Glad you did all that testing to find something so damn obvious. Look at how they rank on google - they don't. It was really obvious they were spamming craigslist.
How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
51–60 of 197 posts
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
This. I used to think they were clever, but now we know they're such repellent scumbags willing to abuse public resources for private gain that it's actually a black mark against Y Combinator to have been partly responsible and holding dirty money.
Seriously?
Of course. Email is the main immediate worldwide communication medium that isn't under the arbitrary control of one private owner. Spam is an existential threat to that, which makes it pretty much unforgivable. It's the price of a free society (and here's where I try to remind myself that really is worthwhile) that we can't impose an http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/I/Internet-Death-Penalty.htm..., but if we had some legitimate way to pull the plug on these douches today I surely would.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#53Clearly the unethical part of this discovery is that Airbnb used 'shell' gmail accounts to do their work. Instead they should have found a way to present themselves with honesty and integrity to future members. What are the good reasons for Airbnb's success and valuation? Are there any stories about their actions that inspire both confidence and congratulations. (aside from their Obama O's and Capt'n McCain flash suc…
I agree. As if they're fooling anyone pretending to be an anonymous stranger from gmail who just happens to love promoting airbnb.
Didn't they fool pretty much everyone? Even the author only had a suspicion and resorted to some (impressive) tests to verify.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#54Is this something the the AirBnB guys would put on their YC app form if they were applying again? And then what would PG & co make of it? In fact, did pg know about this or encourage it in the first place?
Answers to these questions might be a good test of whether they should have done it or not.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#55"Some very famous investors have alluded to the fact that they look for a dangerous streak in the entrepreneurs they invest in…and while those investors will never come out and tell you what they mean, this kind of thing is probably what they mean."
Eg, be naughty, not evil. Whether they crossed the line or not, dunno. It's a far cry from Microsoft intentionally leveraging their OS monopoly to destroy companies and corner industries back in the day.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seriously?
Of course. Email is the main immediate worldwide communication medium that isn't under the arbitrary control of one private owner. Spam is an existential threat to that, which makes it pretty much unforgivable. It's the price of a free society (and here's where I try to remind myself that really is worthwhile) that we can't impose an http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/I/Internet-Death-Penalty.htm... , but if we had some…
How is spam an existential threat to email? Spam filters have gotten exceptionally good, to the point where I find it hard to believe that anyone using a decent filter receives enough true spam in their inbox to make them stop using email altogether.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. As if they're fooling anyone pretending to be an anonymous stranger from gmail who just happens to love promoting airbnb.
Didn't they fool pretty much everyone? Even the author only had a suspicion and resorted to some (impressive) tests to verify.
Do real humans send out advertisements to strangers on behalf of websites? Making sure to cite pageviews?
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he confirmed his suspicion before blogging about this. But even one e-mail like that is suspicious.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course. Email is the main immediate worldwide communication medium that isn't under the arbitrary control of one private owner. Spam is an existential threat to that, which makes it pretty much unforgivable. It's the price of a free society (and here's where I try to remind myself that really is worthwhile) that we can't impose an http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/I/Internet-Death-Penalty.htm... , but if we had some…
How is spam an existential threat to email? Spam filters have gotten exceptionally good, to the point where I find it hard to believe that anyone using a decent filter receives enough true spam in their inbox to make them stop using email altogether.
Unseen cost of all that filtering. And for how long is it going to keep up with spammers?
Oh and all the false positives that are a nightmare for so many legit uses.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#59I started my own company to get away from the do-anything-for-a-sale attitude of corporate america. I do not admire or respect AirBnb for this behavior. I don't care that it worked. I don't care if it was legal or not, it was dishonest. I know it's common, but it takes a fundamental lack of respect to lie directly to another human being. I'll just continue to toil in obscurity; self-respect intact.
I am not being facetious by this question, but did you make a product that you are selling ? If so, how did you get your first set of customers ? Please share. If you have not made a product that you need to sell yet, I think you will find when you do it, it's MUCH, MUCH more difficult than you ever thought it would be. Also, selling a service - i.e. web development/design is very different than selling a product.
I have not released the product I am building. I have been supporting myself doing contract work.
My bad experience came when I was the first employee (not founder) at a VC backed startup. I was originally a developer but was promoted to be the technical liason in sales. My job was to sell the incomplete product. We went back and forth between government and enterprise sales while I was there. The company is still around but is doing something completely different now.
In the interest of not burning any bridges, I'll only say that when we would bid on contracts, every vendor from big guys to the other pre-product startups were stretching the truth beyond what I consider simply being optimistic about delivery schedules and ROI.
So yes, I do know what I'm getting into. My plan this time is to build a product that has obvious value to the customer on day 1, and leave selling by 'hustle' to someone else.
Re: How AirBnB Became a Billion Dollar Company
#60Glad you did all that testing to find something so damn obvious. Look at how they rank on google - they don't. It was really obvious they were spamming craigslist.
If it is/was that obvious, care to share any other 'obvious' practices that may not be common knowledge?