[osxwm]

Oh god damn it. CouchSurfing.org is absolutely going to be ruined by taking VC money.

It existed for years as a totally free volunteer based non-profit. The site was kinda crappy and was sometimes slow, but it just worked. The important things were the community and its network effects.

Now these VCs will be looking for their huge exit and they'll eventually start fucking with the site (see: Quora). What a shame.

[dkersten]

I agree. I was heavily involved in couchsurfing a few years back (sadly circumstances haven't let me do more than meet up occasionally now) and anything that was ever organised was done by volunteers and the site was run through donations. It was 100% about the community and about the cultural exchange and it was fantastic in every way - some of my best experiences and I made a few really good friends through it too (hell, just last week, a uni friend of mine got married to a girl he met through couchsurfing).

While having VC's run it into the ground won't destroy the community that's already built around couchsurfing (who don't completely rely on the site but on their own personal network), it will certainly make it dificult for new people to join in and take part and that would be a terrible shame. I hope that the VC's stay on the side line and don't meddle with it too much...

[tspike]

I'm heartbroken by this news. It's only a matter of time before what was a beautiful and whimsical community becomes like every other VC-backed money-grubbing site.