ENTREPRENEURSHIP

PROJECT:
AIRBNB
SUBMITTED TO-
SUBMITTED BY-
MS. ABHA
AMAN BAJAJ
237/15
BCOM LLB(HONS.)
BRIAN CHESKY
 Early life
• Brian Chesky was born on August 29, 1981
in Niskayuna, New York. He is the son of Deborah and
Robert H. Chesky. 
• His parents were both social workers. As a child, Chesky
was interested in art, drawing replicas of paintings, and
design, redesigning shoes and toys. He later became
interested in landscape architecture and design.
• In 1999, Chesky started attending the Rhode Island
School of Design. He received his Bachelor's of Fine Arts
in Industrial Design in 2004. During his time at RISD,
Chesky met Joe Gebbia, who would later be one of the
co-founders of Airbnb
• After college, Brian worked as an industrial designer and strategist at 3DID, Inc.
in Los Angeles. 

• He later moved to San Francisco, where he shared an apartment with Gebbia.

 Starting and initial
struggles
• Shortly after moving to San Francisco in October 2007, roommates and former
schoolmates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia could not afford the rent for their loft apartment. In
October 2007, the Industrial Designers Society of America was hosting a conference in San
Francisco and all hotel rooms were booked. The pair could not afford rent for the month and
decided to rent their apartment for money. They purchased three air mattresses and
marketed this idea as "Airbed and Breakfast", with three guests staying the first night.
• In February 2008, Harvard graduate and technical architect Nathan Blecharczyk became the
third co-founder of Airbnb.  They put together a website which offered short-term living
quarters, breakfast, and a unique business networking opportunity for those who were
unable to book a hotel in the saturated market Each co-founder assumed a role within the
new company, with Chesky becoming the leader and chief executive officer.
• To help fund the site, the founders created special edition breakfast
cereals, with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain as
the inspiration for "Obama O's" and "Cap'n McCains". In two months, 800
boxes of cereal were sold at $40 each, which generated more than
$30,000 for the company's incubation. 
• It also got the company noticed by computer programmer Paul Graham,
who invited the founders to the January 2009 winter training session of
his startup incubator, Y Combinator, which provided them with training
and $20,000 in funding in exchange for a small interest in the company.
 With the website already built, they used the $20,000 Y-Combinator
investment to fly to New York City to meet users and promote the site.
They returned to San Francisco with a profitable business model to
present to West Coast investors. By March 2009, the site had 10,000
users and 2,500 listings.
• One year later, there were 15 people working from Chesky and
Gebbia's loft apartment on Rausch Street in San Francisco. To
make room for employees, Brian Chesky gave up his bedroom
and lived at lodging booked via the Airbnb service until the
company moved into its first office space, and in April 2009,
the company received $600,000 in seed money from Sequoia
Capital. In November 2010, the company raised $7.2 million in
financing from Greylock Partners and again from Sequoia
Capital in a Series A round and announced that out of 700,000
nights booked, 80% had occurred in the past six months

• In February 2011, Airbnb announced its 1 millionth night

booked. In January 2012, the company announced its 5
millionth night booked. In June 2012, Airbnb announced 10
million nights booked, doubling business in the previous 5
months. Of these bookings, 75% of the business came from
markets outside of the continental United States.
• In 2015, Chesky was recognized on the Forbes list of
America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40. Chesky was
recognized on TIME's 100 Most Influential People for
2015. In May 2015, President Obama named Chesky as
an Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship. He was
also named in the Youngest Forbes 400 list in 2016.
 ABOUT AIRBNB
• It operates an online marketplace and hospitality service for people to lease or rent
short-term lodging
• includes holiday cottages, apartments, homestays, hostel beds, or hotel rooms and to
make reservations at restaurants
• does not own any real estate or conduct tours, it is a broker
• Has over 4 million lodging listings in 65,000 cities and 191 countries and has
facilitated over 260 million check-ins.
• Revenue: $2.6 billion
• Net income: $93 million dollar
• Employees: 3100
 OVERVIEW AND
FEATURES
Airbnb can be accessed via either its websites or mobile apps for iOS, Apple Watch,
and Android. Registration and account creation is free. On each booking, the company
charges guests a 6–12% guest services fee and charges hosts a 3–5% host service
fee. Hosts can also offer "experiences", such as excursions, to guests for an additional
charge, of which Airbnb takes 20% as a commission.
• Legality of offering lodging-Some cities have restrictions on subletting for a short
period of time. In some cities, collection of a transient occupancy tax by Airbnb is
required. In many cities, hosts must register with the government and obtain a permit
or license. Airbnb has published a list of regulations and requirements by city;
however, only cities in the United States are included. In addition, many landlords or
community associations also have restrictions on short term sublets. Hosts may be
required to pay income taxes on income received via Airbnb and, in the United States,
Airbnb sends tax forms to hosts that have earned over $20,000 in rents and received
over 200 reservations via Airbnb in a calendar year.
• Safety mechanisms-Airbnb had to overcome the obstacle of "stranger
danger" to build a level of trust between hosts and guests and instill confidence
in its platform. Founder Joe Gebbia has said that Airbnb is specifically "designed
for trust" via the following safety mechanisms. Airbnb requires each member to
complete a profile and upload photos so that members can learn about their
hosts and guests ahead of time. After the guest completes a stay, the host and
guest have the option of leaving references for each other and reviews of their
stay, which are posted publicly, providing for a reputation.

• Insurance-Airbnb recommends that hosts obtain insurance which covers

damages caused by guests. Airbnb offers US$1,000,000
of secondary insurance, called its "host guarantee", which covers property
damage due to vandalism and theft. When first launched in August 2011, the
program covered up to US$50,000 but the maximum was later increased to
US$1,000,000.
• Logged private messaging system- to message one
another privately before booking and accepting reservations.

• Verification of identity-Any Airbnb host can require their

prospective guests to obtain "Verified IDs" before booking,
meaning that they are required to scan a government-issued
ID to verify their identity. An Airbnb account can be linked to
accounts on social networking services such as Facebook, thus
providing the host with data on common friends and interests.
 OFFICES
Amsterdam (Netherlands) Montreal (Canada)
New Delhi (India)
Barcelona (Spain) Paris (France)
Berlin (Germany) Portland (Oregon, US)
San Francisco (California, US)
Beijing (China) São Paulo (Brazil)
Copenhagen (Denmark) Seoul (South Korea)
Dublin (Ireland) Singapore
Sydney (Australia)
London (UK)
Tokyo (Japan)
Miami (Florida, US) Toronto (Canada)
Milan (Italy)
 CRITICISM FACED BY THE
COMPANY
• Pricing transparency: When customers search for lodging,
Airbnb displays per-night prices that exclude its own per-night
service charges as well as possible additional costs such as
cleaning fees. The total price is not revealed until the
customer selects an individual property and is ready to book.
• Fair housing implications and discrimination: In July
2016, former Attorney General Eric Holder was hired to help
craft an anti-discrimination policy for Airbnb after the company
faced many complaints related to racism, including a study
by Harvard Business School that showed widespread
discrimination by hosts against guests whose names
suggested that they were black.
• Concerns and resistance from the hotel industry: The Hotel
industry has been faced with immense competition from Airbnb.
The short-term rental and lower cost of staying in a private
residence has triggered much opposition from the hotels; which
allege they are losing tourists and other kinds of guests to Airbnb.
It is also alleged that the hotels have been forced to bring down
their prices to compete with the company. Hotel associations in
response, have lobbied against the company, alleging unfair
treatment of having to go through several safety standards and
certifications as opposed to Airbnb and its lodging. This was
followed by immense lobbying from the associations and unions
to implement laws imposing restrictions on Airbnb and its hosts.
THANKYOU