Alfred Lin (Alfred): What percentage of the total revenue comes from Europe?
Brian Chesky (Brian): 50% or more.
Alfred: That's going well. Zappos describes culture and brand as the front and back of the same coin. Airbnb has succeeded in establishing a great culture and brand. Tell us a little bit about branding. When talking about branding and culture in Silicon Valley, it's easy to think of it as soft, not business-like.
Brian: Yes. I was talking about this with Sam Altman earlier. Culture and branding are rarely talked about in Silicon Valley.
As you say, branding and culture are the front and back of the same coin. A corporate culture represented by principles and beliefs is necessary for internal human beings to work together in the long run and to stay in step with each other to achieve their goals.
A brand is an image that everyone has of the company as seen by outsiders. I think that clearing the mission of the company is the most important thing for culture and branding.
And I think the image of the brand depends on the people who work in the company from the perspective of outsiders. If the people working inside believe in the company's mission and work passionately, then the company will be accompanied by passionate customers.
Zappos also has a strong cultural character. Google also values their unique culture very much. That doesn't mean we're talking about good and bad cultures.
It is important whether the culture is established or not. Just because someone else considers it a good culture does not mean that it applies to you as well.