Craigslist—there’s **a significant lack of trust **because you’re dealing with **faceless profiles **that have no credibility or reviews.

And that’s what they lacked in the early days—users didn’t know about them, and they needed users to push the product forward. It costs a lot to acquire users, and they used their strength in empathy to retain most of the users they acquired.

How? Let’s dive in.

Rentals in America in the markets they were going after were all dominated by Craigslist. That’s where the supply and demand was.

They differentiated their experience by poaching customers from Craigslist and solving for the **trust issue **with an innovative growth hack bot that auto emailed their target users. They centered on value based messaging to the customer by promising higher returns for their rentals, and when users got there, they found they could trust the platform more.

The Airbnb Founders acquired their target users and retained them easily by providing features such as better descriptions, more photos, and more, that fostered trust.

The combination of empathy and relentless hustle turned Airbnb’s founders into billionaires.

To me, their story underscores the importance of empathy in designing and building great products that people love.

What do they fear?

What do they avoid?

Breakthrough Recommendation: Read the Full Airbnb Growth Hacking Story

It worked out, but I was sweating bullets the whole time.Do you remember Craigslist? Does anybody still use it?

Building a great product is just one half of the equation—you need great distribution as well.

… and how can we solve for those things?

And ultimately - they won.

Why it’s awesome:

I love this story because it gives a detailed look at how Airbnb’s founders used empathy and customer-centric strategies to grow their platform from a struggling startup to a billion-dollar company.

**Empathy is applicable to any part of life. **I cover more about this in one of my previous newsletters - check it out.

**Read the full story here (it’s great!): **Airbnb: The Growth Story You Didn’t Know (covered by GrowthHackers.com)

My Favorite Quote:

I love that relentless hustle to keep the customer empathy at the center by being a customer yourself of your own product.

Actionable Takeaways

2. Obsess Over What Value Means to Them: Go beyond surface-level features and benefits. Understand what your users truly value and why it matters to them. Tailor your product and messaging to align with these core values.
3. Figure Out Their Fears and Delight Them Instead: Identify what users are anxious about or what pain points they face with your product or similar products. Design solutions that not only alleviate these fears but turn those aspects into delightful experiences.

Challenge: Show Empathy in a Product Discussion

This week, identify a discussion or meeting where you can practice empathy. Really think about the core fears and what your users or stakeholders are avoiding.

What annoys them?

Think about how they feel when they have to do those things. Ask your team what potential solutions could transform those experiences into delightful ones.

What don’t they want? Another boring meeting, with haphazard preparation, and no clear ask. Executives are in pitch meetings every 30 minutes. Make it easy for them to say yes by presenting them options for a decision and well thought out pros and cons. It’ll go a long way.

*“In the summer of 2009, as the company was searching for new office space, Chesky stayed exclusively in Airbnb listings in order to gather firsthand data about the service.”*For example, do you build platform products where your persona is a developer?

1. Be Relentless with Empathy: Constantly seek to understand your users’ needs and experiences deeply. Don’t just collect feedback—immerse yourself in their world to gain genuine insights.Okay, what DON’T those developers want to do?

I believe the story also has lessons to apply to life - not just business.

Kudos to Brian - super inspiring.