Srin Madipalli has travelled the world in his wheelchair.
Now, as head of Airbnb's accessibility efforts, he wants to help many others do the same.
Mr Madipalli has spinal muscular atrophy, a rare disorder that affects nerve cells and causes muscles to waste away. Finding accessible places to stay was a constant frustration. So in 2015, Madipalli and a friend founded Accomable, a website that connected disabled travellers to verified, accessible properties.
At the same time, Airbnb was facing complaints from some disabled guests, who said its listings weren't detailed enough. Airbnb wanted to do better, so late last year it purchased Accomable. Mr Madipalli, a geneticist and lawyer with an Oxford MBA, is now Airbnb's accessibility product and programme manager.
Here Mr Madipalli discusses his new role and what Airbnb can do to improve travel for the disabled. Comments have been edited for length.
What is your role at Airbnb?
I am responsible for making our platform as accessible as possible. Our first step has been to make it easier for people to find an Airbnb listing that meets their needs. We used to only allow guests to search for listings that were wheelchair accessible. Now, we have 21 new accessibility filters so guests can search for the listing that works for them. I am working closely with our community to find ways to build upon and improve these filters so we can cater to people with all types of disabilities.
How did the acquisition by Airbnb affect your mission?
Accomable was a success, but we were a small, niche company. At Airbnb we're taking accessibility into the mainstream. Around 19 per cent of the US population has some form of disability - that's more than 56 million people - a market we simply couldn't cater to as part of Accomable where we had around 1,600 properties on the platform. We're working with the owners of these properties to move them over to Airbnb. We're also tapping into Airbnb's community so they can make their homes' accessible features more visible. This is one of the incredible benefits of becoming part of Airbnb: an international community we can tap into and global resources to make our mission a reality.
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Beyond adding filters, what more can Airbnb do for the disabled community?
We want to ensure accessibility is at the heart of every element of our business, whether it's accessible homes, experiences or any other new specially adapted product. I have used a power wheelchair all my life, so I know from personal experience how difficult it can be to travel with a disability and how nervous many people in our community are about travel. Part of my role is to ensure our community has accessibility information they can trust, and I'm working across teams on a number of projects around this. As an entrepreneur, I always saw how transformative technology and the sharing economy could be for people with disabilities. We want to work with our community to encourage more entrepreneurs with disabilities to share their homes and create accessible, local experiences as a great way to meet people from around the world and to earn some extra money. We are also working to ensure Airbnb's offices are a great, accessible place to work.
If a host wants to make a property wheelchair accessible, how much should they expect to invest?
If you have a modern, step-free home with wide entryways, there's a high chance your property will already be suitable for a number of people with accessibility needs with minimal adaptation. Something I'm keen to emphasise is that 'wheelchair accessible' is not just a single tickbox. My accessibility needs will be very different from another individual who has a disability, and there are many people in our community who have a hidden disability or a sensory impairment. The important thing is to give people the right information so they can decide for themselves if a home is right for them.
What is your best travel memory?
I was lucky enough to take part in the Paralympic Torch Relay ceremony in Korea this year to raise awareness of disability in the region. I am definitely a hot weather person and it was bitterly cold in Pyeongchang, apparently one of the coldest winter games on record, but the welcome I received was overwhelming. I loved the energy and vibe of the games, so much so that I recently tried adaptive skiing in Lake Tahoe, which was terrifying but awesome.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
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Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
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Rating: 2/5
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
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Six pitfalls to avoid when trading company stocks
Following fashion
Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.
Losing your balance
You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.
Being over active
If you chop and change your portfolio too often, dealing charges will eat up your gains.
Running your losers
Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.
Selling in a panic
If you sell up when the market drops, you have locked yourself out of the recovery.
Timing the market
Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
