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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

#171

Post by bogomipz »

nojvek wrote: post #168
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

Totally agree. I got scammed with fancy airbnb pictures a couple of times and now I don't go near it with a 100ft pole. It's totally lost its feel of welcoming host. Now it's just another hotel that's poorly run by people who want to make a quick buck. I stay to hotels even if it's slightly expensive. The level of service and quality is always guaranteed

That stinks. I'm a hotel person myself but I am curious did you have any recourse with AirBnB when this happened?

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

#172

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

ucaetano wrote: post #28
ganfortran wrote: post #6

If they are already profitable, why raise money again?

You can be profitable but still be burning cash in a few different ways. Profitable looks only at profit, not at cash flow, so it only means that "booked revenue in a year > booked costs in a year". Keep in mind that capital expenses are not costs, but are cash expenses. Also, some revenue in a given year might not be a cash transaction, because even if you booked it in that year, it might take much longer for you to…

Regarding #2, I don't know what AirBnB does, but many web software companies capitalize their software expenses, e.g. all the development of _new_ features and functionality of their website and app. It's possible the majority of costs for software developers, designers, etc. is treated as capex.

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

#173

Post by woodrow »

samstave wrote: post #112
jlgosse wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying this is the case with this round in particular, but it's not unheard of for early employees to take money off the table in a round like this

Can you ELI5 exactly how any employee "takes money off the table" --- I have always been farked in my dealings... so how do I profit? What is the best strategy?

If the company allows it, they will facilitate transfer of stock from employees directly to investors as part of a funding round.

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

#174

Post by chii »

rpearl wrote: post #99
sloanesturz wrote: post #2

A shame that they didn't raise this money through an IPO. I'm afraid of how long unicorns are staying private: it's a big bummer for their employees and early investors. It'll be a tough sell for early employees of the next batch of unicorns if Uber, Airbnb, Palantir, Dropbox, etc. stay private for 10-15 years or more!

Dropbox and AirBnB have already been private for almost 10 years! (Palantir - 13!, Uber - 8) I was at Dropbox for a while and left in no small part because of the frustrating lack of potential liquidity on my equity.

i expect companies that remain private while dangling equities for it's employees to create an opportunity for them to sell privately - e.g., a liquidation event, where the buyer is an investment/VC firm that wants in. It's good for both parties - employees get a liquidation event, the VC gets foot in the door, and founders aren't diluted.

I guess, though, in this case, the employee is the party without power, as they are offered a price (which is probably lowballed, since they don't have a choice) in a take it or leave it fashion...

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

#175

Post by lobotryas »

nojvek wrote: post #168
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

Totally agree. I got scammed with fancy airbnb pictures a couple of times and now I don't go near it with a 100ft pole. It's totally lost its feel of welcoming host. Now it's just another hotel that's poorly run by people who want to make a quick buck. I stay to hotels even if it's slightly expensive. The level of service and quality is always guaranteed

Sorry to hear that. Did those renters also have good reviews?

If so, that might indicate that you can buy fake reviews on ABnB now.

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

#176

Post by dlubarov »

sperling75 wrote: post #161
sperling75 wrote: post #157

The hogging of VC funds by airbnb, uber, and many other not startups is super unhealthy for the startup ecosystem. The public markets will eventually punish these companies for valuations that lack transparency. Airbnb is on the way out with their current short term renting business in most large cities. It's illegal and the quality of service is suffering dramatically. Supply side quality is on the way down. Demand…

If you are down voting why not offer some opinion so it can be a discussion..

I didn't downvote, but your claims could use some justification. What makes you think quality is declining? Personal experience? Second hand anecdotes? Media stories?

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

#177

Post by bplsports92 »

jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

One point to consider is that by having an increase in the supply of places to stay the overall average cost of said places to stay will go down, even if the cost of an Airbnb is similar to the hotel. Supply and demand.

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

#178

Post by mapmeld »

JimDabell wrote: post #122
alleycat wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better tell would be displaying the ratio of people who actually reviewed vs the ones who didn't. When people don't like a place they'll usually not review it at all.

I recently booked a place in an apartment complex, and when I arrived, there were big signs at all the entrances saying it wasn't a hotel, that it was for residents only, and anybody found to be renting daily/weekly would be arrested as trespassers. I was only staying there for a couple of nights and didn't have time for the hassle of arguing with Airbnb at the time, so I just took the risk. After my stay, I reported…

I had a similar experience (apparently these signs are common in Airbnb apartments in Thailand).

At the same time, the apartment front desk staff and doorman were completely aware of my staying there temporarily. I showed up, asked for the keys, the front desk had an envelope, and there were no questions. They must have someone doing that every few weeks, and the signs are someone else's business.

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

#179

Post by [deleted] »

zeroer wrote: post #46
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…

AirBnB reviews are massively inflated. A 4.5 average means you should carefully read between the lines of what the previous guests wrote. A 4 average means you should probably reconsider staying. Hades itself would probably rank around 3.5.

[deleted]

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

#180

Post by ghaff »

untog wrote: post #170
jliptzin wrote: post #159

I used to use airbnb quite often (as a traveler), but I have to say it's lost its appeal for me. First, it's really not much cheaper than a hotel in most cases (some cases more expensive). Second, it's a hassle when you're on vacation to have to arrange in advance a specific time to pick up the keys to the place. Then, what happens if you happen to lose the keys (happened to me once)? What happens if it's in the midd…

There's an area Airbnb clearly fails for me, and it's the one your describe: short stays in populated areas. It's slightly cheaper than a hotel, but a hotel has a front desk that's staffed 24 hours a day to solve any problem you have, and you can usually cancel at no charge up to 24 hours before arriving. It's worth the small extra every night. That said , I've had good experiences with Airbnb for a very vacation-y v…

So you're basically saying they're better than a very fragmented (and not very good) vacation home rental industry. Which is both a pretty low bar and hardly a disruptive business.
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