Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
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Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#2Does it seem like we're in another Internet bubble to anyone else?
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#3Does it seem like we're in another Internet bubble to anyone else?
If we are, it should be called the Facebook Bubble. After their IPO when the stock lost half it's value, there was a severe market correction in VC as well. It got a lot harder to raise money. Now that the stock is up like 400% from its bottom, the money is flowing again. Want to know when the market will again correct? Just watch the price of FB. Or the new breed once they go public (Uber/Airbnb/Dropbox/Square etc).
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#4Does it seem like we're in another Internet bubble to anyone else?
I cannot see anything that costs $13 billion in that company. I am probably bad at pricing.
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#5Does it seem like we're in another Internet bubble to anyone else?
I cannot see anything that costs $13 billion in that company. I am probably bad at pricing.
Same here. Aside from taking care of transactions, which is easy to imitate, I don't see what sets Airbnb apart from other vacation rental websites. They are not fundamentally different. Yes, they have a large userbase, but that's easily threatenable considering their fees and lack of distinction.
I must be missing something.
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I cannot see anything that costs $13 billion in that company. I am probably bad at pricing.
Same here. Aside from taking care of transactions, which is easy to imitate, I don't see what sets Airbnb apart from other vacation rental websites. They are not fundamentally different. Yes, they have a large userbase, but that's easily threatenable considering their fees and lack of distinction. I must be missing something.
I think you severely underestimate how important it is to have a monopoly on the market. FB's main asset is also its userbase, so by that reasoning they are easy to emulate. It's not that people haven't tried that, but it doesn't work.
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#7I 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?
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#8I always see these people commenting on how they don't see the value in Airbnb. I've gotta say, after staying at a few places, I don't see the value anywhere else.
* Hilton Worldwide has yearly revenues of $9.7b.
* Marriott International has yearly revenues of $11.8b.
* Best Western has yearly revenues of $6b.
Now, I don't know what their current revenues are. Based on how many people from all over the US I've spoken to that use them frequently already, I'd assume they're growing at a decent clip. Furthermore, they have virality on their side, where their competitors just plain don't. It takes years to open a new hotel. If Airbnb wants to deploy to Casper, WY, they only have to make the effort insofar as basic background checks. If they want to do a stronger deployment, they find maid services and anything else they might need to support local hosts.
Furthermore, as much as there are local law issues in places like NYC against them, I don't anticipate those lasting long or having a large effect on their revenues. The same way that if you're in Uber's way you get painted as being anti-jobs, Airbnb gets to say the same thing. And that's in the few places that have them.
I think they've got a long way to grow. I look at $13b, and part of me thinks that might even be soft, especially if they look into starting their own hotels, to provide a higher 'minimum' to a given city, which allows Airbnb to maintain itself as a premium brand(as yet, I've never stayed or heard anyone else staying anywhere that wasn't a much better deal than anything else nearby), even if their prices don't reflect it.
Remember: These valuations aren't for what a company is currently worth. Otherwise, there's no point to investment. They valuations are for where they see the company going, and more probably, growing past.
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#9Does it seem like we're in another Internet bubble to anyone else?
If we are, it should be called the Facebook Bubble. After their IPO when the stock lost half it's value, there was a severe market correction in VC as well. It got a lot harder to raise money. Now that the stock is up like 400% from its bottom, the money is flowing again. Want to know when the market will again correct? Just watch the price of FB. Or the new breed once they go public (Uber/Airbnb/Dropbox/Square etc).
The FB stock dive was largely emotional investing and happens every time when you get an IPO of a brand the general public identify with. I saw it hit about 19 and bought, even if a bit too timidly. I don't think you can read too much into that initial cock up RE facebook's value.
Re: Airbnb valued at $13B ahead of staff stock sale
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. Aside from taking care of transactions, which is easy to imitate, I don't see what sets Airbnb apart from other vacation rental websites. They are not fundamentally different. Yes, they have a large userbase, but that's easily threatenable considering their fees and lack of distinction. I must be missing something.
I think you severely underestimate how important it is to have a monopoly on the market. FB's main asset is also its userbase, so by that reasoning they are easy to emulate. It's not that people haven't tried that, but it doesn't work.
Facebook is a free website, and it has massive technical advantages over all its competitors. It's integrated everywhere, the feature set is incredible, and it basically dictates our model of online social networks.
Airbnb ultimately depends on how much renters, and indirectly seekers, are willing to pay. Its brand is not as well established as Facebook's (at least in my country). If a compelling alternative came up with lower fees, what would that mean to Airbnb? I'm not sold yet on its permanence.