Key Takeaways

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he was naturally a great founder but a “terrible CEO.”

He said the CEO role was counterintuitive and required skills different from those used to start a company.

He advised young companies to hire smart, hungry workers and guide them closely.

Brian Chesky has been the CEO of Airbnb since the company’s inception in 2007 . For nearly 20 years, he has stuck with the top job and overseen Airbnb’s incredible growth to become a company with over 5.5 million hosts and $12.24 billion in annual revenue in 2025.

However, being a CEO didn’t come naturally . In a recent interview with the How I Built This podcast, Chesky opened up about his shortcomings as a leader when Airbnb first got started.

Chesky drew a distinction between being a great founder and being a great CEO.

“I think I was pretty much naturally a great founder and I was naturally a terrible CEO,” he said on the podcast.

Chesky pointed out that someone could spend their “whole life” being a founder .…