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Suneel Mekala

Full Stack Developer... • 14d

"𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗯𝗻𝗯 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴—𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻" In 2008, Airbnb was failing. They had: → $𝟬 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 → 𝗠𝗮𝘅𝗲𝗱-𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 → 𝗡𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 Their last hope? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. They 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 “𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗕𝗲𝗱 & 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁” and sold 𝗢𝗯𝗮𝗺𝗮 & 𝗠𝗰𝗖𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 to make cash. It worked. They raised $𝟯𝟬𝗞—just enough to keep the lights on. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿: They 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 and focused on 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀. By 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 and 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, they made Airbnb 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? → 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝟮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 → 𝗬𝗖 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 20K ∗∗ (𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮) → ∗∗ 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺: 100B+ valuation 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟯 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀: 1. 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗶𝗲 → If your original idea isn’t working, find a new angle fast. 2. 𝗛𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 → No funding? Get creative. (Selling cereal saved Airbnb.) 3. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 > 𝗨𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 → People don’t just buy a “cheap stay.” They buy a story, a vibe, an experience. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: Airbnb’s near-death moment 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲—𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘁.

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Replies (1)

Anonymous 1

Hey I am on Medial • 14d

I don’t buy the “no money, just hustle” narrative anymore. They were Stanford-connected founders in the YC ecosystem. Try doing this if you're a first-time founder from Tier 3 India, very different outcomes.

0 replies2 likes

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