⁠Startup Archive
Airbnb founder Brian Chesky explains his interview question “If you had a year left to live, would you still take this job?”

Airbnb’s mission is to “create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.”

Founder Brian Chesky explains that, when he hires people, the first thing he looks for is someone who will champion that mission:

“We don’t want people here because they think we’ve got a great valuation, they like our office design, they need a job, or they think it’s hot. We want people to be here for the one thing that will never change, and that’s our mission… And you champion the mission by living the mission. Do you believe in it? Do you have stories about it? Have you used the product? Would you bleed for the product?”

Brian interviewed the first 300 employees of Airbnb and asked each of them a crazy interview question:

“If you had a year left to live, would you take this job?”

Realizing that this question was a little too crazy, he has since amended it to 10 years left to live, but his reasoning is as follows:

“If you knew you had 10 years left to live—whatever you would want to do in those last ten years, you should just do. And I really wanted people to think about that. That was enough time to do something you really cared about… And the answer doesn’t have to be this company. If what you’re meant to do is travel or start a company, you should just do that.”

Brian explains:

“There is a job, and then there is a calling. We want to hire people who aren’t just looking for jobs. They’re looking for a calling.”

He shares a parable that highlights this:

“Two men are laying bricks. Somebody comes up to the first man and asks, ‘what are you doing?’ He says I’m building a wall. He then asks the other man, who says ‘I’m building a cathedral.’”

Video source: @ycombinator (2014)
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⁠Quiver Quantitative
Senator Josh Hawley just said:

Facebook got fined $5B, and the stock went UP

It’s a cost of doing business https://t.co/TUkjbaxFX0
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⁠Stock Analysis Compilation
Baron Real Estate Fund on Equinix, Inc. $EQIX US

Thesis: Equinix, Inc. is expected to achieve approximately 10% earnings per share growth over the next few years, driven by strong demand and a favorable market position in the data center industry.

(Extract from their Q4 letter) https://t.co/KfWsS0yLcf
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⁠App Economy Insights
$AAPL Apple launches iPhone 16e.

🤳 Notch and Face ID.
🔘 USB-C and action button.
🧠 Apple Intelligence included.
⚙️ A18 chipset (same as iPhone 16).
📡 First-ever in-house 5G modem (C1). https://t.co/jpzudtWRZY
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⁠Stock Analysis Compilation
Bell Global Emerging Companies Fund on Clean Harbors $CLH US

Thesis: Clean Harbors is expected to experience strong growth due to increasing environmental regulations, asset scarcity, onshoring of manufacturing, and market underappreciation of its value.

(Extract from their Q4 letter)
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⁠Quiver Quantitative
RT @QuiverCongress: Senator Ron Johnson has said that he would only support a "DOGE Dividend" if the budget is balanced.

Do you agree?

Poll below. https://t.co/J6vfNZOuhB
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AkhenOsiris
NTDOY has broken out from a $10 to $15 range that lasted almost 5 years.
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AkhenOsiris
AMZN was late to AI (but has since been considered on the right path as a provider and consolidator), and now they are "late" to Quantum. As long as they monetize it properly, who cares early or late (it's still ridiculously early).
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⁠Value Spotlight (Andrew Sather)
What creates buyback machines? Super high ROIC?

Yep. https://t.co/6nuccC2OxL
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⁠Quiver Quantitative
Last year, we noticed a US politician buying stock in a German arms manufacturer.

The stock has now risen 69% since we posted this video: https://t.co/7M0MPOL0IK
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⁠App Economy Insights
Quantum computers in years, not decades?

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella:
"The future of computing just changed."

$MSFT's Majorana 1 chip:
✅ Topological qubits stable & scalable.
🎯 Million-qubit processors within reach.
🌍 Solving problems beyond today's computers" https://t.co/1Ax47DDC63
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