

Airbnb (YC W09) Grew 800% in 2010 - jayliew
http://ycombinator.posterous.com/airbnb-grows-800-in-2010

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patio11
Airbnb is the only YC company I've ever recommended to family. My aunt and
uncle own a cottage. Previously they rented it out via personal connections
(when not in it themselves) and it sat unused better than 330 days a year.
Airbnb pretty much instantly makes their lives better. (n.b. I'm not sure if
they've started using it yet. Interest was high but, well, you know conversion
funnel math as well as I do.)

I also think they've been very generous with how much they've shared on the
subject of enjoying good PR. I think they're the best company I'm aware of
anywhere on that -- honestly, if they didn't explain themselves so often I
would have become convinced that they had a picture of a NYT editor caught in
a compromising position with a Fox News anchor and were blackmailing both of
them at the same time.

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elvirs
Airbnb is a perfect example where technology created a new market, disrupts
existing markets while doing really well financially and maintaining strong
growth. I hope they stay independent as the founder said and not sell to a big
co. which will probably kill the spirit immediately, and ground the product
sometime later down the road.

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jackowayed
Back of the envelope calculation: 800k nights booked * $100/night * their 10%
cut = $8M in revenue last year. Impressive.

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tomjen3
That's an extremely unlikely average price. Most likely you are looking at
less than half that.

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jacquesm
That doesn't change the fact that it's very impressive, even at 'less than
half that'.

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scrrr
It's a commercial version of <http://www.couchsurfing.org/> or
<http://www.hospitalityclub.org/>

Not revolutionary, but great execution.

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terryjsmith
Finally, they're gonna be huge! [1]

[1] <http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/272180383>

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chanri
Just wondering, how many people here have used Airbnb? I would think a large
number of HN people would use it.

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physcab
I tried when I went to NY a couple months ago. I contacted like 6 people and
they all bailed on me ("bailed" in the sense that they had their apt listed as
available on the day I wanted to go, but then couldn't offer it to me). It was
a week before I wanted to go. I ended up paying for a hotel that was
substantially more expensive, but it was definitely available.

I'd imagine this is part AirBnb's core problem. How do you reliably manage the
flakiness of both travelers and sellers? How far in advance do you have to
start scheduling your trip if you want to use AirBnb? Am I absolutely
guaranteed a place to stay even if I pay?

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rchi
I had similar experience with AirBnb in NY too. It was a week before I wanted
to go and it took me about 10 requests to get one that's available.

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nedwin
Same for me in Sydney. I like to think if they can solve this problem they'll
triple their growth rate.

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richardburton
They have become a tidy little bank. Holding the cash and stashing the
interest.

