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Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

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Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

#71
post #7

I wonder how common it is for investors to allow a partial cashout of employee stockholders like this? And how are they going to distribute the cash? pro-rata?

Its extremely common around the later stages (D and up) Logic is this : At that stage of a business, you want founders who are looking for a IPO or billion dollar business. If that founder still has a mortgage on his house, he is going to indirectly steer the company in more 'safe' ways to ensure his nestegg retains value. If you just give that founder a few million, hes no longer motivated by that initial cash payme…

Thanks - That makes sense.

Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

#72
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It happened with Facebook and other companies. I can't find the specific article about this topic (I think from Fred Wilson). The logic is that there is an inconsistency in growing a company to the billion scale while you are just having a salary. It gives a financial safety to the people involved in the key decisions.

Mark Suster wrote a pretty good post on the subject of founder liquidity that Fred Wilson then linked to; http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/09/02/should-founder... Maybe the one you had in mind.

Yes, thank you. Here is the other article referencing it: http://avc.com/2009/09/founder-liquidity/

Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are ignoring the concept of competition. Housing is not the most competitive market due to restrictions both natural (limited space) and artificial (zoning), but there is still competition.

See that's my point... there is only so much land in the middle of NYC that is zoned right for condos, so the competition really won't increase. Also, real estate in general is a very capital intensive industry, which takes out 99% of competition anyways. How many people are there that can raise $200 million to build a project. Not many.

> How many people are there that can raise $200 million to build a project. Not many.

First, you don't need many for competition; you just need a few. Second, there are lots of people who can raise a mere $200 million.

Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See that's my point... there is only so much land in the middle of NYC that is zoned right for condos, so the competition really won't increase. Also, real estate in general is a very capital intensive industry, which takes out 99% of competition anyways. How many people are there that can raise $200 million to build a project. Not many.

> How many people are there that can raise $200 million to build a project. Not many. First, you don't need many for competition; you just need a few. Second, there are lots of people who can raise a mere $200 million.

"mere $200 million"

lol ok

Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many people are there that can raise $200 million to build a project. Not many. First, you don't need many for competition; you just need a few. Second, there are lots of people who can raise a mere $200 million.

"mere $200 million" lol ok

Welcome to the world of finance.
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