Airbnb is a perfect example where technology created a new market, disrupts existing markets while doing really well financially and maintaining strong growth.
I hope they stay independent as the founder said and not sell to a big co. which will probably kill the spirit immediately, and ground the product sometime later down the road.
Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
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Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with the above but on the other hand, if I was searching for places to stay in a city and found out that an old friend of mine was on Airbnb for that city, I would jump at the chance. I haven't used Airbnb but I would really push an initiative to feature friends on the site via FB connect.
Friends don't generally charge each other money to stay at their place though, right? Or maybe that's a difference between close friends and acquaintances--and many people have a lot of acquaintances for Facebook friends, so I can see it working out.
Maybe not a 1st degree friend but a friend of a friend or something like this.
A feature that finds out the "shortest chain" friend that rents out an apartment in your destination city would be interesting. But you need a social graph for that.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#13Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
We found a great room in a Riad in Fes, Morocco using Airbnb. It was one of the most memorably places we stayed in that country, and the housekeeper there served incredibly good food.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#14Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
Airbnb worked great for a condo in Hawaii over Christmas. It failed multiple times in NYC, though.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#15Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
AirBNB worked well for me in NYC.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#16Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
I tried when I went to NY a couple months ago. I contacted like 6 people and they all bailed on me ("bailed" in the sense that they had their apt listed as available on the day I wanted to go, but then couldn't offer it to me). It was a week before I wanted to go. I ended up paying for a hotel that was substantially more expensive, but it was definitely available.
I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How do you reliably manage the flakiness of both travelers and sellers? How far in advance do you have to start scheduling your trip if you want to use AirBnb? Am I absolutely guaranteed a place to stay even if I pay?
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#17Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
We've been traveling the world since May 1st 2010, and have used it wherever we can (Vancouver, Melbourne, Thailand, ...).
It's a great idea, love it, and don't want to say anything too negative (it has far more going for it than against it). However, the one problem is that it's quite difficult to leave negative comments about anywhere. One of the places we stayed in... well... the room was great, but the people we shared the place with were NUTS! If you've ever seen the film Away We Go, well, one of the families in that film were the spitting image.
Anyway, we couldn't leave negative feedback for them because then they could leave negative feedback about us! (Although we'd been the perfect guests...). So you just end up leaving no feedback at all, which is what I have to guess all other previous guests of these people did: they talked about many previous guests, but still had 0 reviews / feedback.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#18Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
I tried when I went to NY a couple months ago. I contacted like 6 people and they all bailed on me ("bailed" in the sense that they had their apt listed as available on the day I wanted to go, but then couldn't offer it to me). It was a week before I wanted to go. I ended up paying for a hotel that was substantially more expensive, but it was definitely available. I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How d…
I had similar experience with AirBnb in NY too. It was a week before I wanted to go and it took me about 10 requests to get one that's available.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#19Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large number of HN people would use it.
I used Airbnb to book a room in an Austin Condo for last years SXSW. It cost around half a what a downtown hotel room cost (though was admittedly not quite as convenient).
I got in late the first night with no luggage (thanks airlines) so the guy I was staying with actually drove me to WalMart the next day to pick up some temporary clothes, insisted on buying me breakfast tacos and gave me a tour of Austin.
I used to work for a Fortune 100 company, travelled way too much and really grew to hate staying in hotels. Airbnb is a fantastic alternative.
Re: Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried when I went to NY a couple months ago. I contacted like 6 people and they all bailed on me ("bailed" in the sense that they had their apt listed as available on the day I wanted to go, but then couldn't offer it to me). It was a week before I wanted to go. I ended up paying for a hotel that was substantially more expensive, but it was definitely available. I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How d…
I had similar experience with AirBnb in NY too. It was a week before I wanted to go and it took me about 10 requests to get one that's available.
Same for me in Sydney. I like to think if they can solve this problem they'll triple their growth rate.