We aimed to create a seamless booking experience, ensuring users could book a home in three clicks, similar to the ease of using an iPod.

We were the first site to allow users to book accommodations and pay online through the app, which was a significant innovation at the time.

We shifted our vision to make booking a home as easy as booking a hotel, aiming for a three-click process to complete the booking.

We aimed to launch our improved service in three months, incorporating payments and reviews to enhance user experience, and we launched our service just weeks before a major event, listing 800 properties to help locals make extra money during the influx of visitors.

We realized that the original idea of airbeds for conferences could evolve into a broader concept of booking homes anywhere in the world.

In 2007, I hosted three people at my apartment in San Francisco for a design conference, and that unique experience made me realize we were onto something with the idea for Airbnb.

Design is crucial for startups to build trust and confidence in their products, especially when introducing novel concepts like Airbnb's home-sharing model.

By actively engaging with our users and improving their listings, we were able to curate quality properties, leading to increased bookings and traction for our service.

We decided to allow hosts to offer real beds instead of just airbeds, which improved the user experience significantly.