Airbnb is a website, where everyone can rent and/or list for renting lodging. Not only from New York to San Francisco, but almost everywhere in the world. The sites act just as a mediator, it only connects travelers and hosts and doesn’t own any of the listed properties. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a vacation rental, an apartment to live or just a room to stay in for a day or two. “Air Bed and Breakfast” is the solution to your problems. This is how this great business was started…
This Was How The Start-Up Idea Was Born
One look at Airbnb‘s visionary business model and you’d assume the idea was sparked somewhere in the halls of Harvard or within the mighty walls of Wharton’s Business School. But it all began far from any type of business school; on the sofa of a San Francisco flat rented by two struggling, but innovative young men; Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky.
After a popular design conference left San Francisco’s hotels completely booked, Joe and Brian, who were desperate to pay their rent had an idea to share their apartment for a small price. A quick website and a few small ads were enough to convince three people – a 30-year-old Indian man, a professional woman from Boston, and a family man from Utah – to pay a quick $80 each to spend the night on some makeshift beds with a free home-cooked breakfast. As the two friends waved and sat on the edge of their sofa, waving goodbye to their temporary guests, they both looked each other in the eye and knew.
As soon as the final guest left, the idea was born. There was a much bigger, much greater movement that began in their small apartment. That morning, Airbnb was born. The concept of creating a site based on renting a space – without any overhead, property management, or staff – was the perfect business model that would spark the future of sharing. Targeting conferences, events, and festivals across America, they would get local people to list their rooms and match them with travelers to book those rooms for a fee. It didn’t take long for their concept to catch fire with social sharing as the gasoline to ignite an explosion of travelers seeking alternative lodging opportunities.
And this was how Airbedandbreakfast.com was built
Airbedandbreakfast.com was launched on the 11th of August, 2008. At the very beginning, Joe and Brian offered their redesigned living room with 3 air beds to people who couldn’t, or didn’t want to book a hotel. They also prepared breakfast in the morning for their guests, this is why the business was named AirBed & Breakfast. Soon the site started expanding and increased its database of available properties with listings from other people with spare rooms and places. The young entrepreneurs now knew that their idea had big potential, but they needed money to grow it. To raise cash to finance their startup, they created a special cereal breakfast with the presidential candidates in 2008 (Obama and McCain) and managed to collect $30 000 from selling it. They soon started including hotel room listings on the site and managed to attract the attention of the Y-Combinator seed accelerator. The fund agreed to invest $20 000 which Joe and Brian used to go to New York and spread the word about the site there. At the beginning of 2009, they decided to choose a shorter domain name and this is how actually Airbnb.com became the main name of the site and the company.
Since then, the company has experienced tremendous growth in its business. Today Airbnb operates in more than 190 countries from around the globe and no matter you go, you can use their services to book a place in a few clicks, by just using your smartphone. In 2015, Airbnb is having its busiest year ever, with more than 10 million nights booked in 34,000 cities across the world.
The popular travel and accommodations marketplace, has become one of the most ubiquitous features of contemporary travel. As the largest rental service in the world, Airbnb has disrupted the traditional hospitality industry and allowed millions of people to find unique and affordable places to stay. Through this innovative platform, people can now explore and experience new locations without breaking the bank.
One of the key appeals of Airbnb is its flexibility. Rather than settle for a one-size-fits-all solution, travelers can rent entire homes, single or shared rooms, and even treehouses or yurts. Hosts can add and modify their listings based on the unique amenities they want to provide. Airbnb also give guests additional support through its 24-hour customer service line and an online review system that promotes fairness and transparency in the rental process.
Though Airbnb has revolutionized the way guests can explore the world, it has also come under scrutiny. Airbnb’s platform has been blamed for skyrocketing rental prices in some of the major cities, driving up housing costs and exacerbating inequality. However, Airbnb has also created 60,000 jobs around the world, giving people access to inexpensive or free accommodations while they travel.
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