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PAGE Video Series: Airbnb’s Brian Chesky

Jul212015

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InnovationInnovationEntrepreneurshipGlobal Entrepreneurship Summit (GES)Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE)Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE)

Posted at 4:00 PM

Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, believes that “the idea of an entrepreneur means to be empowered, to be able to create your own destiny, and to create the kind of world you want to live in.”

Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world, and it provides interesting ways for people to travel, and changes the lives of its home communities. The marketplace now includes the country of Cuba, which has nearly doubled its Airbnb locations in the span of 40 days. Under Chesky’s entrepreneurial leadership, Airbnb stands at the forefront of the sharing economy, and has expanded to over 1,000,000 listings in 190 countries. Even with this success, Chesky still constantly strives to find new ways to propel his company’s vision, strategy and growth forward. 

Brian Chesky’s passion for exposing others to entrepreneurship, especially on a global scale, led the Obama administration to select him as a new member of the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) initiative. His signature initiative will work to expand Cuba’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by increasing Internet literacy; promoting practical education in areas including photography art, and marketing; and introducing online payment systems to support Cuban entrepreneurs. Additionally, Airbnb will provide lodging and meeting-space opportunities at global gatherings and events for entrepreneurs to enhance collaboration and partnerships.

Watch Brian Chesky talk about his recent work in Cuba in collaboration with PAGE here.

To deliver the message of PAGE’s mission and discuss his new initiative, Chesky will attend the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, Kenya with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Brian will use his voice and platform to connect with and inspire entrepreneurs at GES, alongside other PAGE ambassadors.

About PAGE:

Launched in April 2014, PAGE was created to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs both at home and abroad. The initiative formed as a partnership among celebrated entrepreneurs, the White House, the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of State. In the initiative’s first year, PAGE members utilized their knowledge, ideas, and talent to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs both at home and around the world to promote the program’s mission. As PAGE kicks off its second year, each ambassador has agreed to take the lead on his or her own signature initiative to address the global growing demand for engagement with America’s most respected and celebrated business creators.

 

PAGE Ambassador - Brian Chesky of Airbnb

Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE) and cofounder of AirBnb Brian Chesky speaks about his Signature Initiative on expanding opportunities in Cuba and what entrepreneurship means to him.
Download PAGE Video Series: Brian Chesky (52.49 MB)
Read video transcript

Brian Chesky: So I'm Brian Chesky. I'm cofounder and CEO of AirBnB and I'm very excited to be here today being invited by the president and Secretary Pritzker and I'm going to be talking about entrepreneurship in Cuba. We just launched in Cuba about 40 days ago and we now -- we launched with 1,000 homes in Cuba. We now have 2,000 homes, so it's doubled since we launched. And we think there's this incredibly vibrant communityof what we call "micro-entrepreneurs." People who want to be able to earn income and they can start a very, very small business and launching Airbnb was a very, very important step for them. I think the amazing thing is that an environment that fosters entrepreneurship is one where people are just exposed to entrepreneurs. And I think that's probably the most important thing, you know? For me, just knowing that being an entrepreneur and starting a company was an available option became massive and I moved to San Francisco -- I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I met all these people that were starting companies. And it was a bit contagious and I think in a very good way. So I think the same thing for Cuba -- the conditions are ripe. They just need to know that's an available option for them -- that you can start a business. That you can start a company. Other people are doing it and it's not so hard. The idea of an entrepreneur means to be empowered -- to be able to create your own destiny and to kind of create the kind of world you want to live in rather than fitting into that kind of world. I think that is something that people all over the world want to be a part of.
 

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Source URL: https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/news/blog/2015/07/page-video-series-airbnbs-brian-chesky

Links:
[1] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/news/blog/2015/07/page-video-series-airbnbs-brian-chesky
[2] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/node/1417#comment-form-collapsed
[3] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/categories/innovation
[4] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/tags/innovation
[5] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/tags/entrepreneurship
[6] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/tags/global-entrepreneurship-summit-ges
[7] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/tags/presidential-ambassadors-global-entrepreneurship-page
[8] http://www.commerce.gov/page
[9] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rFfXInYpjA
[10] http://www.ges2015.org/
[11] http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2015/07/us-commerce-secretary-penny-pritzker-attend-global-entrepreneurship
[12] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/file/page-ambassador-brian-chesky-airbnb
[13] https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/file/1001/download?token=pN1YZKQ7