We faced challenges in raising funds, with many investors not responding or passing on Airbnb, claiming it didn't fit their investment thesis or that the travel market wasn't big enough, but we eventually secured a $1.5 million valuation for Airbnb.

After struggling for a year to get the Airbnb marketplace going, we decided to apply to Y Combinator in the fall of 2008 as a last-ditch effort.

Airbnb's founders initially launched the service to solve their own financial problem of making rent during a major conference in San Francisco.

It took us four years to serve our first four million guests, but in the last nine months alone, we added another five million guests, showcasing the rapid growth of Airbnb.

In our first year at Y Combinator, we closed a deal with Airbnb for 500 gifts, which was a thrilling yet overwhelming experience for our small team.

The transition from air beds to allowing entire homes to be rented was crucial for Airbnb's growth, transforming it from a niche idea to a billion-dollar company.

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.

By the end of 2013, we reached $500,000 in annual recurring revenue, which prompted us to start thinking about raising a Series A.

When we decided to join Y Combinator, we were already profitable and saw it as an opportunity to scale our team and improve our fundraising efforts.