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Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

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Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#161

Post by [deleted] »

jhall1468 wrote: post #141
Tiktaalik wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vancouver brought in regulations to try to regulate Airbnb into actually behaving like the service is intended, that is to ensure that people are simply renting out other rooms in their residence and are not buying condos with the explicit purpose of renting them out full time like virtual hotels. It's abundantly clear that Airbnb has zero interest in helping Vancouver enforce these rules. Vancouver has had to strugg…

It's not Airbnb's responsibility to enforce the law. Full stop.

[deleted]

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#162

Post by toomanyrichies »

bradleyjg wrote: post #149
toomanyrichies wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The New York Times claims NYC is Airbnb's largest US market[1]. And CityLab claims NYC is Airbnb's 3rd-largest market worldwide.[2] However, with respect to whether "the overwhelming majority of its facilitated transactions are illegal": Speaking strictly for NYC (the town I live + Airbnb host in), I think the more relevant metric is- what percent of Airbnb's revenue comes from the illegal kind of rental (i.e. rental…

> whole-unit rentals totaling less than 90 days per year, as well as shared-unit rentals of any length The multiple dwelling law does not allow any whole units to be rented for less than 30 days. There’s no exception for less than 90 days in a year total. From the MDL: A ‘class A’ multiple dwelling is a multiple dwelling that is occupied for permanent residence purposes… ‘Permanent residence purposes’ shall consist o…

Yep, I stand corrected about the legality of whole-unit rentals less than 30 days. Looks like I was mixing up NYC and SF laws on that point.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#163

Post by atombender »

parent5446 wrote: post #158
atombender wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are different experiences. AirBnB can give you an entire place to yourself, complete with a fully equipped kitchen, multiple rooms, facilities such as a pool, balcony, and so on. An AirBnB is often located where people actually live, not in the middle of a busy downtown. With a hotel, you get... a hotel room. There are some great hotels out there that stand out in many ways, especially if you're very wealthy, bu…

Good hotel still have pools, can be located outside of downtown, and sometimes even in-room kitchens (if that's what you want). They also have maid service, room service, and a front desk. The only advantage you get from an AirBnB is a unique facade, paired with having to clean up after yourself and possible fire and health code violations.

There are exceptions, but most hotels are nothing like an Airbnb home. You'll find that a multi-room suite with a kitchen is very, very expensive compared to an Airbnb.

I've never encountered an Airbnb where you have to clean up after yourself, nor have I encountered an Airbnb that has fire and health code violations.

But again, different experiences. For example, a two-bedroom vacation home with a private pool, its own parking space, maybe its own beachfront, etc. is going to be nothing like a hotel.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#164

Post by foobiekr »

parent5446 wrote: post #158
atombender wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are different experiences. AirBnB can give you an entire place to yourself, complete with a fully equipped kitchen, multiple rooms, facilities such as a pool, balcony, and so on. An AirBnB is often located where people actually live, not in the middle of a busy downtown. With a hotel, you get... a hotel room. There are some great hotels out there that stand out in many ways, especially if you're very wealthy, bu…

Good hotel still have pools, can be located outside of downtown, and sometimes even in-room kitchens (if that's what you want). They also have maid service, room service, and a front desk. The only advantage you get from an AirBnB is a unique facade, paired with having to clean up after yourself and possible fire and health code violations.

I lived in a hotel for a month. It was hell. That was before the AirBnB era and at a time when VRBO wasn't really an option and was inconvenient.

I agree that for simple stays - check in, do stuff, stay a day or two, leave - hotels are great. But for long periods, AirBnb can be much, much better.

For me the line is: are you staying long enough to need to do laundry or where you will get to the point don't want to eat out most/every meal? Then AirBnB is a better choice.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#165

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

wilg wrote: post #139
gringoDan wrote: post #43

They're often considered similar businesses, but intuitively it seems to me that, long-term, Airbnb will be valued higher than Uber and other ridesharing companies. Home rentals seem to be simpler market to operate in than coordinating real-time supply and demand between drivers & riders. Additionally, Uber seems to be facing issues on the driver side of the business - they have a $650 driver acquisition cost & a 12%…

Which is worse on cities, Uber or Airbnb? (My gut says Airbnb.)

What's bad for cities is not building enough housing for people who want to be there. That includes people who want to be there for a short time. Airbnb is bad for some city stakeholders, but good for other ones (e.g. people who want to rent out their apartment while they're away on vacation).

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#166

Post by paulie_a »

sjg007 wrote: post #157
gringoDan wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing prevents another company from doing that, but all of the hosts & guests are already on Airbnb. Two-sided marketplaces are very difficult to start, but once they have some momentum, it's even more difficult to unseat them. Look at Craigslist - terrible UI, hundreds of startups have tried to challenge it in the past 15+ years, and yet it's still my go-to when I need to sell some old furniture.

Curious.. why not facebook marketplace?

Because it's Facebook. I know they are heavily spamming that feature but I have literally never seen anything on there of any value. It's a crappy feature that should go away.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#167

Post by thisisit »

This article seems to be just a marketing push before the IPO. As an investor it doesn't tell me anything. Profit can mean many things, especially when the non-GAAP measure is used. Tech IPOs tend to have lot of stock options cost associated and non-GAAP measures tend to hide them.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#168

Post by mikysco »

jakevn wrote: post #154
atombender wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it's not about presenting information. It's a completely different experience. AirBnB handholds the traveller from the moment they start looking to when they're going on the trip. CL just presents an ad, and lets the parties email/text on their own. AirBnB handles the financial transactions, with all that that entails, and CL does not. AirBnB facilitates the communication between the landlord and the customer. Th…

CL UX is great, as both a buyer and seller. It _could_ introduce more barriers to reduce scammers, but that would come at a cost to both buyer and seller UX. There is value in simplicity, and the market thus far agrees. Craigslist is the anti-thesis to the hubris-fueled notion that technology can and should solve every problem, including dishonesty. I've not yet been scammed on Craigslist because I've built up a valu…

Thank you for putting my thoughts into words. Couldn’t agree more. Think of the comfort CL users have after 10-15 years of the same workflows, the same UI, the same expectations. The skill of vetting scammers shouldn’t be understated and transcends CL.

When I log into a “modern” app today there’s almost always a new feature in my face or an old feature moved to a new location (or simply deprecated)

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#169

Post by paulddraper »

xiphias2 wrote: post #97
gringoDan wrote: post #43

They're often considered similar businesses, but intuitively it seems to me that, long-term, Airbnb will be valued higher than Uber and other ridesharing companies. Home rentals seem to be simpler market to operate in than coordinating real-time supply and demand between drivers & riders. Additionally, Uber seems to be facing issues on the driver side of the business - they have a $650 driver acquisition cost & a 12%…

Peter Thiel was specifically talking about people thinking that the businesses are similar, while they're not. AirBnB has a much higher network effect, because there's a huge difference in the listings, while I don't usually care which taxi company I use.

Not really.

AirBnB has renters and listings. Uber has riders and drivers.

As long as you have enough of the two sides, you can have a rival.

Re: Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row

#170

Post by blunte »

Consider that Airbnb is more than 10 years old and has received (hundreds?) of millions in investment, and only now after a decade is profitable.

This is something like a human child, even including the rule-skirting and risky behavior that sometimes leads to opportunities that others don't have (a practice that has also helped Uber become dominant).

So I wonder what the business world would look like if we treated more businesses with a longer term support and nurturing mentality... would we have more success?

Even some of the pivots and direction changes of Airbnb are reminiscent of a growing human changing hobbies or finding their balance of skill + motivation.

I suspect a good part of the success (measured in multiple ways) of Silicon Valley is due to this finding and support that elsewhere is unmatched. Banks certainly aren't supportive parents, and the stock market is the school bus bully.

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