Fortune

In 2015, Airbnb renamed its chief human resources officer title to “chief employee experience officer.” And in 2021, Dave Stephenson, then-chief financial officer, took on the additional employee experience role. Early this year, Stephenson ditched his CFO title and became Airbnb’s first chief business officer, while still carrying on with his employee experience role. Stephenson’s dual responsibilities are emblematic of the company’s efforts to become more “functional,” and break down different siloes between different divisions. Although they may seem different on paper, Stephenson says his two roles have more in common than meets the eye. Stephenson recently sat down with Fortune to discuss his job, and how HR can be a better partner to the broader business: https://lnkd.in/dsTvrBmg

The nearly complete fossilized remains of a stegosaurus fetched $44.6 million at auction Wednesday, Sotheby’s said. Billionaire investor Ken Griffin made the winning bid, according to the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. The fossil, dubbed “Apex,” is considered to be among the most complete ever found, according to the auction house. “Apex was born in America and is going to stay in America!” Griffin said after the sale, according to Bloomberg. The price blew past a pre-sale estimate of $4 million to $6 million and past a prior auction record for dinosaur fossils — $31.8 million for the remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed Stan, sold in 2020. bit.ly/4d2LC2M

Many organizations are struggling to connect with colleagues spread out across the country. But there’s considerable evidence that workers can create meaningful relationships online if companies go about it the right way. The trouble is, most employers don’t know how to effectively build these connections on their own. Teamraderie, a startup that offers virtual team-building activities, aims to help bridge this gap. The company creates virtual “experiences” intended to help create camaraderie for teams that are either fully remote or hybrid. Its customers include teams at Microsoft, Google, Dell Technologies, Spotify, and Apple. “Every CHRO has that challenge of: I have a distributed workforce, how do I get it to feel cohesive, as opposed to just a bunch of people I’ve hired from around the country?” Michael McCarroll, Teamraderie’s cofounder and CEO, tells Fortune. 

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“I don’t care if the best idea comes from the person who joined us two weeks ago, then we should listen to that idea.” Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha revealed his biggest investing mistake onstage at Fortune’s #BrainstormTech conference in Park City, Utah. “One of the most important characteristics of our business is imagination,” he added. See more coverage from #BrainstormTech here: bit.ly/3zMcm9E

For years, it’s felt as if rent has gotten out of control. And that’s partially true, considering median rent prices are more than 21% higher today than they were in 2019. But rents are starting to drop ever so slightly. Asking rents dipped just 0.4% year-over-year in June, but before you get too excited, the median asking rent is still $305 higher than the same time in 2019 before the pandemic, according to Realtor.com’s June 2024 Rental Report. The median asking rent in June was $1,743. | Fortune https://lnkd.in/ebXYQkv9

“The way they talk about their male users is actually really negative.” Tinder and Bumble “don’t treat 70% of their users very well,” according to Grindr CEO George Arison.“ You can create a great experience for somebody without creating a bad experience for someone else,” he said in an interview at Fortune #BrainstormTech. See more coverage from #BrainstormTech here: bit.ly/3zLvPXY

"The man is old. So is Trump, by the way." Should there be an age limit on working in politics? In an interview at Fortune's #BrainstormTech conference in Park City, Utah, journalist and author Kara Swisher said that there should be. “I think when you get past a certain age, you should retire," Swisher said. See more coverage from #BrainstormTech here: bit.ly/3SdB09j

Just returned from an incredible few days at Fortune #BrainStormTech in Deer Valley, Utah. Having the opportunity to speak to such an impressive cohort on the growing threats of disinformation and narrative attacks felt extremely impactful, particularly at this critical time in history. It was a pleasure to meet and connect with so many innovative and forward-thinking individuals, including Tom Soto, Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of Interpublic Group (IPG) , Roelof Botha of Sequoia Capital, Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI, Kara Swisher, along with the Fortune team and many more. Engaging in conversations about the future with so many forward thinking leaders was incredibly energizing. The insights and perspectives were invaluable and I look forward to the friendships and collaborations as we drive positive solutions together.

“You should partner with people who know things you don’t.” In an interview at Fortune’s #BrainstormTech, Jeff Dean, chief scientist at Google DeepMind and one of Google’s first employees, shared his tips on how to succeed at work. See more coverage from #BrainstormTech here: bit.ly/465Qwd4