An overview of how Airbnb first got started

1. A tale of 3 guys, 3 mattresses, and 2 boxes of cereal

2. 2007

3. Two RISD Alumni
Joe Gebbia Brian Chesky

4. NY
SF
2007 — Joe and Brian had recently moved to San Francisco from New York.

5. Problems
NO ROOMS
$
No money for rent No place for visiting professionals to stay in SF

6. Round 1 — Visa Funding
Binder of credit cards
—$$$

7. Hmmm…what could we do with this?

8. Solution
FUN FACT: Airbnb’s original pitch deck can still be found here on SlideShare

9. First Website

10. First Guests
Amol was another designer
and actually helped Joe &
Brian on their presentations
“Being one of the first Airbnb
guests feels like being on The
Tonight Show, but I didn't know
I was on The Tonight Show.”
— Amol
•$80/Guest

12. Roommate Reunion
Joe Gebbia Brian CheskyNathan Blecharczyk

13. Getting Sidetracked
Airbnb Continuum
Brilliant idea to make a
roommate-matching service
Realization that
roommates.com is
already a thing

14. First Public Launch
2 bookings

15. 2008

16. Opportunity

17. Round 2 — Cereal Funding
+$30,000

18. Website Redesign

19. Second Launch
600 bookings

20. 2009

21. Round 3 — Y Combinator
+$20,000
The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, during which
we work intensively with them to get the company into the
best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each
cycle culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their
companies to a carefully selected, invite-only audience.
“
”http://www.ycombinator.com/

22. NY
SF
Making ~$200/mo, Joe and Brian fly back to New York to meet their users

23. Paul Graham Fred Wilson
Y Combinator VC Investor
Hmm, sounds
interesting. Yeah, I’ll
meet with them.
Fred! You should meet
these two guys from
Airbeds— they’re in NYC!
So what’d you think?
They’re great, right!?
Yeah… but I think I’ll
pass on this one.

24. Joe and Brian learned
that having good
quality photos on
listings significantly
improved interest in
Airbnb’s service

25. Rebranding
Shared Spaces Alls Types of Accommodation

26. Round 4 – Real Money (finally)
$600k

27. Since Then…
November 2010
July 2011
January 2012
August 2014February 2011
June 2012
October 2014
June 2015
November 2015
December 2015
$7.2M funding
$112M funding
$475M funding
$1.5B funding
$1.5B funding
$100M private
equity funding
“Airbnb Law”
10M bookings
5M bookings
1M bookings

28. Today
Value:
Bookings:
$31 Billion
160 Million guests

29. Airbnb Company Molecule
Travelers
on a budget
High-cost
& limited
hotels
Adjustable-
rate rentals
People
Problem Solution

30. Working at Airbnb
Rebecca
The reason I wanted to work at
Airbnb is that — I just believed in it.
And it’s all the right things— it’s
designer founded, designer led,
and personally, I don’t believe in
working in places where your
talents are wasted. I look for people
who already get it and [Airbnb] is a
whole company that really got it.Design Researcher
@ Airbnb 2011-2014

31. Sources
• https://getpaidforyourpad.com/blog/the-airbnb-founder-story/
• http://www.businessinsider.com/how-airbnb-was-founded-a-visual-history-2016-2/#the-pair-knew-a-big-
design-conference-was-coming-to-san-francisco-and-it-was-making-hotels-hard-to-come-by-they-
created-a-simple-site-airbedandbreakfastcom-and-bought-three-air-mattresses-the-duo-had-met-at-
college-at-the-rhode-island-school-of-design-so-they-thought-acting-as-tour-guides-to-designers-would-
be-a-fun-way-to-make-money-3
• http://www.paulgraham.com/airbnb.html
• https://growthhackers.com/growth-studies/airbnb
• http://nextjuggernaut.com/blog/airbnb-business-model-canvas-how-airbnb-works-revenue-insights/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/09/airbnb-closes-1-billion-round-31-billion-valuation-profitable.html
• https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/airbnb-statistics/

32. Sources
IMAGES
• http://www.core77.com/posts/11377/Breakfast-Politics-
Obama-Os-and-Capn-McCains
• https://www.iconexperience.com/g_collection/icons/?
icon=hotel
• http://www.greylock.com/the-entrepreneur-questionnaire-
brian-chesky-co-founder-and-ceo-of-airbnb/
• https://foodtechconnect.com/2012/09/20/obama-romney-
cerealize/
• https://gigaom.com/2012/10/25/announcing-airbnb-co-
founder-joe-gebbia-to-speak-at-roadmap/
• https://www.ycombinator.com/press/
• http://www.showbiztalent.com/schedule/
• http://www.freepik.com/free-vector/sad-businessman-
with-empty-pocket_1113531.htm
• https://www.slideshare.net/razinmustafiz/airbnb-original-pitch-
deck
• https://www.vanityfair.com/people/paul-graham
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
2008_Democratic_National_Convention
• https://theintercept.com/2016/05/11/lobbyists-dnc-2016-
convention/
• http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/light-bulbs
• https://thehustle.co/proof-that-your-favorite-startup-started-out-
awful
• https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&
ved=0ahUKEwiAzqzUmpfWAhXpwlQKHe3xDu0QjhwIBQ&url=ht
tps%3A%2F%2Fkenshoo.com%2Fclient_testimonials%2Fsequoi
a-capital%2F&psig=AFQjCNH1ge9IU6JjgGebomycsGEylXO--
A&ust=1505015719858654
• http://www.loversiq.com/o/218532100/wallpaper-3840x2160-
interior/218532/