4 ms·

I'm super eager for the opposite reason: I want to go long. In 3 years people's travel habits will mostly be back to normal, and AirBnb has a very strong compet

by MarkMc 6y ago

I'm super eager for the opposite reason: I want to go long. In 3 years people's travel habits will mostly be back to normal, and AirBnb has a very strong competitive moat

schnable 6y ago
What's their moat?
- thebean11 6y ago
  The main one to me is network effect. Hosts will join the platform because there are renters there, renters will join because there are hosts.
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    You should also be a chef because people will never stop eating. This is a train that went away a long time ago. AirBNB is slowing down and becoming the yellow pages/TripAdvisor of the internet (that is very clear in terms of the commodification of the review process). It doesn’t mean they will fail, however you can’t just state they will grow forever.
    - thebean11 6y ago
      > You should also be a chef because people will never stop eating. Not sure how this has anything to do with the network effect point I brought up. I definitely never stated they will "grow forever", I said the network effects of their platform are a sort of moat. Do you have a source for AirBNB slowing down?
      - heavenlyblue 6y ago
        You brought up a very obvious point. Any marketplace will benefit from network effects. The devil is in the extent to which you can take advantage of these. And you made no points about that.
        thebean11 6y ago
        Sure, my comment wasn't great. Was just surprised by the chef thing since it seemed like a non sequitur. Do you have the source about the slowdown? Really curious.
  - phatfish 6y ago
    As soon as a competitor comes along that is better for landlords, renters or has a good marketing campaign people will move. The network effect is not that of Facebook where you would have to convince all your friends and family to sign up and start using a new site/app. I suppose they could just buy the competitor like Facebook does, assuming another large corp is not behind it.
    - thebean11 6y ago
      Better how? Though, I agree the network effect here isn't as strong as for a social network.
murgindrag 6y ago
I think they're moat is more of a wading pond. They've relied on user interface dark patterns and sleaziness far too much. They're highly political, which has alienated a lot of people who disagree with their politics. People who DO agree are also likely to dislike what Airbnb has done to rents in many places. Basically, a lot of people hate them. That stickiness goes away when a credible competitor steps in. I think if an organization like Google were to start listing similar listing on Maps alongside hotels, they'd be done for. If a competitor were to start with listings on several major travel websites (and easy way to do that is by taking them on as investors), that would also overcome any such moat. I think whether they do okay or not depends more on the credibility of the competition than on any moat.
DamnYuppie 6y ago
I don't believe they have a strong competitive moat at all. They don't own the properties they rent, there are a myriad of other services that the exact same properties can list on. They have market/mind share but that can easily wane.

by MarkMc 6y ago

I'm super eager for the opposite reason: I want to go long. In 3 years people's travel habits will mostly be back to normal, and AirBnb has a very strong competitive moat

schnable 6y ago

What's their moat?

thebean11 6y ago
The main one to me is network effect. Hosts will join the platform because there are renters there, renters will join because there are hosts.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  You should also be a chef because people will never stop eating. This is a train that went away a long time ago. AirBNB is slowing down and becoming the yellow pages/TripAdvisor of the internet (that is very clear in terms of the commodification of the review process). It doesn’t mean they will fail, however you can’t just state they will grow forever.
  - thebean11 6y ago
    > You should also be a chef because people will never stop eating. Not sure how this has anything to do with the network effect point I brought up. I definitely never stated they will "grow forever", I said the network effects of their platform are a sort of moat. Do you have a source for AirBNB slowing down?
    - heavenlyblue 6y ago
      You brought up a very obvious point. Any marketplace will benefit from network effects. The devil is in the extent to which you can take advantage of these. And you made no points about that.
      - thebean11 6y ago
        Sure, my comment wasn't great. Was just surprised by the chef thing since it seemed like a non sequitur. Do you have the source about the slowdown? Really curious.
- phatfish 6y ago
  As soon as a competitor comes along that is better for landlords, renters or has a good marketing campaign people will move. The network effect is not that of Facebook where you would have to convince all your friends and family to sign up and start using a new site/app. I suppose they could just buy the competitor like Facebook does, assuming another large corp is not behind it.
  - thebean11 6y ago
    Better how? Though, I agree the network effect here isn't as strong as for a social network.

murgindrag 6y ago

I think they're moat is more of a wading pond. They've relied on user interface dark patterns and sleaziness far too much. They're highly political, which has alienated a lot of people who disagree with their politics. People who DO agree are also likely to dislike what Airbnb has done to rents in many places. Basically, a lot of people hate them. That stickiness goes away when a credible competitor steps in. I think if an organization like Google were to start listing similar listing on Maps alongside hotels, they'd be done for. If a competitor were to start with listings on several major travel websites (and easy way to do that is by taking them on as investors), that would also overcome any such moat. I think whether they do okay or not depends more on the credibility of the competition than on any moat.

DamnYuppie 6y ago

I don't believe they have a strong competitive moat at all. They don't own the properties they rent, there are a myriad of other services that the exact same properties can list on. They have market/mind share but that can easily wane.