🚀 Medial just raised $500k in Pre-Series A. Tap to read the announcement. 🎉

Download App

Home

Switch theme

Blog . Feedback . Privacy
Community Guidelines

Back to feeds

DIVYANSHU MHATRE

Stealth • 8m

In the early days of Airbnb, founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk struggled to find investors. They tried to raise $150,000 for 10% of the company but faced many rejections. Despite pitching to several prominent investors, no one was interested. One famous story is that they were turned down by seven Silicon Valley investors who couldn't see the potential in renting out homes to strangers. Eventually, they got a break with Y Combinator, which gave them $20,000 in seed funding. This initial support helped them refine their business and led to Airbnb's growth into a multi-billion dollar company.

6 replies8 likes

Replies (6)

Anonymous 6

Stealth • 8m

This just proves that sometimes the best ideas come from outside the industry 'experts.' Those Airbnb guys had a fresh perspective that the VC crowd was too blinded to appreciate.

0 replies1 like

Anonymous 5

Stealth • 8m

I can totally relate to the struggle of getting investors on board. It takes serious grit and perseverance to keep going when everyone is telling you your idea is stupid. Yaha pe koi sense nahi hoti agar koi airbnb jaisa kuch ban bhi jaata, can you imagine how difficult would it be doing it here.

0 replies

Anonymous 4

Stealth • 8m

Honestly, I'm not surprised they struggled at first. The idea of letting strangers crash at your place does seem a bit sketchy on paper. Thank goodness they stuck with it and made it work, to a level where every $1500 spent around the world, AirbnB has a share in it.

0 replies

Anonymous 3

Stealth • 8m

an we stop acting like the Airbnb guys were underdogs or something? They were already fairly well-off dudes from prestigious schools. Let's not pretend this was some heartwarming tale of adversity.

0 replies

Anonymous 2

Stealth • 8m

I dunno, maybe those VCs were onto something. Letting randos into your house is still a huge risk, even with Airbnb's vetting process. I'd never feel fully comfortable doing that

0 replies

Anonymous 1

Stealth • 8m

Lol, are we really surprised that a bunch of Silicon Valley dweebs couldn't see the potential in a simple home-sharing platform? It's like they're living in their own little techie bubble.

0 replies

Recommendations from Medial

Purnendu Mukherjee
•

EduKare • 1m

Startup Survival Story - 1 Airbnb: Turning Rejection into Opportunity When Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk founded Airbnb, they struggled to find investors. They were rejected by more than 20 venture capitalists. To survive, they s

0 replies16 likes

Sarun George Sunny

Stealth • 4m

From Air Mattresses to a Multi-Billion Dollar Game-Changer In 2008, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia found themselves in a classic bind: rent was due, and their bank accounts were empty. Instead of panicking, they got creative. With a major des

0 replies4 likes

Anus Khalid

Stealth • 25d

Story of Airbnb: From Air Mattresses to a Global Hospitality Empire In 2007, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia couldn’t afford rent in San Francisco. With a design conference in town and hotels fully booked, they rented out air mattresses in the

0 replies5 likes

Shuvodip Ray
•

YouTube • 10m

In 2008, two roommates, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, were struggling to pay rent in San Francisco. They decided to rent out three air mattresses in their apartment to attendees of a design conference happening in the city. They created a basic websit

1 replies7 likes

Mayank Kumar

Stealth • 8m

Starting with the startup success stories Day 1. In 2008, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia couldn't afford rent, so they turned their living room into a bed and breakfast, offering air mattresses to guests. This led to the creation of Airbnb, now a bil

5 replies9 likes

Vishu Bheda
•

Medial • 1m

It’s only cringe until it starts working. A great example of this is Airbnb. When Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia first came up with the idea of letting people rent out air mattresses in their living rooms, many thought it was a crazy idea. Who would

12 replies38 likes

Vishu Bheda
•

Medial • 1m

Brian Chesky credits AirBnb's success to an essay Paul Graham wrote in 2008. If any founder dedicatedly focuses on the six principles that Paul mentions, it will blow off their startup. The secret to startup success lies in six principles. Let me

10 replies42 likes

Wild Kira

Stealth • 3m

To all new startup founders, here's how 7 different startups hustled for their first customers. If you're feeling disheartened, I hope their stories will inspire you to keep on going! 1 & 2: Tinder & Alibaba - Physically travelled to their first use

8 replies10 likes

Sweekar Koirala

Stealth • 7m

5 Key Lessons I Learned from Studying Airbnb's Growth Strategy 🚀 Solve Real Problems: Airbnb addressed a genuine need for affordable, unique accommodations. They found a niche and excelled in it, making them indispensable to their users. Leverage

0 replies6 likes

Vishu Bheda
•

Medial • 25d

Coinbase founder shares the Y Combinator advice that helped Coinbase find product/market fit The first version of any product rarely works, and that’s exactly what happened with Coinbase. When Brian Armstrong, the founder, launched Coinbase, it wa