Brian Chesky

And one day you're going to wake up and you have 50-year-olds managing 40-year-olds, managing 30-year-olds, managing people two years out of college, doing all the work with no oversight. And you have these four unnecessary layers. You have no experts in the company. So the antidote to this is to try to be as functional as possible. We are a functional organization.

Functional just means expertise-based, not general management-based. And so I'm the only non-functional person in the company. All functions roll up to me. I generally think the CEO should be the chief product officer of the company. And here's the heuristic. The most important thing a company does is make a product. If the CEO is not the expert in the product, then what? Why are they the CEO?

Functional just means expertise-based, not general management-based. And so I'm the only non-functional person in the company. All functions roll up to me. I generally think the CEO should be the chief product officer of the company. And here's the heuristic. The most important thing a company does is make a product. If the CEO is not the expert in the product, then what? Why are they the CEO?

Functional just means expertise-based, not general management-based. And so I'm the only non-functional person in the company. All functions roll up to me. I generally think the CEO should be the chief product officer of the company. And here's the heuristic. The most important thing a company does is make a product. If the CEO is not the expert in the product, then what? Why are they the CEO?

Said differently, I should not be the CEO of SpaceX because I couldn't be the chief product officer because I do not understand rocketry. So maybe I'm a good CEO, but I can't be the chief product officer. There may be some exceptions, but I generally think that's the case. And then your leaders shouldn't just be, quote, managers. And I put managers in quotes. They should be in the details.

Said differently, I should not be the CEO of SpaceX because I couldn't be the chief product officer because I do not understand rocketry. So maybe I'm a good CEO, but I can't be the chief product officer. There may be some exceptions, but I generally think that's the case. And then your leaders shouldn't just be, quote, managers. And I put managers in quotes. They should be in the details.

Said differently, I should not be the CEO of SpaceX because I couldn't be the chief product officer because I do not understand rocketry. So maybe I'm a good CEO, but I can't be the chief product officer. There may be some exceptions, but I generally think that's the case. And then your leaders shouldn't just be, quote, managers. And I put managers in quotes. They should be in the details.

If we were a military, like a battalion, the cavalry general should know how to ride a horse. Like, it's crazy that they don't. And leaders shouldn't be fungible. So it's really about being in the details. Now, here's the problem with the narrative being in the details. There's a term for it, and it's a pejorative. It's called micromanager. And everyone's afraid to be accused to be a micromanager.

If we were a military, like a battalion, the cavalry general should know how to ride a horse. Like, it's crazy that they don't. And leaders shouldn't be fungible. So it's really about being in the details. Now, here's the problem with the narrative being in the details. There's a term for it, and it's a pejorative. It's called micromanager. And everyone's afraid to be accused to be a micromanager.

If we were a military, like a battalion, the cavalry general should know how to ride a horse. Like, it's crazy that they don't. And leaders shouldn't be fungible. So it's really about being in the details. Now, here's the problem with the narrative being in the details. There's a term for it, and it's a pejorative. It's called micromanager. And everyone's afraid to be accused to be a micromanager.

So I had this thought because founder mode, a lot of it came from me studying Steve Jobs. Basically for 10 years, I was at wit's end. It wasn't my first instinct to copy Steve Jobs' leadership style. It was kind of a last resort. And I didn't copy everything, but I copied a lot of how he organized the company and ran the company.

So I had this thought because founder mode, a lot of it came from me studying Steve Jobs. Basically for 10 years, I was at wit's end. It wasn't my first instinct to copy Steve Jobs' leadership style. It was kind of a last resort. And I didn't copy everything, but I copied a lot of how he organized the company and ran the company.

So I had this thought because founder mode, a lot of it came from me studying Steve Jobs. Basically for 10 years, I was at wit's end. It wasn't my first instinct to copy Steve Jobs' leadership style. It was kind of a last resort. And I didn't copy everything, but I copied a lot of how he organized the company and ran the company.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with his son, Reed Jobs, and I remember asking him what Steve Jobs' opinion of micromanagement was. And he said he had such an interesting perspective. He said Steve Jobs was in the details. He would skip level, many levels to be in the details, which is something that like somebody who goes to HBS would like never do.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with his son, Reed Jobs, and I remember asking him what Steve Jobs' opinion of micromanagement was. And he said he had such an interesting perspective. He said Steve Jobs was in the details. He would skip level, many levels to be in the details, which is something that like somebody who goes to HBS would like never do.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with his son, Reed Jobs, and I remember asking him what Steve Jobs' opinion of micromanagement was. And he said he had such an interesting perspective. He said Steve Jobs was in the details. He would skip level, many levels to be in the details, which is something that like somebody who goes to HBS would like never do.

He said he never felt like he was micromanaging because he was partnering with people on the details. And I asked like Johnny Ive and people like Hiroki who worked for Steve. And I said, do you feel like Steve Jobs micromanaged you? And they said, no, he didn't. I don't know. Maybe I'm a micromanager. Maybe I'm not.

He said he never felt like he was micromanaging because he was partnering with people on the details. And I asked like Johnny Ive and people like Hiroki who worked for Steve. And I said, do you feel like Steve Jobs micromanaged you? And they said, no, he didn't. I don't know. Maybe I'm a micromanager. Maybe I'm not.

He said he never felt like he was micromanaging because he was partnering with people on the details. And I asked like Johnny Ive and people like Hiroki who worked for Steve. And I said, do you feel like Steve Jobs micromanaged you? And they said, no, he didn't. I don't know. Maybe I'm a micromanager. Maybe I'm not.

I think the distinction is I remember one time an executive on my team said, is this your decision or is this my decision? And I remember saying, it should never be either. And that's founder mode. It should never be either. It's never your decision. It's never my decision. We're in it together. If you're co-founders, whose decision is it? It's your decision together.