[gkop]

Frankly I did not see this coming [0], I always figured Airbnb would aim to be a universal marketplace, rather than carving out a niche in "authentic", "unique", "truly amazing experiences".

Anyhow, I read "belonging" as a coded word for "community", and wonder how Airbnb thinks they are going to culture their own community...

Maybe they will make a strategic acquisition? Lonely Planet, for example.

Or maybe they will bleed some of their profits into a virtual currency / karma that folks can earn, trade, and apply toward accommodations? Airbnb could tweak the karma economy to maximize profits while still infusing enough karma to bootstrap their community.

[0] http://blog.airbnb.com/belong-anywhere

[visakanv]

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive (see PG's essay about narrow and deep, applied to Google, to Microsoft, etc.)- I also remember reading an early Facebook employee's note about how Facebook had to start out serving college students specifically before they could go on to serve everybody, and how if they had tried to serve everybody from the start, they'd probably have failed.

It may be that the path to universality is paved with niches. You can't write a book about everything. You write a book about something, and people see everything in it.

Airbnb probably needs to stay sexy/cool for as long as they can before they become the big/unsexy/bureaucratic administrator/utility providor.

(Sorry for length.)

[x1798DE]

>Anyhow, I read "belonging" as a coded word for "community", and wonder how Airbnb thinks they are going to culture their own community...

Yeah, I need a new "community" like I need a hole in my head. Not everything I do needs to be social. I love AirBNB because I can rent something with the amenities of a house wherever I'm going to go. I have no interest in socializing with the owners of that house. I don't care if that's how other people want to go, but if the main focus of AirBNB is going to be on how fun it is to sleep in a stranger's house and then have breakfast with them, I can't imagine that it'll be something I'm interested in.

[mbreese]

Well, unique and amazing experiences will probably cause them fewer legal issues for Airbnb over the long-term. As opposed to being a universal marketplace where people aren't necessarily abiding by their own leases.

[gkop]

A $10 billion dollar company ought to be able to work that stuff out.

[mbreese]

They are valued at $10 billion. They don't have $10 billion. If NYC or SF decided to crackdown harder on Airbnb hosts, then that valuation would drop.

However, if they can move into the slightly more predictable (and defensible) position of providing unique getaways, then they would be in a better position for when that inevitable crackdown does occur.

[gkop]

Another thing that might affect their valuation is whether or not investors believe Airbnb may grow to serve a universal market or just a niche market.