"Pizza profitable" Airbnb now in 1,000 cities worldwide

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2009/06/10/from-crash-pad-to-pizza-profitable-entrepreneurs-target-budget-travel-market/?mod=rss_WSJBlog

by brianchesky • 17 years ago

100 21 17 years ago

blogs.wsj.com

yhnbgty2• 17 years ago

Classic internet enabled 'butterfly' market. You have a lot of people who want to crash in a city, a lot of people with spaces and you just need someone to bring them together.

thesethings2• 17 years ago

Ooh. I've never heard this term "butterfly market" before, and I might like to know more about it :D Any good links? I'd always called these kinds of business "marketplaces," sites like etsy, elance, etc.

yhnbgty2• 17 years ago

A butterfly market just means a large fuzzy cloud of potential consumers and a large fuzzy crowd of potential suppliers that come together in a little body in the middle = so the shape looks like a butterfly.

Take used books, there are 1000s of used bookstores and a million readers. the stores can't all separately advertise to all the readers, so you need a common central marketplace, like amazon, to make it possible.

tptacek2• 17 years ago

I endorse our new food-based system of rating companies, and expect it will eventually displace Moody's and S&P.

We're not Alinea-profitable yet, but we're definitely comfortably in Chili's territory. =)

mpc• 17 years ago

Does this new rating system imply that you can sell the company once you hit Ruth's Chris profitable? :-)

tptacek2• 17 years ago

Or you can eat at Ruth's Chris every night. Either way!

dc2k082• 17 years ago

I'm not seeing dramatically different prices to a hotel or hostel, but it is a good idea. Take Paris for example: http://airbnb.com/travel/paris/fr?y=0&min_price=&lng...

forsaken• 17 years ago

A lot of the value I see in this is visiting places that don't have hostels. Like basically anywhere in the US for example :)

dc2k082• 17 years ago

really, you don't think there are lots of hostels in the US? I've stayed in quite a few, both in big and small cities.

truebosko• 17 years ago

This site is great. Perfect in todays economy as people look for some extra bucks (by renting out their room) and others look for cheaper places to sleep while travelling. I will probably use this site when I finally decide to go to Europe

jfno67• 17 years ago

Nice idea, since they help the renter to bill the room.

I'm always a bit surprised that new segment between B&B, Vacation Rentals and hotels are invented. Is it that people think those existing segments are well served?

frossie• 17 years ago

It's the geographical diversity that gives this kind of thing an advantage. Hotels, B&B's and vacation rentals are highly clustered in either heavily commercial or tourist areas. If you want to just get the feel of how "regular" people live in "regular" parts of town, this kind of segment has a real advantage, especially if you are a social person who likes talking to people first thing in the morning....

tdavis2• 17 years ago

There's this place near us that sells $6 large pizzas. So by that metric, we are also pizza profitable. Can't afford the supreme, though! ;)

Congrats, gents!

ia• 17 years ago

totally off-topic, but i just noticed this copy on ticketstumbler--"We couldn't get your location, but you can set your own location by logging in or creating any account!" should that be "...creating an account!"? or am i more tired than i thought...

tdavis2• 17 years ago

You're right. Though we're getting rid of that registration requirement anyway.

mildweed• 17 years ago

I'd rather use couchsurfing.org. Not only is it free, but the host verification seems better.

That being said, Airbnb.com is a MUCH slicker website, and most consumers are more comfortable with a professional-looking site and with services they've paid for.

Empact• 17 years ago

Not everyone is able to get a room where they want when they want, of the quality they want on couchsurfing. For many possible hosts, money can make it worth their while to open their doors to a broader variety of visitors, and perhaps support the opening of nicer rooms to visitors.

That said, I too am a couchsurfing aficionado.

arram• 17 years ago

I tried using couchsurfing on a recent trip to Japan - the interface was horrible and I got no responses. I ended up using AirBnB and found a super cheap place in the nicest neighborhood of Tokyo with an awesome host who took the time to show me around (and visit a semi-legit hostess bar.)

IsaacL• 17 years ago

I'm a couchsurfing afficionado as well, but this site appeals to me, partially because it ISN'T free. I always feel too obliged to my hosts, and handing over a small some of money would assuage my guilt that I hadn't thanked them enough.

hpvic03• 17 years ago

Congrats! How did you manage to get the WSJ to write you guys up?

"Pizza profitable" Airbnb now in 1,000 cities worldwide

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