Brian Chesky

Jensen got rid of the executive team. He just has 40 directs. That's a little unwieldy for me. I've gone through that thought experiment of just having the VPs, and it's like I can't track everything. But all VPs do a report. They report to me and to their executive. And I am the co-hiring manager.

Jensen got rid of the executive team. He just has 40 directs. That's a little unwieldy for me. I've gone through that thought experiment of just having the VPs, and it's like I can't track everything. But all VPs do a report. They report to me and to their executive. And I am the co-hiring manager.

Jensen got rid of the executive team. He just has 40 directs. That's a little unwieldy for me. I've gone through that thought experiment of just having the VPs, and it's like I can't track everything. But all VPs do a report. They report to me and to their executive. And I am the co-hiring manager.

So instead of me hiring an executive like a CFO, and the CFO hires their people, I am the co-hiring manager. I do the kickoff. I'm the second interview. And ultimately, I decide the final compensation for all the top people in the company, not the managers. The managers give recommendations, and I basically make the final decision.

So instead of me hiring an executive like a CFO, and the CFO hires their people, I am the co-hiring manager. I do the kickoff. I'm the second interview. And ultimately, I decide the final compensation for all the top people in the company, not the managers. The managers give recommendations, and I basically make the final decision.

So instead of me hiring an executive like a CFO, and the CFO hires their people, I am the co-hiring manager. I do the kickoff. I'm the second interview. And ultimately, I decide the final compensation for all the top people in the company, not the managers. The managers give recommendations, and I basically make the final decision.

This is just a very practical version of founder mode of being in the details. You don't just hire and manage your executives. You skip level and manage as many people as possible in a dual reporting relationship.

This is just a very practical version of founder mode of being in the details. You don't just hire and manage your executives. You skip level and manage as many people as possible in a dual reporting relationship.

This is just a very practical version of founder mode of being in the details. You don't just hire and manage your executives. You skip level and manage as many people as possible in a dual reporting relationship.

One thing about functional, and then I'll answer that question, is this. I don't think all companies should be functional, but I think they should be as functional as they can get away with. That's the rule. Ben Horowitz had this saying, give ground grudgingly. You should give ground grudgingly. All startups start as functional organizations.

One thing about functional, and then I'll answer that question, is this. I don't think all companies should be functional, but I think they should be as functional as they can get away with. That's the rule. Ben Horowitz had this saying, give ground grudgingly. You should give ground grudgingly. All startups start as functional organizations.

One thing about functional, and then I'll answer that question, is this. I don't think all companies should be functional, but I think they should be as functional as they can get away with. That's the rule. Ben Horowitz had this saying, give ground grudgingly. You should give ground grudgingly. All startups start as functional organizations.

Steve Jobs said, I want to be the world's largest startup, but he wants to still operate like a startup. And so I think you should give ground grudgingly. And so that's the general philosophy. I just want to say one thing about being a functional organization. There is one very specific downside. The downside of a functional organization is you cannot do disparate things.

Steve Jobs said, I want to be the world's largest startup, but he wants to still operate like a startup. And so I think you should give ground grudgingly. And so that's the general philosophy. I just want to say one thing about being a functional organization. There is one very specific downside. The downside of a functional organization is you cannot do disparate things.

Steve Jobs said, I want to be the world's largest startup, but he wants to still operate like a startup. And so I think you should give ground grudgingly. And so that's the general philosophy. I just want to say one thing about being a functional organization. There is one very specific downside. The downside of a functional organization is you cannot do disparate things.

But here's something I want to dispel. It's not true you can't do as many things. It's not true it's a slower-run organization. We've actually increased product development by being a functional organization, but we're like one flywheel, and we can't create three other flywheels that are disparate. So

But here's something I want to dispel. It's not true you can't do as many things. It's not true it's a slower-run organization. We've actually increased product development by being a functional organization, but we're like one flywheel, and we can't create three other flywheels that are disparate. So

But here's something I want to dispel. It's not true you can't do as many things. It's not true it's a slower-run organization. We've actually increased product development by being a functional organization, but we're like one flywheel, and we can't create three other flywheels that are disparate. So

You know, the only reason I believe a company should divisionalize is so that they could do truly disparate things that have disparate functional expertise. So like if we had like a jet engine business, like that's a different functional expertise. So now let's go to the business organization. At most companies, there is no function called business. Maybe we can also say call it revenue.

You know, the only reason I believe a company should divisionalize is so that they could do truly disparate things that have disparate functional expertise. So like if we had like a jet engine business, like that's a different functional expertise. So now let's go to the business organization. At most companies, there is no function called business. Maybe we can also say call it revenue.