Text of [500DISTRO] Under the Microscope: How Airbnb Thinks About Product/Market Fit, Team & More
Growth at Airbnb August 7, 2014, Gustaf Alstromer
Accelerate Awareness ! Drive Conversion
Why Growth?
Most of our users havent signed up yet
Philosophy 1. Our users tell the story better that we do 2. We never compromise on user experience 3. No tricks
Nights booked growth 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Few features are touching non-users
Airbnb Product-few things touch non-users Last-minute booking Resolutions Tool Photo Tool Lantern Help Center Product Email Referrals Homepage Booking flow Calendar Managed Listing Search Wish-list Dashboard Neighborhoods Groups Your reservations Account List Your Space Messaging Check-in Reviews Listing page Verified ID Privacy Settings Marketing Emails Profile References Account Mobile web Blog Stories Hospitality
Referrals
Referrals 1.0
Referrals 1.0
Forecast Assumptions Good Better Best Current Monthly Active Users * Sending Invites 1% 5% 10% - Invitees Per Inviter 5 10 15 - Conversion Rate to New User 15% 30% 45% - Conversion Rate to New Guest 1% 5% 10% - Conversion Rate to New Host 1% 3% 5% - Revenue Impact Potential x 20x better than Good 90x better than Good
Referrals/Invites as share of new users (2013) 55%******** 55%****** 35%***** 25%**** *%Airbnb
Referrals 2.0-Shipping
Growth Offsite
Work 5 people full time with much borrowed help 3 months 30k lines of code Growth became largest outside contributor to mobile apps
Growth Offsite Launch
On Web, iOS and Android simultaneously
Web
Email
Recommended Contacts
Mobile
Tracking-instrumented from day 1
Impact
Hundreds of thousands of booked nights by referred users in 2014
How do referred users perform?
Better User Metrics (Median) % Change Guest Bookings + 13% Hosts Bookings + 146% Referrals Sent + 264% Referrals Became Users + 497% Referrals Became Guests + 489%
Forecast Assumptions Good Better Best Current Monthly Active Users * Sending Invites 1% 5% 10% - Invitees Per Inviter 5 10 15 - Conversion Rate to New User 15% 30% 45% - Conversion Rate to New Guest 1% 5% 10% - Conversion Rate to New Host 1% 3% 5% - Revenue Impact Potential x 20x better than Good 90x better than Good
