Airbnb CEO:放棄安穩 創業是我最大的冒險

When I graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, I got a job at a small industrial design firm in LA. I loved it at first – I had a job that paid well, and some of my designs even ended up on store shelves.

從羅德島設計學院（Rhode Island School of Design）畢業後，我在洛杉磯一家小型工業設計公司找到了工作。最初，我很喜歡那份工作——工資優厚，而且我的一些設計還登上了商店貨架。

But I felt unfulfilled designing products that would eventually end up in landfills, and wanted to build something that would last. I worked with a few entrepreneurs in LA, and it struck me that even though I was the designer, they were the ones that were creating something meaningful. I asked myself, ‘what’s the difference between them and me? Why can’t I do the same thing?’ That’s when I realized — they had taken a risk, and I hadn’t.

但僅僅設計一些最終進入垃圾填埋場的產品，讓我感覺不到成就感，我希望創造一些更有生命力的商品。在洛杉磯，我曾接觸過許多創業者，令我吃驚的是，雖然我是一名設計師，但他們纔是在創造有意義的事物。我問自己：‘他們與我有什麼區別？我爲什麼不能做同樣的事情？’也就是在那一刻，我終於意識到，他們選擇了冒險，而我卻沒有。

Then one day, I got a call from my college friend, Joe Gebbia. He had been telling me that I should move to San Francisco ever since we graduated, but this call triggered something for me, and I finally decided to take the risk. Everyone has one or two moments in their life when they make a decision and it changes their life forever. Almost every decision in my life I’ve now made is a chain reaction from the moment I decided to move to San Francisco.

有一天，我接到大學好友喬o傑比亞的電話。他從大學畢業後就一直勸說我搬到舊金山，但這一通電話卻觸動了我，我最終決定冒險。人總會在某個時刻做出一兩個決定，進而徹底改變自己的一生。我後來的一系列決定，都是前往舊金山這個決定的連鎖反應。

So I packed all of my possessions into the back of my old Honda Civic, and set off for to a city where it turned out I couldn’t even afford my first month’s rent. It was a risky decision, but finding a way to pay the rent is what ultimately led us to blow up a few air mattresses and rent out our living room to three strangers who needed a place to stay for the weekend. We called it the AirBed and Breakfast, an idea that eventually became Airbnb.

於是，我將所有財產裝進了我那輛破舊的本田思域轎車(Honda Civic)，然後出發前往舊金山，結果到了那裏才發現，我甚至承擔不起第一個月的房租。這是一個有風險的決定，但爲了想辦法支付房租，我們最後吹起了一些充氣牀，並且把起居室租給了三位陌生人，他們週末住在這裏。我們將這種辦法稱爲“充氣牀與早餐”（AirBed and Breakfast），Airbnb這一名稱就來源於此。

In our society, we’re conditioned to avoid taking risks at all the wrong times. Right after college, we’re told to do the safe thing, check all the right boxes, and keep our heads down. It’s assumed that once we find our footing or get a stable job, then we can try to swing for the fences.

在當今社會，我們習慣了在所有不適當的時刻避免冒險。大學畢業後，人們告訴我們要做有保障的事情，要做出正確的選擇，要保持低調。人們以爲，我們要站穩腳跟或找到一份穩定的工作，然後纔可以嘗試孤注一擲。

But that’s not how life works, and it’s the wrong way to think about risk. Inevitably, things change as you get older. You might start a family. You might run into unexpected obstacles along the way. And with each day that passes, taking risks will feel scarier, and seem harder, than ever before.

但生活並非如此，這樣理解風險是錯誤的。隨着年齡的增長，事情不可避免地會發生變化。你可能成立了家庭。你可能遇到了意想不到的障礙。隨着時間的流逝，冒險會讓人感覺更加可怕，看起來更加艱難。

So my advice is, don’t wait. There will always be plenty of reasons to play it safe. But more often than not, the most exciting times in your life will be the times when you take a risk – when you follow that gnawing feeling in your gut instead of the safe, cautious path suggested by others.

所以，我的建議是不要等待。我們總能找到各種安穩過日子的理由。但通常情況下，人一生中最令人激動的時刻，始終是你選擇冒險的時候——你決定跟隨內心那種痛苦的感覺，而不是選擇別人建議的安全、謹慎的道路。

For me, it’s made all the difference.

對我而言，那次冒險改變了一切。