[beambot]

So if I'm reading you right, the tldr: that was a crazy-foolish, low probability move by the airbnb founders rather than a sound "stay alive" strategy. In which case, it should not be fetishized as a "be like them" move (at least in some respects)?

Though it does make for an awesome 'hustle' story (on that, I agree; same with startups being hard). It sounds like they were just having fun, and happened to earn some scratch along the way.

[tomhoward]

Jessica's words were:

They really were doing this because they were out of money. And this is like a Hail Mary for them.

The sensible advice YC partners will always give you is to avoid running out of money.

If you've run out of money, there's not much advice the YC partners can give you, and the only options are to (a) shut down immediately, or (b) throw a Hail Mary.

The lesson here is that if you're the kind of founder who, in a do-or-die situation, can figure out a Hail Mary that actually hits the mark - and if you believe in your idea enough to be willing to try anything to survive, even when nobody else in the world believes in your idea - you're more likely to be the kind of founder who will accomplish huge success in the long term - due to the determination and inspiration you've shown yourself to possess.

Of course, nobody should fetishize getting in a situation where you have to throw a Hail Mary - but as Jessica explains, in the 2008 climate, it was hard to imagine how they could have avoided it.

But offering this story as a perfect example of how determination and inspiration can lead to massive success continues to be entirely appropriate.