Back

Nawal

Entrepreneur | Build...ย โ€ขย 1m

"When All You Have is $40 and a Dream: The Crazy Story That Saved Airbnb" ๐Ÿ”ฅ Imagine this: Your startup is broke. Investors laugh at your idea. Your rent is overdue. Youโ€™re eating instant noodles every night. Welcome to Airbnb in 2008. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia werenโ€™t Silicon Valley legends back then, they were two dudes on air mattresses trying not to get evicted. When the world said "no," they didnโ€™t build a new app. They didnโ€™t pivot. They didnโ€™t "network." They made cereal boxes. Yeah, seriously. During the U.S. elections, they launched two fake cereal brands: Obama Oโ€™s The Breakfast of Change Capโ€™n McCainโ€™s A Maverick in Every Bite They slapped the designs onto real cereal boxes, priced them at $40 each, and sold them as collectibles. Result? They made $30,000 in a few weeks. That $30,000? It wasnโ€™t just money. It was their second chance. It paid rent, bought time, and got them into Y Combinator. Fast forward: Airbnb is now worth $90+ BILLION. All because they refused to die quietly. The Real Lesson Nobody Tells You: When nothing makes sense, do something that doesnโ€™t make sense, but moves the needle. Survival is the ultimate growth hack. In startups, the line between crazy and genius is thinner than a cereal box. You donโ€™t need a billion-dollar idea today. You need a stupid, scrappy, "this might actually work" idea that buys you tomorrow. Thatโ€™s how legends are made ๐Ÿ”ฅ

3 replies32 likes
1
Replies (3)

More like this

Recommendations from Medial

Purnendu Mukherjee

ย โ€ขย 

EduKareย โ€ขย 5m

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

See More
0 replies16 likes
3

Deepasnhu Chail

Mastering the Game o...ย โ€ขย 1y

Out-of-the-Box Hustle - Clever Tricks Startups Used to Beat the Odds and Make It Big Airbnb In 2008,during the financial crisis, Airbnb was struggling to raise funds. The founders got creative and started selling novelty cereal boxes called "Obama

See More
0 replies3 likes

Shreel Dubey

Digital Marketing & ...ย โ€ขย 2m

The Inspiring Story of Airbnb: From an Idea to a Billion-Dollar In 2007, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia struggled to pay rent in San Francisco. With hotels fully booked for a conference, they rented out air mattresses in their apartment, calling it "Air

See More
0 replies12 likes
4

Anus Khalid

Hey I am on Medialย โ€ขย 4m

Story of Airbnb: From Air Mattresses to a Global Hospitality Empire In 2007, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia couldnโ€™t afford rent in San Francisco. With a design conference in town and hotels fully booked, they rented out air mattresses in the

See More
0 replies6 likes
2
Image Description

Nawal

Entrepreneur | Build...ย โ€ขย 1m

How Scrappy Moves Create Startup Legends ๐Ÿ”ฅ (And why you're missing out if youโ€™re playing too safe) When we think about startups today, we imagine massive funding rounds, glossy ads, and global blitz campaigns. But most iconic startups didnโ€™t star

See More
1 replies20 likes

Sourav Mishra

ย โ€ขย 

Codestam Technologiesย โ€ขย 24d

In 2012, Airbnb was bleeding money. Investors werenโ€™t interested. The media called it a โ€œstupid idea.โ€ Who in their right mind would let strangers sleep in their home? Founders were broke. So broke they sold custom cereal boxes during the U.S. elect

See More
0 replies10 likes
Image Description
Image Description

Niket Raj Dwivedi

ย โ€ขย 

Medialย โ€ขย 1y

โ€œSaturday Startup Nugget Story- 3โ€ AirBnB cash crunch and their innovative solution to make some quick cash. Flashback to 2008, Airbnb was facing a money crunch. So, the smart founders had a wild idea โ€“ sell cereal! They created special boxes, "Ob

See More
5 replies22 likes
Image Description
Image Description

Hawk

ย โ€ขย 

Medialย โ€ขย 9m

So Zomato has shut itโ€™s โ€œZomato Legendsโ€ service with immediate effect as they didnโ€™t find a market for it. So did anyone use it? how was the experience and the food quality?

2 replies5 likes

Vikas Acharya

ย โ€ขย 

Medialย โ€ขย 5m

The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker Did you know Airbnbโ€™s founders sold cereal boxes to fund their dream? Their perseverance turned rejection into a $70 billion company. Every idea starts small; keep going!

0 replies
Image Description
Image Description

Mayank Kumar

Strategy & Product @...ย โ€ขย 11m

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

See More
5 replies9 likes

Download the medial app to read full posts, comements and news.