4 ms·
I agree the 'attaboy' comments are way out of place, but there is also an over the top reaction the other way with the criticism being heaped onto the AirBNB gu
by c2 15y ago
I agree the 'attaboy' comments are way out of place, but there is also an over the top reaction the other way with the criticism being heaped onto the AirBNB guys in my opinion.
It was technically wrong of them to leverage craigslist by circumventing the community's own "no commercial email" request, and they should get dinged for it.
But in the grand scheme of things, when you are a tiny start up struggling to survive, this is a relatively benign grass roots attempt at marketing which the AirBNB guys even probably regret doing.
Comparing RIAA's scare tactics to this seems a little out of place, but it is right in line with Microsoft's shady attempts at astroturfing.
- ThomCarver 15y agoCan we all agree that a $1Bn valuation stops you being "a tiny start up struggling to survive"?
- c2 15y agoSure, but the story is from a year and half ago. AirBNB didn't become 'ramen profitable' until April 2009. http://www.quora.com/How-much-money-did-Airbnb-raise-What-is-the-companys-financing-history http://www.quora.com/How-much-money-did-Airbnb-raise-What-is...
- thomasgerbe 15y ago"But in the grand scheme of things, when you are a tiny start up struggling to survive, this is a relatively benign grass roots attempt at marketing which the AirBNB guys even probably regret doing." Hmm. Maybe. If you built a billion dollar business would you look back and regret a part of it that may have been instrumental to your success? I'm definitely not excusing them for their actions but if I were in their position, I don't know if I could honestly say I would've regretted the past.
- rakkhi 15y ago"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." http://lesswrong.com/lw/uu/why_does_power_corrupt/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/uu/why_does_power_corrupt/
- vacri 15y agoWell, as long as the spammer vaguely regrets it later, it's okay for them to spam me!
- pbreit 15y agoI agree. Likening this to spammers sending out millions of wholly untargeted emails is incorrect. These were extremely well-targeted communications likely sent out one-by-one by humans who had done some research.