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.

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

The first version of Airbnb lacked essential features like payment processing and a map view, highlighting that early products can be very basic yet still serve a purpose for a small user base. It operated only during conferences, where they would rent out rooms and shut down the service when the event ended, which was their minimum viable product (MVP).

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

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.

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.

My first startup aimed to solve the problem I faced as a backpacker by creating a mobile app to book hostels and bed-and-breakfasts.

After our initial launch, we didn't see immediate success and even explored creating a roommate matching website before pivoting back to Airbnb.