Airbnb's latest chief business officer shares his top priorities for hosts and travelers

As Airbnb's recently appointed Chief Business Officer, Dave Stephenson plays a critical role in the corporate's future growth plans.

He's also taking over one other role that's critical to that growth: an Airbnb host.

Stephenson, who served as AirbnbAfter joining the corporate from Amazon in 2019, he has been chief financial officer since 2019 and has hosted a mountain cabin outside of Seattle, Washington in recent times. While those staying in his cabin is probably not aware of his position inside the company, Stephenson's approach is indicative of what he sees ahead for Airbnb.

As an avid skier and hiker, Stephenson is glad to share along with his guests one of the best routes. The cabin is provided with a pizza oven, and Stephenson shares his pizza dough recipe with guests, in addition to cafe recommendations and the rest they could need.

“I enjoy sharing what is important to me with others,” he said. “I think they appreciate that local knowledge and kind of know how much I care, and that feels good as a guest to think, 'Wow, this host really cares about me and the experience.'”

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky told employees in a memo that Stephenson's transition into his latest CBO role earlier this 12 months marked a “turning point” for the corporate and a concentrate on growth in existing and latest businesses.

“As we expand beyond our core, it will be paramount to have leadership committed to our long-term growth plans, and there is no one better at doing that than Dave,” Chesky wrote within the memo.

For Stephenson, these long-term growth plans are focused on three key areas: driving international expansion, increasing the variety of hosts on the platform, and constructing out additional experiences and services.

International expansion is critical for Airbnb, and Stephenson spends a whole lot of time on the road helping with that, whether in Germany, South Korea or Brazil. That includes ensuring that “all functions work well together to deliver the results we expect,” he said, whether meaning the country-specific marketing plan is gaining traction or whether there are other specific local points that make that occur worries should be optimized with a view to achieve success. For example, Stephenson said that in Germany there’s a neighborhood accreditation that gives more convenience to consumers, and the corporate has ensured that it receives it. Additionally, Weißenstein Castle – an 18th-century Bavarian castle featured within the Netflix series “The Empress” – was available for exclusive stays on Airbnb.

“It's just about making sure we're very conscious about the way we show up in a country,” he said.

As for the experience, that's a giant a part of what Stephenson gave his Washington guests: a reason to return not only to this property, but to Airbnb as well.

“We will continue to focus on the unique things we can do to enhance our guests’ experience,” he said.

Airbnb also desires to expand its services to make it easier to be each a bunch and a guest. This could include helping hosts facilitate check-in or helping them get the things they need for guests, corresponding to linens. For guests, that would mean transportation to airports and even a completely stocked refrigerator upon arrival, he said.

“The deeper the relationship we build with guests and hosts, the better we can understand their respective needs and the better we can accommodate them,” he said. “The happier they are, the better the experience is for both and the more likely the host is to stay.” [on Airbnb] and the more likely a guest is to return back and check out Airbnb some other place.”

When Stephenson joined Airbnb as CFO in 2019, he said he tried, amongst other things, to introduce a “more operationally rigorous financial organization” into the corporate.

In some ways, meaning acting much like a chief operating officer, he said. “As CFOs, we think about business metrics, customer metrics and revenue metrics. With all of these elements, the way we actually run the company is just as important as the financials.”

The role of the CFO has evolved well beyond the standard finance function to now concentrate on operations, supply chain and increasingly cybersecurity. A CFO role with additional responsibilities applied to Stephenson at Airbnb, who was also named Head of Employee Experience in 2021, liable for talent and leadership development, in addition to recruiting and compensation.

Stephenson took on this latest CBO role earlier this 12 months, while Ellie Mertz, previously Airbnb's vice chairman of finance, began the transition to switch him as CFO following the corporate's quarterly earnings release in February.

“Finance is kind of Switzerland in the way it works and already works,” Stephenson said. “The chief business officer is in some ways an extension of that, a neutral role that makes sure all the other functions are working together effectively and working really well.”