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

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.

We created a bed and breakfast for a design conference because we had no money for rent, leading to the birth of Airbnb.

The initial idea for Airbnb was to enhance the entire travel experience, not just provide a place to stay, by considering services like airport pickups and breakfast. We always intended to understand the operation of Airbnb from the inside out, including the timing and logistics of photographing apartments.

A pivotal moment for Airbnb was realizing that hosts didn't need to be present for guests to rent an entire apartment, which expanded our business model significantly.

As young founders, our naivety allowed us to explore ideas without preconceived notions, leading us to discover the unique experience that Airbnb could offer. When we started Airbnb, we were in a very different position compared to Uber; the founders of Uber were already wealthy, while we were just trying to survive.

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

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.

Airbnb's founders exemplified the principle of doing things that don't scale by personally taking high-quality photos of listings to attract users and get their business off the ground.