Yahoo Finance Why is Airbnb called Airbnb?
Airbnb is a modern-day phenomenon, connecting 6 million accommodation listings with 2 million guests staying each night who have shunned traditional hotels and motels.
But why is it called Airbnb?
The “bnb” part is simple enough for English speakers – it stands for “bed and breakfast”, which is a type of accommodation that also provides a morning meal.
But what’s the “air” about? Does it mean wifi? Does it mean abstract?
Airbnb co-founder and chief product officer Joe Gebbia gave a TED talk in 2016 that explained how the company started.
Inviting a complete stranger to stay over
“It’s the day after graduating from design school and I’m having a yard sale. And this guy pulls up in this red Mazda and he starts looking through my stuff,” he told the crowd in Vancouver.
The mystery man ended up buying a piece of art and told Gebbia that he was on a cross-country road trip before he was set to start in the Peace Corps, a US volunteer organisation for young people.
“So I invite him out for a beer and he tells me all about his passion for making a difference in the world,” Gebbia said.
After a late night out, Gebbia made the mistake of asking where the fellow is staying that night, to which he responded that he didn’t have anywhere to go.
“Do I offer to host this guy? But, I just met him – I mean, he says he’s going to the Peace Corps, but I don’t really know if he’s going to the Peace Corps and I don’t want to end up kidnapped in the trunk of a [Mazda] Miata. That’s a small trunk!”
That night the mysterious traveller slept on Gebbia’s air mattress in the living room, while the host was wide awake with anxiety – likely the same as what first-time hosts experience on Airbnb these days.
“I’m laying in bed, I’m staring at the ceiling and thinking, ‘Oh my god, what have I done? There’s a complete stranger sleeping in my living room. What if he’s psychotic?’,” Gebbia said.
“My anxiety grows so much, I leap out of bed, I sneak on my tiptoes to the door, and I lock the bedroom door.”
But the morning came and no one was kidnapped or killed. His guest is now a teacher, and they still keep in touch – and the art he bought is hanging in his classroom.
That first experience of hosting changed Gebbia’s way of thinking about interacting with strangers.
“Maybe the people that my childhood taught me to label as strangers were actually friends waiting to be discovered. The idea of hosting people on airbeds gradually became natural to me and when I moved to San Francisco, I brought the airbed with me.”
Broke and unemployed
Two years later, in 2007, Gebbia was unemployed, broke and the rent for his flat just increased.
“And then I learn there’s a design conference coming to town, and all the hotels are sold out. And I’ve always believed that turning fear into fun is the gift of creativity.”
He sent an email to his new roommate Brian Chesky (now Airbnb’s chief executive) that would change the world:
They then built a “basic” website at airbedandbreakfast.com, where three guests signed up to stay on air mattresses on the timber floor.
“But they loved it, and so did we. I swear, the ham and Swiss cheese omelets we made tasted totally different because we made them for our guests,” Gebbia said.
“We took them on adventures around the city, and when we said goodbye to the last guest, the door latch clicked, Brian and I just stared at each other. Did we just discover it was possible to make friends while also making rent?”
Gebbia and Chesky recruited the old roommate, Nate Blecharczyk, as an engineering co-founder and Airbnb was born.
Airbnb now has property listings in more than 190 countries and has hosted more than 500 million guest arrivals. Still privately owned, Forbes estimated last year that the company is worth at least US$38 billion.
“We bet our whole company on the hope that, with the right design, people would be willing to overcome the stranger-danger bias,” Gebbia said.
“What we didn’t realise is just how many people were ready and waiting to put the bias aside.”
Make your money work with Yahoo Finance’s daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, property and tech news.
