Went through the Airbnb account executive interview process earlier this year for a mid-market AE role. Took me a while to find anything specific about their sales process online, so posting what I know.
First contact was a recruiter screen. Standard stuff: quota history, size of deals, why you're leaving, why Airbnb specifically. Be ready with a real answer for the last one because she pushed on it. "I like the brand" doesn't land. Have a POV on the Experiences business or their host-side strategy or something grounded.
Round 1 was a 45-min phone interview with the hiring manager. Mostly behavioral. They're using a competency framework. I got questions about: Navigating a complex multi-stakeholder deal A time I lost a deal I should have won and what I'd do differently How I prioritize my book when pipeline is too full
Nothing shocking but they're looking for consultative selling chops. They don't want order-takers. The AE role here has a lot of strategic account planning layered in.
Round 2 was a case exercise. They sent it 48 hours in advance. You present a go-to-market plan for a fictional Airbnb product targeting SMB hospitality businesses. I treated it like a QBR deck, around 10 slides. They asked hard follow-up questions about prioritization and what metrics I'd track.
Round 3 was a panel onsite (virtual), 3 separate 45-min blocks with peers, a cross-functional partner (marketing), and the director. Behavioral throughout. One interviewer asked a "live pitch" style question where I had to sell them on upgrading their Airbnb for Work tier on the spot.
Total timeline was about 5 weeks from recruiter reach to verbal offer, which felt reasonable. They were responsive. Feedback loop from the manager after round 1 was fast, like 2 business days.
Comp: the offer I got was 90k base + uncapped commission with 25% OTE upside, which pencils to around $112k at 100% quota. Equity was RSUs, four-year vest. Not FAANG-level but more than my previous role at a B2B SaaS.
Happy to answer specifics if anyone's prepping for this.