Author | Lexie

Editor | Ivan, Lu

Silicon Valley's 'Out of Airbnb' Phenomenon

Nestled in the heart of Silicon Valley, Airbnb's headquarters boasts an indoor forest adorned with plastic foam cloud sculptures and a vertical plant wall spanning 110 square meters. This ivy-clad wall blurs the line between nature and the office, much like the entrepreneurial legions forged by Airbnb's alumni. Just as ivy vines spread across various surfaces, these startups are thriving in real estate technology, fintech, biomedical, and other domains. This ecosystem mirrors ivy's communal traits: each node stands as an independent innovator, yet they coalesce into a cohesive whole through shared technological DNA and cross-departmental collaborations.

Airbnb Headquarters Office | Image Source: Internet

Over the past five years, Airbnb's Silicon Valley hub has nurtured over 140 startups valued at over $100 million, collectively raising over $11 billion in funding. This forms an invisible empire centered on Airbnb, encompassing real estate technology, biomedical, aerospace, fintech, and beyond.

From the birth of Coinbase to Landis, which reshaped the rental market, these tech and industrial startups are living out a real-life Silicon Valley version of the 'Out of Airbnb' narrative.

Remarkably, approximately 60% of the 140+ companies founded by former Airbnb employees were established in the last three years. Most of these entrepreneurs have backgrounds as software engineers at Airbnb, with a significant portion holding operational roles. Behind these figures lies a compelling Silicon Valley tale – large corporations are churning out CEOs, and traditional startup incubators are being disrupted by a novel 'workplace entrepreneurial ecosystem'.

By analyzing these startups and their profiles, we delve into the innovation code of this Silicon Valley startup 'Whampoa Military Academy'.

Profile of Airbnb's Startup Legion: Who Are They? Where Do They Come From?

According to New Economies, a third-party news and information platform, the 'Airbnb alumni' ecosystem is expanding at a rate of 35 new startups per year. Notably, 35% of real estate tech companies are applying Airbnb's sharing logic to vertical scenario solutions.

• Hidden Superstars: Over 40 founders are working on unannounced 'stealth projects,' potentially focused on aerospace technology and quantum computing. Among the 140+ entrepreneurial Airbnb alumni, most ventures were established within the last seven years, with a spike in 2022 (40 startups) and 2021.

Chart Source: New Economies

• Majority as Former Software Engineers: Analysis of over 140 founder profiles reveals that many had backgrounds in software engineering before starting their companies. Other common previous roles include operations (marketing, growth, and daily management), followed by products and data science.

Chart Source: New Economies

• The Bay Area: A Startup Mecca: 80% of these startups originate from the US, predominantly clustered in Silicon Valley and New York, forming a 'dual-core' innovation hub. Airbnb's headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area remains a global entrepreneurial haven.

Chart Source: New Economies

• Talent Breeding Ground: Stanford University leads with 32% of founders, followed by UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and other top institutions. This academic lineage resonates with Airbnb's internal 'design thinking' training system.

Chart Source: New Economies

• Robust Startup Potential: Among Airbnb startups that have raised at least $500,000 and are listed, many have progressed from pre-seed to seed and A rounds, with some advancing to B and C rounds, and even achieving exits.

Chart Source: New Economies

• Investment-Backed Ecosystem: Among the 140+ startups raising at least $500,000, nearly 20% of funding comes from Y Combinator. A16Z is the second most active investor, while AirAngels, founded by Airbnb co-founders Daniel Rumennik and Lenny Rachitsky, serves as a unique bridge connecting Silicon Valley and Airbnb alumni resources.

Chart Source: New Economies

Entrepreneurial DNA: Decoding Airbnb's Innovation Code

Why has Airbnb become a hotbed for entrepreneurial talent? The answer lies in the company's cultural DNA.

Perhaps from its inception, Airbnb adhered to the most primal and unsophisticated entrepreneurial logic:

1. Founder Mentality: Everyone as an Entrepreneur

Airbnb's DNA inherently fosters a strong entrepreneurial mindset (Founder Mode). From founder Brian Chesky personally engaging in product planning to the company encouraging employees to think like founders, Airbnb consistently emphasizes that 'everyone is an entrepreneur.' This culture extends beyond a slogan, evident in daily decision-making: executives immerse themselves in frontline activities, directly engage with users, and the product team continuously iterates. Everyone is empowered to identify problems and propose solutions, fostering a high degree of autonomy and responsibility that nurtures entrepreneurial talents.

2. Design-Driven Thinking

In addition to advocating founder thinking, Airbnb also embodies a design-driven ethos. As a company founded by two design school graduates, Airbnb prioritizes creating a holistic user experience over merely developing functions. From optimizing landlord listing photos in its early days to later product interfaces and community operations, design thinking remains at its core. For employees venturing out to start their own businesses, this detail-oriented, user-centric approach becomes an integral part of their innovation methodology.

This culture not only solidifies Airbnb as a powerhouse but also positions it as one of the most dynamic entrepreneurial talent incubators in Silicon Valley. Those who have worked here take away not just skills and experience but also a way of thinking and problem-solving – their greatest asset on the entrepreneurial journey.

3. Robust Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Support

Airbnb's corporate culture and support network provide a solid foundation for former employees' entrepreneurial endeavors. These entrepreneurs amass rich experience within the company and maintain close ties post-departure, forming a potent entrepreneurial ecosystem. For instance, AirAngels, an angel investment group comprising former Airbnb employees, supports startups by Airbnb alumni. Moreover, many startup core teams comprise former Airbnb employees, illustrating the phenomenon of 'entrepreneurial relay.' This mode of combining internal nurturing with external support extends Airbnb's influence beyond its core business, making it an indispensable part of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem.

Airbnb's Innovation Empire

Among the top 20 funded companies spun out of Airbnb, 35% are establishing business models akin to Airbnb – real estate technology. Concurrently, there are also fintech, software, consumer, edtech, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, and more.

Chart Source: New Economies

We highlight some representative companies:

• Coinbase: Reshaping the Cryptocurrency Market

Co-founded by former Airbnb software engineer Brian Armstrong, Coinbase has emerged as one of North America's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, boasting a market value exceeding $100 billion post-IPO, redefining the digital asset trading landscape. Armstrong credits Airbnb's user experience design and global operational strategies for Coinbase's success. Data indicates that Coinbase currently has over 73 million registered users, with a trading volume exceeding $630 billion in 2023.

• Landis: Empowering Renters to Become Homeowners

Founded by Cyril Berdugo and Tom Petit, Landis aims to help tenants realize their dream of homeownership. Through the 'rent-to-own' model, Landis offers customers a gradual path to home ownership. The company has secured $222 million in funding from investors including Sequoia. The founders have transformed their deep real estate market insights into an innovative model addressing ordinary people's homeownership challenges. As of 2024, Landis operates in over 40 US cities, assisting over 2,000 families in their home-buying journey, with clients typically transitioning from tenants to homeowners within 24 months.

• Outschool: Disrupting Online Education

Co-founded by Amir Nathoo, Mikhail Seregine, and Nick Grandy, Outschool connects students with unique small-class courses. Inspired by Airbnb's experience economy model, Outschool enables teachers to create and sell their own courses. The company has raised $240 million from investors like Lightspeed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Outschool experienced explosive growth, with registered students soaring from 80,000 to over 1 million, and active teachers increasing 15-fold.

• Preset: Leading Data Visualization

Founded by former Airbnb data engineer Maxime Beauchemin, Preset specializes in business intelligence and data visualization. While at Airbnb, Beauchemin developed the open-source project Apache Superset, which he later commercialized into Preset. The company has secured $48.4 million in funding from investors like Redpoint. Currently, Preset's platform is utilized by thousands of enterprises, processing over 1 billion data queries monthly, establishing it as a significant player in data analysis.

• Linear: Redefining Project Management Tools

Founded by former Airbnb designer Karri Saarinen, along with Tuomas Artman and Jori Lallo, Linear provides a modern project management tool for software teams. Inspired by Airbnb's internal workflows, Linear gained rapid popularity in the tech community for its clean, efficient interface and robust functionality. The company has raised $52.2 million from investors like Accel. Saarinen brought Airbnb's user experience focus into the enterprise software realm, creating a project management tool hailed as a 'designer's favorite.' Currently, Linear is used by over 10,000 companies, including several renowned tech enterprises.

• Sundae: Optimizing Real Estate Transaction Processes

Founded by former Airbnb employees Josh Stech and Andrew Swain, Sundae assists homeowners facing financial difficulties in selling their properties at optimal prices. By directly connecting investors and sellers, Sundae simplifies the traditionally complex process of distressed property transactions. As of 2024, Sundae has facilitated over 5,000 transactions, saving sellers an average of approximately 15% in transaction costs, and has raised over $130 million in funding. The founders have applied their platform matching expertise to the real estate transaction field.

• Bobbie: Organic Baby Formula

Founded by former Airbnb marketing director Laura Modi, Bobbie is an organic baby formula brand. Facing challenges in raising her own child, Modi identified a market gap and founded the first baby formula in the US to receive EU standard certification. From inception to 2023, the company's revenue grew by 400%, and it has raised over $72 million in funding. Its products are sold in various high-end retailers and online platforms across the US. Modi stated, "The customer-first philosophy at Airbnb deeply influenced me, and Bobbie was created around the real needs of parents."

• Zip: Reinventing Corporate Procurement Management

Founded by Rujul Zaparde and Lu Cheng, Zip is revolutionizing corporate procurement management. It has developed an intelligent procurement system that simplifies traditionally cumbersome approval processes. Zip has secured $181.3 million in funding from investors including Y Combinator. The founders have applied the concept of a seamless experience to enterprise software, creating an intuitive and user-friendly system. As of 2024, Zip is used by over 300 companies, including several Fortune 500 firms, helping clients reduce procurement process time by an average of 70%, significantly enhancing operational efficiency and resource utilization.

These cases exemplify the profound impact of Airbnb alumni across diverse industries, from finance to consumer goods, with each entrepreneur infusing Airbnb's product thinking and user experience philosophy into new domains.

The ivy-clad wall at Airbnb's headquarters embodies the company's identity as a "startup dream factory": each unit stands independently yet is interconnected, tracing back to a common origin, collectively cultivating a vast and vibrant innovative ecosystem.

References:

• Startup Factories: Airbnb
• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky on the gospel of Steve Jobs and the true essence of founder mode
• Mehmet Karakus' LinkedIn post
• Join Airbnb, where an extraordinary office environment awaits to pamper you!