When a culture is battling its own growth
Airbnb's journey to becoming a global hospitality giant was fuelled by a few well-timed doses of capital; first $20,000, then $585,000, then up to $150 million.
While Airbnb's valuation was shooting through the roof, their growth chart resembled a "hockey stick," with a sudden, steep increase in user adoption and revenue.
But the $150 million came with a warning: "Don't #$%^ up the culture."
Airbnb’s culture, built around its others-focused values, was seen as vital to its success, and something to fiercely safeguard during periods of rapid growth. Here's an excerpt from CEO Brian Chesky:
"This wasn’t what we were expecting from someone [Peter Thiel] who just gave us $150M. I asked him to elaborate on this. He said one of the reasons he invested in us was our culture. But he had a somewhat cynical view that it was practically inevitable once a company gets to a certain size.
Hmm.. How depressing I thought.
Were we destined to eventually do it? We talked about it a bit more, and it became clear that it was possible to defend, and actually build the culture. But it had to be one of the things we were most focused on. I thought to myself, how many company CEOs are focused on culture above all else?"
Which begs the question... how did they go?
The warning to "Don't #$%^ up the culture" wasn't merely poetic; it was signalling just how challenging maintaining a strong, values-led culture really is while ballooning into a global enterprise.
Airbnb's efforts to do just that is commendable, but not without its scars. They wear their 75% culture positivity rating with pride, and they invest heavily in methodically bringing that rating up. When their leadership's 360 evaluations hit a low in early 2019 at about a 3/5, they stepped in to push it towards a 4/5 by the end of the year.
Lessons learned
Other fast-scaling organisations haven't been so proactive. WeWork (who are currently mid-controversy) became progressively less values-led, transparent and accountable as it grew, according to its past people. Uber's CEO also recently apologised for their culture, after he realised things had moved so quickly and without guiding values that they had spun wildly off-course.
These tales are a timely reminder for all organisations: that your culture isn't just an HR initiative; it's the heartbeat of your business, and it can't be left to chance. Companies like Airbnb – and other global businesses that are known for their cultures, like HubSpot and Patagonia – show us that not only can we grow without losing our souls, but that it's what the new world of work needs.
