Do it by hand: 5 startup tips from Brian Chesky

Brian Chesky of Airbnb is one of the greatest startup founders ever,  He spoke to Reid Hoffman (the founder of LinkedIn) on his excellent podcast "Masters of Scale", where we found 5 of Chesky's top tips for scaling your startup.
Here goes:

1. Create a Wow-Worthy Experience: Don’t build to meet expectations—aim for something people can’t help but talk about. Imagine what an 11-star experience would look like, even if it seems over the top. Push the boundaries and surprise your users with more than they ever expected.

2. Do It by Hand Until You Can’t: In the early stages, do everything manually until it becomes unbearable. Whether it’s photographing homes or handling customer support, get involved in the details. Doing things by hand helps you understand the inner workings of your business and gives you insight into what really needs to be automated later.

3. Listen to Users, but Choose Wisely: User feedback is your greatest asset, but not every suggestion will lead to scalable success. Learn to distinguish between feedback that applies to the broader market and ideas that come from edge cases. Some passionate users might steer you in a direction that doesn’t work for the majority. Focus on feedback that helps you build a product that appeals to a larger audience.

4. Break Down the Perfect Experience: Think about each moment your user interacts with your product, and design every touchpoint. What’s the user’s first interaction? How can you surprise them at key moments? By breaking down the experience into small pieces, you can improve each step, from the first click to the final impression. This creates a seamless, memorable journey that feels effortless but is thoughtfully crafted.

5. Dream Big, Start Small: In the beginning, do your best to hand-serve your first few. Offer a personalized experience and perfect it. These intimate interactions lay the groundwork for scalable growth later, when you’ve mastered the details that matter most to your core users. Then you go big and scale.