Airbnb's photography service started from a personal experience where they realized better photos could enhance listings, leading to a successful on-demand photography network.

We now have tens of thousands of photographers worldwide who provide a free service for hosts to get professional photos of their listings within two days.

Airbnb helped their hosts improve their property photos, even at a loss, because they empathized with their users' needs and built trust through genuine care.

We realized that many of our hosts had poor photos of their listings, which hindered growth; addressing this issue was crucial for our success.

By actively engaging with our users and improving their listings, we were able to curate quality properties, leading to increased bookings and traction for our service.

Airbnb's founders exemplified the principle of doing things that don't scale by personally taking high-quality photos of listings to attract users and get their business off the ground.

The initial idea for Airbnb was to enhance the entire travel experience, not just provide a place to stay, by considering services like airport pickups and breakfast. We always intended to understand the operation of Airbnb from the inside out, including the timing and logistics of photographing apartments.

We realized that if we could get enough people to use Airbnb, they would tell others about it, leading to organic growth.

We recreated meeting rooms in our office based on actual Airbnb listings, which has become a competitive advantage in hiring.