When Airbnb hired longtime hotelier and Joie de Vivre founder Chip Conley to serve as the company’s head of hospitality in 2013, it was a clear signal that the company was looking to evolve beyond its low-rent couch-surfing roots, and class up the user experience. Since coming onboard, Conley has served as the self-described “voice of the Airbnb host”, and lead initiatives that encourage hosts to provide a hotel-like experience that minimizes the chance a potential guest may turn away from the platform because they feel like they are taking a risk.
As a longtime Airbnb host myself, I was excited to sit down with Conley at the company’s annual Airbnb Open conference, held this November in Paris. During a lengthy and candid conversation, he revealed a lot about how the company has changed, where he sees it going, and future features that users can expect.
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You come from the hotel world. While working in that industry, how familiar were you with Airbnb?
I had some familiarity, but I had never used the platform when I first got approached by  Brian Chesky in early 2013. I’ve been in the hotel industry for 29 years, for most of that period Airbnb didn’t exist. I really thought of Airbnb as a step up from Couchsurfing. I was mistaken in terms of how large it was, and how on the verge of being mainstream it was. I just thought it was a novelty. As I did my research, I realized that my impression was mistaken. Now if you look at the host community, the average age is 47. I think what we’ve seen is a process of the mainstreaming of the idea of staying in someone’s home. Of home-sharing.
You almost get the sense that the hotel industry is, or at least had been, treating Airbnb with the disdain that Blockbuster treated Netflix—only to see them sneak up on them.
That’s a great example, but I don’t think it’s accurate because I think Netflix basically put Blockbuster out of business, and I don’t think Airbnb will put the hotel industry out of business. There is this beautiful Gandhi quote: ”First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” For us, it’s more like we’ve won the credibility. They know we’re not going away, and they want to figure out: How do we collaborate? How do we learn from each other? We’ve had most of the largest global hotel companies at our headquarters. I think the franchisee community and the hotel owner community is still in that process of fighting and ridicule, but it’s moving in this direction.
Lets talk about something else for a minute. As an Airbnb host, especially if you’re just renting a room and not an entire place, the host is as important to the experience as the apartment.
I agree.
A lot of it has to do with, not necessarily being a good host or a bad host, but being a good match for different types of people. There’s some people who want to be left alone and there’s some people who want to hang out all the time. Are you guys working on anything that can match-make personalities and hosting styles with particular guests?
Yes.
Can you speak to that?
I can’t elaborate, but I can say the answer is yes. What I will say, rather than talk about the specifics of what we’re doing, which I can’t really talk about, but I can say more broadly is I think we as a company really admire companies that have done the early stages of matching: Spotify, Amazon, Okcupid, Netflix.
Yeah.
I think we have a really interesting opportunity as a travel company for the full travel experience, but specifically on accommodations, because there’s so many variables, and frankly with so many listings now, the ability for us to match over time takes away the paradox of choice as well. The paradox of choice is a basic premise that says the more choice you have, the more paralyzed you could be. You don’t know what’s the right choice.
Yeah, that’s the Barry Schwartz book. 
I love him. I’ve written a few books and he’s written quotes on my books, and I’m a big fan of his. I’m a big fan of matching. When I first joined Airbnb, that was the first thing I said to Brian Chesky. The good news is that I think what you’ll see in 2016 is progressively us getting better and better at that, but I can’t tell you the specifics.
It’s not even matching I think as much as dealing with what happens when you have tens of thousands of listings in one city.
Yeah, exactly.
There are problems that come with that situation that could be fixed with algorithms. One of which is making it less intimidating for new hosts because they’re at the bottom of the pile and aren’t getting any inquiries. The question then becomes: How do you get people started?
That’s right. We’re smart about that. That’s a very important point.
Hugely important. Because a lot of people think: “I don’t have any reviews, nobody’s going to book me.” How do you get them that first booking? Hugely important. Especially when you want to make the experience good for a new host, which you obviously do. It’s making sure that supply and demand are evenly dispersed. If the top listings are the top listings for everybody, it’s the peak of the iceberg and the rest are buried, when those could be totally great for different people.
Right.
The way I visualize this, as I’m sure you guys do, is leveling that iceberg and making it flat, so everybody finds the match for them. The best search results for me may not be the best search results for you. Which brings up a question: Right now if I type in New York and you type in New York, do we get the same thing, or is there any change?
That’s a great question. I’m not on the technical product team, so I can’t tell you at this very moment. But in the future, for sure, you will get different results. I can say for sure that’s the direction we’re going. The matching around that will be around the host and guest connection, but also the guest preferences in terms of the kind of place they like.
I almost imagine at some point, if you haven’t already, a questionnaire. Like those used by some of the fashion direct-sales startups that ask you about style and fit before showing you items they think you’ll like. Is that specifically something you guys are planning?
No comment.

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