Tell HN: What I learned from the AirBnB / EJ incident
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2828300I posted this as a comment on a previous thread, but I thought I'd share it as a separate post. While I hope the situation resolves well for all parties (except the guilty ones), I'm most interested in learning the lessons that would apply to my own startup.
I'm trying to learn from other people's lessons (it's the cheapest way to learn). Here's what I learned from the recent incident as well as others recently talked about in the 'sphere. Whenever there is a crisis:
* Respond quickly
* Respond in the open so that there's no he-said / she-said
* Be fair, and err on the side of the customer
* Don't spin the company line - be thoughtful, especially if someone has lost money / time / confidence / data / faith in humanity
* Think "This could be me / this could be someone I know & love"
* If relevant, get the authorities involved quickly so that you can be sure it's not a shakedown.
* Assume the customer is telling you the truth unless you have specific and verifiable reason to believe otherwise
* Get insurance
* Don't let others (especially those with interests) speak for you.
* Try to establish a single point person for all contact with the customer, and make that person easily and quickly available to the customer at the customer's behest
* Try not to respond to what's said in the press
Did I miss any good lessons here?