Many founders and investors initially dismissed the ideas behind Airbnb, Coinbase, and Stripe as poor or overly ambitious, underestimating their potential.

Successful companies like Airbnb and Stripe took time to hire their first employees, focusing on building their product before scaling their teams.

The founders of successful companies like Airbnb and Stripe paid close attention to every detail of the user experience, which helped instill confidence in users.

Successful companies like Stripe, Airbnb, and Dropbox had clear reasons for being disruptive forces in their respective industries.

Despite not being the first mover, Coinbase was able to create a significantly better product in a market where existing options were inadequate.

The success of companies like DoorDash and Airbnb depended on their ability to rapidly ship software, which would not have been possible without strong technical leadership.

Before founding Linear, I was a founding designer at Coinbase and a principal designer at Airbnb, where I learned the importance of building tools that are fast and efficient.

I regret not investing in Airbnb when I had the chance; I was focused on my own startup and missed the opportunity to meet with them before they signed with Sequoia. If you move slowly in investing, you're likely to face adverse selection; companies that take too long to engage may not be the best opportunities.

High levels of trust are essential for companies like Stripe, Lyft, and Airbnb, as they involve users engaging with strangers or handling money online.