Topic
42 facts from 7 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2003
Airbnb co-founder Nate ran an email-marketing consultancy as a teenager and closed it around his Harvard sophomore year, after the CAN-SPAM Act passed in 2003.
“So the, uh, the can spam act was not passed until 2003. It turns out at which point then I think sophomore at Harvard, Nate, uh, closed his consultancy business”
2008
The Airbnb founders made roughly $20,000 to $30,000 in profit from selling election-themed cereal boxes online, according to the hosts.
“they make, they end up making somewhere between 20 and $30,000 in profit from selling these things online.”
2009
Sequoia Capital led Airbnb's seed round with $585,000.
“So they say, we'll lead a seed round. Sequoia will invest just under $600,000 in this company, $585,000.”
2010
Airbnb raised a $7.2 million Series A from Greylock.
“So they raised, as we said, a $7.2 million Series A from Greylock.”
2011
Airbnb raised a $112 million Series B from Andreessen Horowitz at a valuation above $1 billion.
“So that summer, we talked about fundraising. They raised $112 million Series B from Andreessen Horowitz at over a billion dollar valuation.”
2011
Rocket Internet cloned Silicon Valley startups and launched them in Europe, including a copy of Airbnb called Wimdu.
“the Samwar brothers and Rocket Internet in Germany would take all these, you know, new wave post Web 2.0 tech businesses from Silicon Valley, clone them and roll them out in Europe.”
2013
Airbnb raised $200 million from Founders Fund at a $3 billion valuation in October 2013.
“So October 2013, they raised $200 million from Founders Fund at a $3 billion valuation.”
2014
Airbnb raised $500 million from TPG at a $10 billion valuation in 2014.
“Then the next year in 2014, they raised $500 million from TPG at a $10 billion valuation.”
2015
In 2015 Airbnb had almost $1 billion in net revenue on $8 billion in bookings.
“In 2015, the company Airbnb does almost $1 billion in net revenue on $8 billion in bookings.”
2016
Airbnb's bookings grew 80% in 2016 to $14 billion, with $1.65 billion in net revenue.
“In 2016, on top of that base, they grew 80% and they do $14 billion in bookings in 2016, $1.65 billion in net revenue.”
2018
Airbnb hired a CFO who had been CFO of Blackstone and COO of Merrill Lynch in 2015, and he left in early 2018, putting the planned IPO in doubt.
“a big name CFO, Lawrence Tossey, who had been the CFO of Blackstone and the COO of Merrill Lynch before coming out to San Francisco and joining Airbnb.”
2019
Airbnb's bookings growth slowed to under 30% in 2019.
“The next year, in 2019, the last full year we have data for before COVID, Bookings growth slows to less than 30%.”
2019
Airbnb processed $38 billion of bookings in 2019 and recognized $5.3 billion in revenue.
“We've talked about Airbnb had $38 billion flow through their system from people staying in Airbnbs to hosts and to Airbnb and to taxes over the course of the year.”
2019
Brian Chesky says Airbnb had about 7,000 employees around 2019 and he felt he had lost control of the company.
“I had like 7,000 employees. I didn't know what anyone was doing.”
2020
In March 2020 Airbnb raised $2 billion from Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners as a mix of equity and debt.
“In March, as people probably know, Airbnb raised $2 billion in capital from Silver Lake and Sixth Street partners in a combination of equity and debt.”
2020
In May 2020 Airbnb laid off 25% of its staff and cut $800 million in marketing spending.
“They lay off 25% of the company, which is a significant reduction in force. They cut $800 million in marketing expenses.”
2020
Airbnb priced its IPO at $68 a share on December 9, 2020, raising about $3.5 billion at a $47 billion market cap.
“they priced the IPO at $68 a share and up raising three and a half billion dollars at a $47 billion market cap.”
2020
On its first trading day Airbnb's stock opened at $146 and later traded near $159.
“Oh my God. Opens at $146 a share at $159 a share now.”
2020
About 91% of Airbnb's traffic is direct and unpaid, according to the host.
“91% of the traffic to Airbnb is direct. It's organic. It's stuff they're not paying for.”
2020
Airbnb's founders collectively owned 31% of the company at IPO, versus roughly 13-14% for DoorDash's founders.
“the founders owned 31% of the company, comparing that to the, what is it, 13, 14% that founders of DoorDash owned.”
2020
Airbnb cited a $3.4 trillion total addressable market, of which $1.8 trillion is short-term stays.
“Yeah, they cite a $3.4 trillion number on their TAM. And I think that the way they break that down is that 1.8 trillion of it is short-term stays.”
2020
About 43% of Airbnb nights are booked in Europe, according to the host.
“43% of nights are booked in Europe on Airbnb. This is not a U.S. Centric company.”
2020
Per Axios's Dan Primack, DoorDash and Airbnb were Alfred Lin's first two IPOs after his decade at Sequoia.
“these were his first two IPOs after his decade at Sequoia.”
2020
Acquired's run of IPO episodes culminated at the end of 2020 with DoorDash and Airbnb episodes recorded and released one day apart.
“culminated at the end of 2020 with DoorDash and Airbnb, which we recorded and released one day apart.”
2020
Brian Chesky says Airbnb lost 80% of its business within eight weeks when the pandemic began.
“the pandemic happened, and we lost 80% of our business in eight weeks.”
2020
Brian Chesky says Airbnb went public at roughly a $100 billion valuation, which he first considered one of the best days of his life.
“we go public, you have 100 billion dollar valuation. It's like one of the best days of my life.”
Undated
Leone recalls Airbnb's seed round at about $600,000 and Dropbox's at $1.2 million.
“Airbnb Seed was $600,000, I think. The Dropbox was $1.2 million.”
Undated
Sequoia invested about $260 million in Airbnb over 11 years, according to the host.
“And I think total they put $260 million into the company over 11 years.”
Undated
A Harvard Business Review article cited by the host says Airbnb growth accounts for about one-fifth of the average annual rise in U.S. rents.
“this means that in aggregate, the growth in home sharing through Airbnb contributes to about one-fifth of the average annual increase in U.S. rents.”
Undated
Alfred Lin says HomeAway earned most of its revenue from advertising and not from booking transactions, which made Airbnb a different model.
“BRBOs and HomeAway, which made most of its revenue was from advertising rather than booking and the transaction itself.”
Undated
Alfred Lin says Airbnb faced European copycats and had to choose between buying or merging with Wimdu or fighting an expensive ground war, and it chose the war and won Europe.
“they were either going to potentially buy Wimdo or merge with them or have to go down the path of a pretty expensive ground war.”
Undated
At the time of Sequoia's seed investment, Airbnb had about 2,000 listings and only a few transactions, so it was not yet a network-effects business.
“They had 2,000 or so listings. They had a few transactions.”
Undated
Alfred Lin says Airbnb's margins are judged on its take rate, not on gross merchandise value (GMV), the total value of transactions on the platform.
“nobody measures Airbnb's margins off of their GMV. They measure it off of their take rate.”
Undated
Reid Hoffman says Airbnb's founders pitched him on a marketplace for space, an idea he had not been actively considering.
“when Brian Chesky and Nate and Joe brought Airbnb to me. I hadn't really been thinking about, you know, a marketplace for space”
Undated
Reid Hoffman says the Airbnb founders declined a financing offer at twice his valuation in order to work with him.
“they declined a financing offer that was twice my valuation, uh, in order to work with me.”
Undated
Reid Hoffman says some of his partners thought Airbnb was crazy when he backed it.
“It looks crazy, like some of my partners thought Airbnb was crazy.”
Undated
Reid Hoffman says Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, who comes from the Rhode Island School of Design, approaches Airbnb as a design problem.
“he's approaching the marketplace, the experience of travel, the experience of staying somewhere, the experience of hosting somewhere as a design thing.”
Undated
Brian Chesky says Airbnb handled nearly $100 billion a year in gross sales, about one dollar of every $1,000 spent worldwide.
“It did nearly $100 billion a year in gross sales. For every $1,000 spent in the world, one dollar was spent on Airbnb.”
Undated
Airbnb launched its services and experiences business in one hundred cities at once, which Brian Chesky says did not work right away.
“And we launched service experiences in one hundred cities.”
Undated
Brian Chesky says Airbnb began in New York City with about a hundred users.
“When we started Airbnb, we started in one city, New York City. We had a hundred users.”
Undated
Brian Chesky says Airbnb has roughly a 40% free cash flow margin and about $100 billion in sales.
“We have like 40% free cash flow margin, we're very profitable. We do $100 billion in sales.”
Undated
Brian Chesky says Sequoia funded Airbnb with $600,000 at a $3 million post-money valuation, the highest for a Y Combinator company at the time.
“Sequoia just funded us, $600,000 at 3 million dollar post money valuation, highest valuation Y Combinator.”
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