The Airbnb Story

Hadn't read this before re: Air Bed and Breakfast

How 3 guys turned renting an air mattress in their apartment into a $25 billion company

Long before Airbnb persuaded strangers to sleep in one another's homes and became a $25 billion company, it was just an idea to make extra bucks and make rent.

After their first guests, Airbnb's founders realized they were on to something bigger than a stopgap for rent. They faced rejection plenty of times — and created their own version of Obama O's cereal — but the three founders of Airbnb have built a big business in the past nine years.

Here's how they turned their idea to rent out an air mattress into a business that has the hotel industry running scared.​

Worldwide, there are now more than 4 million homes posted on Airbnb.

 

While I do admire their business model, at the same time, this form of (resource sharing business models inc Uber and other), are actually cannibalizing growth for other business opportunity on a wider scale, which in turn causes loss of job opportunities, and investments into new infrastructures, which again, job loss.

 

Disagree... if it's easier, cheaper etc.... its progress. People don't use horse and carts to move goods anymore.

 

There's nearly more than 5 Million homes listed on Airbnb in 81,000 cities

The top 10 destinations of inbound guests are the United States, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Portugal.

The United States had the most Airbnb listings as of August 2017 with 660 thousand listings.

 

We've stayed at Airbnb not only in Australia, but Japan & Singapore as well. In Japan we got the penthouse in a very small set of units. It was lovely! We also got the most dodgy place I've ever stayed at. I can't remember the exact number of bedrooms it said that it had, but it was just an open room with two beds, plus extra mattresses in a cupboard. Not at all what we thought we were getting, & not the same as the photos either. We ended up giving a very bad review & got a refund for that one.

 

I listened to an interview with Joe Gebbia on the Tim Ferris podcast recently.
Joe Gebbia — Co-Founder of Airbnb

 

I think it cause existing, sometimes big old behemoth, businesses to get innovative with their approach. They can no longer do the same old thing and expect to come out unscathed.

I have not used airBNB - usually doesn’t make much sense for domestic travel for 2 people (similar cost as hotel), and I like facilities from hotel

 

I alsolistened to the this
Great story!
They were very smart worrh their approach following demand areas hosting events worrh a shortage of accom.

And they seem like positive business role models

 

You miss the point of economics. Economics, in some respects, is all about the most efficient allocation of limited resources. Labour is one of those limited resources. If less labour is used to produce cars and drive taxis then on a macro level this is a good thing. Certainly not good in the short term for those in the transport industry, but labour will be put to a better more efficient use that otherwise would have been tied up in unnecessary production, if, we built stuff just for the sake of jobs.

For example, the industrial revolution caused massive disruption to the agricultural industry and millions of people were no longer needed to work the land. This freed up labour for the manufacturing industry driving the price of textiles and other goods down for the consumer. Meanwhile, today, agriculture makes up a tiny fraction of the employment statistics, our population has multiplied several times and.... we have low unemployment.

New technologies do not destroy jobs. They figured this out 200 years ago. People still go on about it. Ever heard of a luddite?

 

Yep. I was thinking exactly the same but didn't have the time to explain at lunchtime!

 

People are building business via Airbnb

You can even stay in Airbnb and engage in activities hosted by locals i.e. practice yoga in maui with miniature goats




To quote Darwin: “It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”

Not that I have an Airbnb yet, I do find it interesting though

 

Nice!

 

Taking on board your point, what % of Airbnbers were hotel customers, hostel customers, business travellers, stayers with relatives/friends to determine the real impact.

Are there any stats to determine the effects on the accommodation industry? Has it been offset by cheaper air fares? Growth in the market?

 

I can't answer for the whole industry.....but I can for myself.

Long before Airbnb, our family used to regularly go interstate for competitions. We didn't have a lot of disposable income back then & while everyone else looked to Motels & Serviced Apartments, we usually found accommodation using Stayz. So, I guess we were already using that same space, it was just a different name. We don't do shared accommodation, so didn't look at Airbnb until the last few years, when we realised that you could get a whole home/unit to rent.

 

Not the ones we've stayed at. We usually stayed in a 3 bedroom house. Not boutique, but usually nice. Just an average fully furnished home. We did stay at one that was a little dodgy at one time. Clean, but old & in need of money spent on it.

Personally I'm not much of a fan of staying with other people, even if I know them. I prefer my own space.

 

We've used stayz before - some waterfront townhouse on a non descript gated community around a golf course. But it was before Airbnb.

Not into the 'shared' thing, I want my own 4 walls, front door & facilities .

 

I've listed the same property on both stayz and airbnb so really, you can find the same properties on both sites. As a host, the stayz platform wasn't as user friendly as the airbnb one. I also used booking.com, but the guests are often flaky and unreliable on there.