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Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

bloomberg.com

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Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#71

Post by foobarian »

sdesol wrote: post #65
fitzwatermellow wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Self-driving RVs That is actually not a terrible idea!

This is actually an insanely good idea, since it allows you to maximize your awake time, for enjoyment. When you are sleeping, the RV can take you to your holiday destination. Since we sleep about 8 hours a day, you can use that to gauge how far you can travel. The only issue would be road infrastructures. Road maintenance would become a serious issue, due to the extra strain of having potentially 10s of millions of…

Last time I looked into RV cost of ownership numbers--which was probably when that blog post hit HN from the guy who converted a van into a RV--the RVs are really expensive to move due to fuel and wear-and-tear on the drivetrain. So even if self driving, it's probably not going to be Grand Canyon one day and Florida the next any significant fraction of the time.

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#72

Post by sanderjd »

notyourwork wrote: post #60
imjared wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and you could call a cab too but you might use Uber if their booking process is better.

Correct but hotel booking process is quite diverse and all the means I have tried are fairly painless. You can call the hotel directly and book a room. You can check one of many online sites and book through them.

That diversity is exactly why a uniform offering from AirBnB would be so compelling.

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#73

Post by foobarian »

beambot wrote: post #48
rezashirazian wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self driving RVs. It's the future of the hospitality industry.

Not just the future of hospitality... it's the future alternative to home ownership. Think about it: You could literally wake up, do your morning routine, and then step out of the RV and into your workplace. You come back that night... and the next morning you step out into Yosemite Valley for some hiking. You just rent RV berths -- everything from campgrounds (Yosemite) to high-rises (in major cities).

My dream is that this gets built in a different setting: offices. Imagine self-driving desks in a giant flat warehouse without a single wall. You could pick a travel program where your desk would slowly roll around the perimeter, or just hang out in the middle. You could program it to maximize distance from any other desk if you wanted privacy. And of course the desks would be networked and their position could be overriden by a master controller that had access to the company calendar, so when it's time for the mandatory standup meeting your team's desks would automatically get together in a single spot.

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#74

Post by mrgordon »

forthefuture wrote: post #11
aetherson wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Welllll.... there are hassles associated with being a public company beyond merely "people holding your feet to the fire of financials." You have to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, which is just a real pain in the ass, for example (source: I worked for NetSuite as they went public, and coming into compliance with SarbOx was a bunch of work). A private funding round with a limited controlled equity buyback from employees…

Even accepting all of those things, if the company was profitable and had anything in the war chest they wouldn't have to take more funding. They're either getting capital for war or survival which means what they have now isn't enough for either.

A lot of their fundraising is for partnerships. For example, their previous round was mostly large Asian investors who could help Airbnb continue to grow internationally

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#75

Post by Tempest1981 »

ameyamk wrote: post #10

Why airbnb needs so much cash? They are not exactly subsidizing either side of the market?

Is it expensive to sue various states? I saw this in the news: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12834606/airbnb-threatens-l... "Airbnb threatens to sue New York if governor signs new law curtailing its service"

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#76

Post by ethanbond »

GreenPlastic wrote: post #18
forthefuture wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even accepting all of those things, if the company was profitable and had anything in the war chest they wouldn't have to take more funding. They're either getting capital for war or survival which means what they have now isn't enough for either.

Or capital is cheap and it doesn't hurt to raise it while you can.

So strange how everyone seems to agree there's at least a bit of inflation of VC funding if not an outright bubble, yet no one seems to see why this might induce a company to take as much cheap cash as it can for the impending winter.

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#77

Post by TeMPOraL »

srslyawesome wrote: post #68
TeMPOraL wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You come back that night... ... to a different RV. There's no reason for RV ownership; a self-driving RV can fulfill the sleeping / transportation roles for at least two people/families on different working schedules.

As someone who lives in an Airstream and works from home, I would have to disagree. In the context of this idea of 'the future of home ownership', the RV becomes the 'place for my stuff' in the George Carlin sense. Having my house (RV) drive itself to the next beautiful state park or national forest I want to camp in while I work or sleep or watch a movie would be amazing.

I disagree with myself too :). I was going for dystopia on purpose here, as a way to criticize the whole trend. ;).

Re: Airbnb Raises $555M in Funding

#78

Post by erichocean »

ojbyrne wrote: post #63
beambot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just the future of hospitality... it's the future alternative to home ownership. Think about it: You could literally wake up, do your morning routine, and then step out of the RV and into your workplace. You come back that night... and the next morning you step out into Yosemite Valley for some hiking. You just rent RV berths -- everything from campgrounds (Yosemite) to high-rises (in major cities).

Perhaps self driving might change this, but currently it's illegal to ride in the "home" part of an RV while moving. Seat belts and all that.

> it's illegal to ride in the "home" part of an RV while moving

Two minutes Googling shows this isn't true in 28 US states, which only require seat belts for the front seat passengers:

http://blog.rvshare.com/things-need-know-rv-seat-belt-laws/

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