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Dropbox and Airbnb are two of the most revolutionary products (alongside the iPhone, 802.11b, etc) I have ever used. These two companies, amongst others, are th

by pclark 16y ago

Dropbox and Airbnb are two of the most revolutionary products (alongside the iPhone, 802.11b, etc) I have ever used. These two companies, amongst others, are the answer to when people challenge that no "world altering company" will come from a startup accelerator. Dropbox has literally changed how I (and dozens of my friends) use computers. Airbnb has opened the door to affordably travel the world. I was going to go to Barcelona for a weekend surfing trip in a week or two, and flights were £100 (from London) and hotels were £75+ per night. With Airbnb, I found an amazing apartment for £30 a night. That is a huge. Traditionally, you have a hotel room - but that is just a room with no kitchen, meaning eating when travelling almost requires you to eat out, hugely expensive. With Airbnb I can find an apartment with a kitchen, and purchase local produce for lunches and such. Being able to request wifi in apartments is an insanely great feature if you're able to remote work. I find the Airbnb website pretty bad if I am honest (incidentally, I them tons of feedback on it a few days ago) but I hope they are going to fix it. Asking me where I want to travel and only giving my a search box is mediocre, the benefit of Airbnb is that I can travel to places I have never even heard of, for less than traditional holiday resorts. A lot of the best startups are the ones were you can use assets to brutally destroy the present market incumbents, and Airbnb is a perfect example of using a hotels largest advantage (erm, hotels) as their weakness. Airbnb will obliterate all present hotel companies eventually. I'd bet money that Airbnb will be the largest exit of all batches Pre-2010 (which is when various friends' startups (and myself) were accepted, and well, we're competitive like that)

nupark 16y ago
Dropbox and Airbnb are two of the most revolutionary products (alongside the iPhone, 802.11b, etc) I have ever used. I can't speak to Dropbox, but Airbnb isn't really a revolutionary idea from the user perspective (although they get a lot of play here for being a YC company). http://www.vrbo.com/ http://www.vrbo.com/ has been around since 1995. They were purchased in 2006 by HomeAway, who just filed for a $230 million IPO. VRBO's model is different, in that they provide a classifieds service rather than actually handling the transaction directly; on the other hand, I've had much better luck finding good temporary apartment rentals in NYC using VRBO. I'm not saying that AirBNB isn't useful -- or that there isn't some value in them handling transaction directly, but rather, that they're not really that revolutionary, and should they succeed in bridging the gap from "rent an air mattress" to "rent unlicensed privately managed hotel rooms," they'll likely find themselves falling afoul of local regulations and the neighborhood's ire. The "Three Big Myths About Illegal Hotels" are a good read: http://www.frommers.com/articles/6912.html http://www.frommers.com/articles/6912.html
- pclark 16y ago
  I meant for me personally
- pg 16y ago
  You have a mistaken view of what makes a technology revolutionary. Sometimes what seems to outsiders like a minor design tweak makes something immensely better. For example, Watt didn't invent the steam engine. His big discovery (he also made several smaller ones) was something called the separate condenser. Unless you're fairly knowledgeable about steam engines, you'll have to look that up to know what it means. But this tweak to Newcomen's design was so important that it caused a qualitative change in the way steam engines were used.
  - lurker14 16y ago
    Is AirBnB eating VRBOs lunch? Reaching an untapped market? Or is AirBnB a small (and staying small) player getting disproportionate lot of attention in the YC/HN world because they have friends here? I'm not saying AirBnB is wrong or unsuccessful, just suggesting that sometimes "world-changing" really means "my friends and I personally like these guys better, so the other ones don't count".
    - pg 16y ago
      Yes, Airbnb is eating VRBO's lunch. They and Dropbox are at this point the most successful of all the 253 startups we've funded. Fred Wilson knows some of the details. That's why he wrote this unprecedented post about missing them. If you don't understand the details of a situation, why not default to being nice instead of mean? Just look at the contrast in tone between Fred's blog post and your comment.
      - nupark 16y ago
        I'm curious -- VRBO could easily pivot and handle transactions themselves, directly. Instead they've chosen to offer optional insurance: http://guarantee.homeaway.com/vrbo/ http://guarantee.homeaway.com/vrbo/ Why is that? Intuitively, it seems like handling transactions directly would paint a target on their back in regards to the unlicensed hotel business, where regulatory and community concern appears to be a growing issue -- but I may not understand the details of the situation.
betolive 16y ago
Interesting take on the benefit of Airbnb as an adventure traveller, so you would like them to suggest some destinations or let you provide additional information? I love Dropbox too!
deleted 16y ago
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nopassrecover 16y ago
I agree they're great products, but I found Airbnb wasn't competing with hotels - it was competing with hostels, and on that point it was far cheaper to stay in hostels (10 euro a night in Barcelona for instance) than Airbnb rooms.

by pclark 16y ago

nupark 16y ago

Dropbox and Airbnb are two of the most revolutionary products (alongside the iPhone, 802.11b, etc) I have ever used. I can't speak to Dropbox, but Airbnb isn't really a revolutionary idea from the user perspective (although they get a lot of play here for being a YC company). http://www.vrbo.com/ http://www.vrbo.com/ has been around since 1995. They were purchased in 2006 by HomeAway, who just filed for a $230 million IPO. VRBO's model is different, in that they provide a classifieds service rather than actually handling the transaction directly; on the other hand, I've had much better luck finding good temporary apartment rentals in NYC using VRBO. I'm not saying that AirBNB isn't useful -- or that there isn't some value in them handling transaction directly, but rather, that they're not really that revolutionary, and should they succeed in bridging the gap from "rent an air mattress" to "rent unlicensed privately managed hotel rooms," they'll likely find themselves falling afoul of local regulations and the neighborhood's ire. The "Three Big Myths About Illegal Hotels" are a good read: http://www.frommers.com/articles/6912.html http://www.frommers.com/articles/6912.html

pclark 16y ago
I meant for me personally
pg 16y ago
You have a mistaken view of what makes a technology revolutionary. Sometimes what seems to outsiders like a minor design tweak makes something immensely better. For example, Watt didn't invent the steam engine. His big discovery (he also made several smaller ones) was something called the separate condenser. Unless you're fairly knowledgeable about steam engines, you'll have to look that up to know what it means. But this tweak to Newcomen's design was so important that it caused a qualitative change in the way steam engines were used.
- lurker14 16y ago
  Is AirBnB eating VRBOs lunch? Reaching an untapped market? Or is AirBnB a small (and staying small) player getting disproportionate lot of attention in the YC/HN world because they have friends here? I'm not saying AirBnB is wrong or unsuccessful, just suggesting that sometimes "world-changing" really means "my friends and I personally like these guys better, so the other ones don't count".
  - pg 16y ago
    Yes, Airbnb is eating VRBO's lunch. They and Dropbox are at this point the most successful of all the 253 startups we've funded. Fred Wilson knows some of the details. That's why he wrote this unprecedented post about missing them. If you don't understand the details of a situation, why not default to being nice instead of mean? Just look at the contrast in tone between Fred's blog post and your comment.
    - nupark 16y ago
      I'm curious -- VRBO could easily pivot and handle transactions themselves, directly. Instead they've chosen to offer optional insurance: http://guarantee.homeaway.com/vrbo/ http://guarantee.homeaway.com/vrbo/ Why is that? Intuitively, it seems like handling transactions directly would paint a target on their back in regards to the unlicensed hotel business, where regulatory and community concern appears to be a growing issue -- but I may not understand the details of the situation.

betolive 16y ago

Interesting take on the benefit of Airbnb as an adventure traveller, so you would like them to suggest some destinations or let you provide additional information? I love Dropbox too!

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

nopassrecover 16y ago

I agree they're great products, but I found Airbnb wasn't competing with hotels - it was competing with hostels, and on that point it was far cheaper to stay in hostels (10 euro a night in Barcelona for instance) than Airbnb rooms.