Joining Airbnb during coronavirus
I accepted an offer at Airbnb before this whole coronavirus thing happened and was set to start in a few weeks. Anyways, I'm starting to get worried about joining with the way things are going with the economy and potential job security if I do join (I'll be joining a more experimental/non-core-to-business team). I was wondering how it is there at the moment and if most people are WFH? Anyone have insight into how this is affecting onboarding of new hires? Is this having any big effects on the IPO plans and what's the possibility of layoffs?
I think it can still go IPO but the stock price may be affected a lot due to the bad economy and all these travel bans. Its a good company, but probably just not the best time to join.
It's gonna be another SoftBank disaster. I think Airbnb biz is pretty good, just not $40B good.
I’d do a LOT of due diligence, and try to ask very politely, about their revenue numbers, health of overall business. Honestly, if I were at G, I would be very hesitant to move over next 3-6 months. Would be best to wait and see. Nobody knows what the higher-order impacts on the economy from this virus will be.
I have tried asking about it when we were still negotiating back in January, but I was constantly met with extreme enthusiasm and optimism. The recruitrr kept talking up the backing they had from the founder and the potential upside compared to staying at G. I eventually accepted since I was excited about the team and coronavirus didn't hit yet. Now things have changed so I'm hoping to get some more honest insight from some of the employees on current situation.
You know, if they’re not sharing that info, most folks would consider that a huge red flag. If you’re seriously having second thoughts about joining (understandably), why not ask them again? If they don’t share that info, that’s a very important data point.
We have a bigger war chest of cash and a large credit line than people think we do if we really want to use it. There’s always a large amount of turnover this time of year (cash bonus + equity vest happen this month), from what I see backfills will only be open if the business approves. We’re keeping a close eye on avoiding overspending. I’m guessing you’re joining Samara or Propel under Joe. The losses last year were by no means Uber level losses; we actually came close to making up Q1 losses we had after costly acquisition towards the end of the year. This quarter will obviously be one of the worst. Honestly I think layoffs would be too damaging to our brand and there are other non-essentials we can cut off before it gets to that point. We don’t want to be associated with Uber-style management and exec team is staying super positive. It’s just un-Airbnb to do that. We have been through much, much tougher financial times. If anything, we tend to let other teams borrow resources for a quarter or two if a project cuts or shuffled. Founders are super adamant about our values. Have not heard plans to stop the IPO. I don’t doubt the price will be lower than it could be, but that’s just the whole market right now. On the bright side, taxes won’t be as high and you’ll only have to pay capital gains once it recovers. My advice here is just to talk to the hiring manager, tell them what you’re worried about and they can bubble up to leadership.
I believe in our CFO
Same. He does a super great job of explaining what’s going on and what our plan is; makes me feel safe and sane. Really appreciate him.
Everyone is working from home. I doubt there will be layoffs soon, especially since we just hired a ton of people last year. Coronavirus is obviously affecting us but we have loads of cash in the bank. As of now IPO plans are unchanged
Hiring people last year does not mean the business is not hemorrhaging cash and needs to lay off people to survive
You’re right that hiring doesn’t imply that, but in this case both are nevertheless true. Until recently we were profitable, and that change was a deliberate one. You might want to research our financials more, we’re not Uber.
Having cash is good, but when a company IPO’s, Wall Street does a lot care about profitability and expenses. Normally, lots of companies cut staff just before IPO, to enhance their numbers. Not saying Airbnb will do that, but it’s important to note that is a common practice among other companies (including Tech companies). PS: I really wish Airbnb employees the best of luck and success. Just sounding a note of caution.
We’ve actually been spending more money and making long-term, risky bets. These are things we can cut back on easily without laying people off. I can’t see Airbnb following in the path of other companies; that’s just not very Brian Chesky-esque. Look at what happened to the last CFO vs our new CFO.
Good point about layoffs, I just don’t see it happening in this specific case
If you're really, really having second thoughts, you can rescind. It is not an action that will be remembered fondly, but you don't have to move forward with the new job if you don't want to. (Unless Google already backfilled you, I suppose)
Stay! Wish I stayed at Google.
Do you mind sharing why? You can DM me if you don't want to post it publicly.
Do you have a choice to stay at Google?
Yes. My team went through a reorg so I haven't submitted my resignation yet. I also have an offer at Google to transfer to another team if I want to take it.
If possible, extend the joining date of Airbnb in there months. I think three months gives some idea where things are headed. In the meantime, stay at Google
Airbnb is going to have big layoffs this year. Their business and IPO were already threatened before coronavirus since the markets are much more skeptical of money-losing businesses. Core business is OK but lots of the ancillary ones are not making money. Execs will blame layoffs on coronavirus to hide the bad fundamentals.
I was worried about this too after reading about their losses in 2019. The team I'm joining is almost a personal project of one of the founders so everyone I spoke to on the team was super optimistic about it's staying potential. They are also still hiring and hoping to double this year...but I worry that if they IPO, it won't matter what this particular founder feels about this group if the company numbers as a whole aren't good.
Lol