6 ms·
How is something no one has ever heard of worth $3.9b?
by VOYD 11y ago
How is something no one has ever heard of worth $3.9b?
- samwiseg 11y agoYou've never heard of HomeAway? They and VRBO (which they own) are the 2nd and 3rd biggest players in the home sharing economy, after Airbnb.
- siquick 11y agoThe biggest if you actually value real earnings figures over hyped-up VC valuations. Also worth pointing out that HomeAway only offers whole home rentals, they do not offer room-only (like Airbnb) so is not 100% part of the same 'sharing economy'.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- turar 11y agoFWIW, I've had consistently better experience with HomeAway/VRBO than with AirBnB
- gniv 11y agoSame here. For things like vacation houses, VRBO has been much better. I feel that there is a lot of high-end inventory there. Plus, house owners are familiar with the site, so they stick with it, even if the experience is not great. There's untapped potential on VRBO.
- agf 11y agoI've quite literally never had a major problem with AirBnB, and I've used it 20 times over the last 3.5 years. With HomeAway / VRBO, the booking process is a nightmare, and I've had a cancelation with three days notice for a 15 person house booked two months in advance. What did I do? I found a place on AirBnB and was able to book it no problem. So I have a hard time seeing how the HomeAway / VRBO experience could come even close.
- redorb 11y agoAnyone who has been watching the sector knows who homeaway is.21 acquisitions, public under the AWAY symbol.. 5 rounds of funding including Google Ventures.
- jacalata 11y agoWeird, that's what my friend said about Minecraft.
- nickstinemates 11y agoA different answer: because someone was willing to pay $3.9b for it.
- VOYD 11y agogee, thanks for all the downvotes.