Founder Mode

😱 Delusional. If you need "founder mode" at a $82bn (market cap) company to make its customer service work, something is wrong. I am obviously not talking about Twitter, sorry, X since it is worth a lot less than that.

Juan Pablo Montoya had a terrible experience at an Airbnb rental and tried to go through the normal customer service channel:

“Airbnb's customer service? Not much better. They even blocked my account. So, through the Y Combinator network, I shot a message to Brian Chesky.”

One of the commenters, Saeed K., nailed it: "A company that couldn’t resolve your problem, blocked your account, and luckily for you, through back channels not available to most people, you got in touch with the founder who had to intervene personally on a Sunday to address the screwup his company should have resolved originally??"

It is ok to brag about being a hashtag#YC alumnus or even to have a connection to Brian Chesky. But invoke founder mode here is to shine a light on a bug, not a feature. I love hashtag#foundermode. Until it no longer works.

Also, Brian Chesky, if you are open to it, there is a life to be enjoyed outside of work. That could be a great example for your employees to follow.