I’m Sriram Vaidhya, head of Airbnb Trips for SEA and India. AMA!

NOTE: This AMA has ended. Find the Q&A with Sriram here.

Hello TIA Community!

I’m Sriram Vaidhya, and I lead the Airbnb Trips and Experiences business in Southeast Asia and India!

Airbnb is a platform that empowers entrepreneurs to share their passions and interests, launch businesses, earn income, and meet people from all over the world. You can take an organic farm-to-table cooking lesson in Bali, explore a hidden Chinatown in Bangkok, visit Singapore’s last Taoist deity shop, and explore Ho Chi Minh City’s nightlife with a group of students.

I’ve had a pretty colorful career! Before Airbnb, I built high-frequency trading systems, was a Wall Street quant, got a master’s degree in journalism, lived in Spain, co-founded a social network startup, ran developer relations for Apple in Singapore, and advised startups on product and technology. Now, I’m particularly interested in scaling marketplaces. I love design, tennis, photography, and all things travel.

Please ask me anything! Here are some examples of questions I’d love to answer:

• How do I become an Airbnb Experience host?
• How can I be more entrepreneurial in my day-to-day job?
• What are the challenges involved in scaling marketplaces?
• What’s the next big disruption in the travel sector?
• How can hosting an Experience help my career development?

Chat soon!

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Note from Putra, TIA’s head of community content: The host may choose at his preference to not answer particular questions. The AMA is moderated by the community managers, so let’s keep the questions friendly. 🙂

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Find the Q&A with Sriram below.

Thanks everyone for your questions! Here’s my question to close the session: What’s the one advice that you’d like the TIA Community to take away from this AMA?

– Putra Muskita

So I’ve had the pleasure of meeting plenty of people in Singapore and elsewhere that love the idea of being entrepreneurial, love the idea of leaving their jobs in banking or consulting, and want to be doing something that they’re really passionate about. I’d wager almost all of them are keeping a close eye on the startup scene in Asia on Tech in Asia, maybe in the hope that one day they’ll get an opportunity to do something different.

As much as I’d love them to all quit and become full-time Experience hosts on Airbnb 🙂 I think there’s still a lot everyone can do during day-to-day work to become more entrepreneurial, and that’s always going to help you no matter what your career is. For example: think like a business owner, not just another cog in the corporate wheel. Always question things that others take for granted. Get creative, no matter what industry you’re in. Take some risk once in a while. Take on new initiatives. Collaborate extremely well, and communicate even better.