In the early days of Airbnb, we struggled to achieve product-market fit and faced significant challenges in getting people to adopt our service.

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.

When you launch your company, you hope to see hockey stick growth in the first year, which is what we experienced at Airbnb with the number of guests booking through our platform.

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.

During our time at Y Combinator, we pivoted to focus on eliminating the risk of vacancy for landlords, offering them a compelling solution.

Airbnb was not the first to market; it faced established competitors like VRBO and Couchsurfing, which had significant user bases and brand recognition.

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

Airbnb's first product lacked payments and a map view, demonstrating that successful startups often begin with very basic versions of their products.

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