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Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

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Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#51

Post by notjustanymike »

mdc2161 wrote: post #44
kilroy123 wrote: post #15

I'm not surprised to see Airbnb became profitable. They've expanded everywhere. I nomad around and always use Airbnb, I've booked places on several continents. However, I'm definitely feeling the effects of their growing pains. For example, many people have bought places to only rent on Airbnb full-time. Most of these people suck at being an hotelier. It's clear people get lazy and are just trying to make money. Thin…

Dealt with similar issues as both a host and a guest. The biggest problem to me is poor expectation setting. There are hosts that run BnB quality services, ones that run a mock-hotel like you described, and ones that just rent out a spare room in their apartment. As a guest, it'd be great to know what I'm walking into. As a host, having guests that understand they are staying in my home and NOT a hotel would be great…

AirbnbX, Airbnb Black, Airbnb Pool

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#53

Post by ghaff »

Tloewald wrote: post #33
dragonwriter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless, they fix this and get more people to review honestly. I think they're going to run into a lot of problems. I don't airBnB, but a friend who does was recently berated by a host after leaving a 4-star review; that host claimed (don't know how true this is) that many hosts will refuse to rent to you again if you leave anything but a 5-star review. That and other things I've seen and heard about airBnB reviews…

The whole system of review curation that infests online markets is a problem waiting to be solved. Right now we basically have to parse reviews on the 4.4-5.0 scale because anything outside that is meaningless. It's amazing to go read a novel rated 3 stars (because it operates outside this loop) and find it transcendently good.

It's a difficult problem. Survey response scales have probably been a matter of research and discussion before the web even existed.

There are particular instances (like in this case) where there are a lot of incentives for just about everyone to give 5 stars, 10 stars, or a positive and call it a day.

But, in general, there are issues with self-selection, bias toward the high end of the scale, ratings meaning different things for different types and classes of product, etc.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#54

Post by beefman »

ojbyrne wrote: post #40
beefman wrote: post #31

We haven't had a recession in 8 years, and the postwar average time between recessions is 6 years.[1] The stock market's overall PE ratio is well above average.[2] With Box and Snap, the market demonstrated it is starving for tech IPOs -- even if a company is losing money and entirely based on a millennial fad. So why in the name of sweet baby Jesus would investors, founders, or anyone else delay an IPO at this point…

I would guess that its a combination of Sarbanes-Oxley and the glut of private capital available.

Is there a good explanation of the Sarbanes-Oxley issue somewhere? I tend to doubt procedural stuff like that could really be responsible.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#56

Post by hagbarth »

muninn_ wrote: post #39
elastic_church wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah weird how people hold up IPO as a holy grail. Its the worst thing to do if you are actually passionate about the company, if it is your labor of love. Its the best thing to do if you want to make a lot of money from your money machine and are largely apathetic about the outcome of the business itself. Easy enough to find the next MBA graduate to feign passion for you while they are just trying to sell the compan…

Yeah I lean toward this view as well. The point of an IPO is to raise capital. But when you do this, unless you own 51% of the company or there is a small group of like-minded individuals that own 51% of the company, you can wind up losing control and instead of doing things Wall Street doesn't like, you're going to have to focus on profitability and pleasing shareholders. It's one route to take, but not the only one…

Yeah, but AirBnB took that route when they got private investors. They expect to get their money back with a good ROI.

That would be through an IPO or acquisition, either way you loose control of your company.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#57

Post by antisthenes »

Tloewald wrote: post #33
dragonwriter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless, they fix this and get more people to review honestly. I think they're going to run into a lot of problems. I don't airBnB, but a friend who does was recently berated by a host after leaving a 4-star review; that host claimed (don't know how true this is) that many hosts will refuse to rent to you again if you leave anything but a 5-star review. That and other things I've seen and heard about airBnB reviews…

The whole system of review curation that infests online markets is a problem waiting to be solved. Right now we basically have to parse reviews on the 4.4-5.0 scale because anything outside that is meaningless. It's amazing to go read a novel rated 3 stars (because it operates outside this loop) and find it transcendently good.

Reviews are a problem, but not for novels.

Perception of books and concepts covered within are entirely subjective.

However, when it comes to service or product quality, you can be almost entirely objective in its value judgment.

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#58

Post by bfwi »

benatkin wrote: post #50
beefman wrote: post #31

We haven't had a recession in 8 years, and the postwar average time between recessions is 6 years.[1] The stock market's overall PE ratio is well above average.[2] With Box and Snap, the market demonstrated it is starving for tech IPOs -- even if a company is losing money and entirely based on a millennial fad. So why in the name of sweet baby Jesus would investors, founders, or anyone else delay an IPO at this point…

I think the founders AirBnb and Uber are afraid to transition to being legit companies. The lack of IPO is just a part of it.

If you're a profitable private company, aren't you legit?

Re: Airbnb raises $1B at $31B valuation, became profitable in 2016

#60

Post by username223 »

alehul wrote: post #38
username223 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Nerd nurseries?" What do you even mean by "startup culture" in an ad-tech company with thousands of employees that has been doing the same thing for years? Open office plans with skateboards? Free food? Making the world a better place?

I don't mean this rudely -- is what I said offensive to people on HN? You're the first person to comment vs downvote as a reply and you seem to dislike FB quite a bit (and the idea of working for them). Although Facebook as an individual product isn't creating any more value than it already has, the company includes Oculus VR and an AI lab which seem like they'd be fascinating places to work. Additionally, it just se…

FB and GOOG are both large, stable surveillance/ad-tech companies with various money-losing side-bets. Their compensation is structured differently than what you would find at MSFT, IBM, etc. (more workplace perks), but it seems strange to relate that compensation structure to a "startup." People who work there get fat salaries, reliable employment, and perks, not a high-risk bet on a new idea.
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