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This is ridiculously untrue. The value of AirBNB isn't the code and server time. The value of AirBNB is the marketplace. Building a marketplace is a long, hard
by gfodor 13y ago
This is ridiculously untrue. The value of AirBNB isn't the code and server time. The value of AirBNB is the marketplace. Building a marketplace is a long, hard slog, and a large economic moat for any business, online or offline.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoYou're free to have your opinion. AirBNB isn't the only marketplace, and not even the first one I go to when looking for this product. Yes, it takes time for your marketplace to reach critical mass. But there isn't anything that ties people there if there are viable competitors. If AirBNB doesn't have the inventory where I'm looking, I just open a couple of tabs and check out other sites with the same model. Just like I do with airfare.
- gfodor 13y agoYou're completely missing my point. You seemed to be claiming that since you can type in a competitor's address easily that somehow web-based businesses are inherently unable to build economic moats. The valuation of a marketplace like AirBNB has almost nothing to do with the fact it's an Internet based business. For marketplaces the natural convergence is one large player since sellers go where the buyers are and vice versa, and hence newcomers cannot overcome the big guys sucking all of the air out of the room.