Summary of Brad Stone's The Upstarts

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The first guest to use Airbedandbreakfast. com was Amol Surve, a graduate of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. He arrived at his rental late in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 16, 2007. The apartment was spacious, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a comfortable living room.

#2 Brian Chesky grew up in a middle-class family in Niskayuna, a town outside of Schenectady, New York. He was doted on by his parents, who were social workers. He was also very artistic, and enjoyed visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum.

#3 Chesky and Gebbia met in classes and at student events, and found each other easy collaborators. They both gravitated toward the study of industrial design and the idea that they could make things that were as iconic and affordable as the classic Eames lounge chair.

#4 After graduating from RISD in 2004, Chesky spent a few months living at home before he decamped to Los Angeles. He had a real job as a designer for the consultant firm 3DID in Marina del Rey, but most of the projects he worked on never made it to stores or were ultimately thrown away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822501799

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Insights on Brad Stone's The Upstarts

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The first guest to use Airbedandbreakfast. com was Amol Surve, a graduate of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. He arrived at his rental late in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 16, 2007. The apartment was spacious, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a comfortable living room.

#2

Brian Chesky grew up in a middle-class family in Niskayuna, a town outside of Schenectady, New York. He was doted on by his parents, who were social workers. He was also very artistic, and enjoyed visiting the Norman Rockwell Museum.

#3

Chesky and Gebbia met in classes and at student events, and found each other easy collaborators. They both gravitated toward the study of industrial design and the idea that they could make things that were as iconic and affordable as the classic Eames lounge chair.

#4

After graduating from RISD in 2004, Chesky spent a few months living at home before he decamped to Los Angeles. He had a real job as a designer for the consultant firm 3DID in Marina del Rey, but most of the projects he worked on never made it to stores or were ultimately thrown away.

#5

In 2007, Gebbia, who had designed a foam cushion with a rear end imprinted on it, went to sell it to stores. He met the face of rejection everywhere he went. Finally, a boutique in Providence agreed to stock four cushions.

#6

Airbedandbreakfast. com was a website that allowed designers to stay with other designers in San Francisco. It took three days to build, and they received their first bit of publicity from bloggers who were confused by the concept.

#7

Chesky and Gebbia had met with Blecharczyk’s roommates to brainstorm ideas, one of which was a roommate-matching service. They realized that such a site already existed and was called Roommates. com. Blecharczyk heard about AirBed Breakfast only a week later, when Gebbia and Chesky visited him to ask him to join them.

#8

Chesky came up with the idea to have users post information about rooms online, and then rent them out to travelers. He stayed with a Vietnamese student in Austin, and met Mark Zuckerberg at the conference.

#9

In 2008, Chesky and Gebbia worked on a new version of the website between their other