Famous Growth Hacks Used by Airbnb
Summary
TLDRIn 2007, Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky turned their financial struggles into a business opportunity by offering air mattresses and breakfast to conference attendees. Despite early challenges, they used creative marketing hacks, including selling collectible cereal during the 2008 presidential campaign, securing Y Combinator's backing, and taking professional photos of listings. Their most pivotal growth hack involved cross-posting Airbnb listings to Craigslist. These strategies helped Airbnb grow from a small startup into a global lodging giant. The founders' creativity and viral marketing expertise were key to their success.
Takeaways
- 🏠 Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky struggled to pay rent in 2007 and launched AirBedAndBreakfast.com to rent out air mattresses during a conference.
- 💡 They charged $80 a night for a stay on an air mattress with breakfast (Pop-Tarts), providing an affordable option for attendees.
- 💸 Despite attracting some customers, convincing people to stay in strangers' homes was challenging, leaving the founders in credit card debt.
- 📈 The 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver helped AirBedAndBreakfast gain traction as there were more attendees than hotel rooms.
- 🥣 To raise money during the 2008 presidential campaign, they sold limited-edition cereal boxes (Obama O's and Cap'n McCain's) for $40, raising $30,000.
- 🚀 Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, accepted Airbnb into the accelerator program, believing in their ability to sell unconventional products.
- 📷 In 2009, to improve New York City listings, the founders personally took professional photos of hosts' properties, doubling revenue overnight.
- 📤 Airbnb executed a clever growth hack by automatically cross-posting their listings on Craigslist, attracting more users to their platform.
- ⚡ Craigslist eventually blocked this cross-posting hack, but by then, thousands of users had discovered Airbnb and continued using it.
- 🌍 Airbnb’s rapid growth was driven by creative growth hacks, viral marketing, and bold strategies, making it a global success with millions of nightly users.
Q & A
What was the initial problem that inspired the creation of Airbnb?
-Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky were struggling to afford their increasing rent in San Francisco, which led them to come up with the idea of renting out air mattresses during a major conference in the city.
How did the founders first test their idea for Airbnb?
-The founders bought three air mattresses and created a website called airbedandbreakfast.com, offering accommodations for $80 a night, which included an air mattress in their loft and breakfast in the morning.
What was the initial response to their air mattress rental idea?
-Though the offer wasn’t glamorous, three people accepted the offer and were happy to save money on lodging. However, convincing more people to stay in strangers' homes was initially a challenge.
How did Airbnb's founders raise money after going into credit card debt?
-In 2008, they created limited-edition cereal boxes called 'Obama O's' and 'Cap'n McCain's' during the U.S. presidential campaign, selling them for $40 a box. This raised $30,000 for Airbnb.
What role did Y Combinator play in Airbnb's development?
-Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, accepted Airbnb into the startup accelerator after seeing the founders’ creativity with the cereal box sales, believing they could convince people to stay in strangers' homes.
What was Airbnb's first major growth hack?
-In 2009, the founders noticed that Airbnb listings in New York City had poor quality photos. They rented a $5,000 camera and took professional photos of all the properties, which doubled their weekly revenue in NYC overnight.
What was Airbnb's second significant growth hack?
-In 2010, Airbnb created a way to cross-post all their listings to Craigslist, a popular platform at the time. This increased visibility and attracted a large number of users to Airbnb’s platform.
How did the Craigslist growth hack benefit Airbnb?
-By cross-posting listings to Craigslist, Airbnb reached hundreds of thousands of users who might not have otherwise known about Airbnb, significantly expanding their user base before Craigslist disabled the feature.
Why did professional photography play a crucial role in Airbnb's success?
-Professional photography helped Airbnb listings stand out from others, especially when compared to low-quality images. This not only enhanced user trust but also increased bookings and revenue.
What essential traits helped Airbnb’s founders build the company into a global success?
-The founders’ creativity, knowledge of viral marketing, and bold use of growth hacks were crucial to Airbnb’s success, allowing them to grow the company despite early financial challenges.
Outlines
🏠 Struggling with Rent, Founders Create Airbnb
In 2007, roommates Joe Gabia and Brian Chesky struggled with rent in San Francisco. A major conference was coming to town, and hotels were expensive. They decided to offer air mattresses for rent on AirBedAndBreakfast.com for $80 per night, including breakfast. Despite its simplicity, three people accepted the offer, giving the founders their first taste of success. However, the idea of staying in a stranger's home was a hard sell, and within a year, they were in significant credit card debt.
📈 Airbnb's First Growth Opportunity: Denver 2008
Airbnb's first breakthrough came during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. With attendees vastly outnumbering available hotel rooms, Airbnb set up shop and received a surge in bookings. Despite the success, they still faced financial struggles. To raise funds, the founders sold limited-edition cereals (Obama O's and Captain McCain's) during the 2008 presidential campaign. These boxes, which also advertised Airbnb, helped the team raise $30,000 and catch the attention of Paul Graham from Y Combinator, who accepted them into the startup accelerator.
📷 Improving Listings with Professional Photography
Airbnb continued to grow but faced challenges in New York City, where listings were not attracting enough guests. The founders realized that poor-quality photos were turning people away. They rented a $5,000 camera, flew to New York, and took professional photos of the properties themselves. While not scalable, this strategy paid off, doubling Airbnb’s weekly revenue in NYC almost instantly.
🚀 A Viral Growth Hack with Craigslist
In 2010, Airbnb executed a clever growth hack by targeting Craigslist users who preferred cheaper lodging. The team developed a way to cross-post Airbnb listings on Craigslist, automatically redirecting users to Airbnb’s platform, which offered free professional photography, making their listings stand out. While Craigslist eventually blocked this practice, it had already introduced hundreds of thousands of people to Airbnb, significantly boosting their user base.
🌍 Airbnb's Success through Bold Growth Strategies
Today, over 2 million people stay in Airbnb rentals every night. The company’s success is not just due to its product and user experience but also the founders’ creativity, viral marketing strategies, and bold growth hacks. Their willingness to take risks and experiment with unconventional tactics played a crucial role in making Airbnb the global platform it is today.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Airbnb
💡Growth Hacks
💡Democratic National Convention
💡Obama O’s and Captain McCain's
💡Y Combinator
💡Professional Photography
💡Craigslist
💡Paul Graham
💡Modest Growth
💡User Experience
Highlights
Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky were struggling to pay rent in their San Francisco apartment in 2007.
They took advantage of a major conference in the city, offering air mattresses and breakfast for $80 a night.
The duo created airbedandbreakfast.com to advertise their offer, allowing people to sleep in their loft during the conference.
Three people took their offer, saving money on lodging, while the roommates earned extra cash.
Despite some initial success, they struggled to convince more people to stay in a stranger’s apartment.
Within a year, Gebbia and Chesky were in $20,000 credit card debt, facing major financial difficulties.
The turning point came in August 2008 during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, where Airbnb capitalized on a shortage of hotel rooms.
Airbnb founders sold limited edition 'Obama O's' and 'Captain McCain's' cereal boxes for $40, raising $30,000 in funds.
Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham saw potential in their creativity, accepting Airbnb into the startup accelerator.
Airbnb’s breakthrough came when the founders went to New York City in 2009, offering free professional photography for hosts to improve their listings.
This photography strategy helped Airbnb double its weekly revenue in New York almost overnight.
In 2010, Airbnb used a major growth hack, cross-posting listings to Craigslist, reaching a wider audience.
Craigslist eventually disabled the cross-posting feature, but by then, Airbnb had gained a significant user base.
Airbnb's success came from its founders' creativity, bold growth strategies, and viral marketing tactics.
Today, over 2 million people stay in an Airbnb every night, marking its massive global reach and popularity.
Transcripts
in 2007 roommates joe gabia and brian
chesky were struggling to pay the
increasingly expensive rent in their san
francisco apartment
they noticed a major conference was
coming to town and thus
hotel rooms were expensive and in short
supply the duo decided to buy three air
mattresses and threw up
air bedandbreakfast.com to advertise
their deal
for 80 a night you could sleep on an air
mattress in their loft
and get pop-tarts in the morning it
wasn't glamorous but three people took
them up on their offer
the guests were happy to have saved
hundreds of dollars on lodging
and the roommates were happy to have
made some extra cash
the startup attracted a few more
customers but convincing people to live
in a stranger's apartment was a tough
sell
within a year gabia and chesky were
thousand dollars in credit card debt
so how did the founders turn airbnb's
fortunes around
the answer a series of brilliant growth
hacks
gaby and chesky's first strategy was to
find a city that would be swarming with
potential customers
the opportunity came in august 2008 when
the democratic national convention came
to denver
there were four times as many attendees
as available hotel rooms
so airbnb set up shop in denver and got
a flood of business
airbnb was still short on money and
publicity so its founders decided to
make some quick money by selling limited
edition obama o's and captain mccain's
cereal for 40 dollars per box during the
height of presidential campaigning in
2008.
each cereal box also contained an
advertisement for airbnb
the cereal was a huge hit and the team
raised thirty thousand dollars from the
project
seeing this renowned venture capitalist
and y combinator co-founder paul graham
famously said
that if the founders could convince
people to buy a four dollar box of
cereal for forty dollars
they could convince them to stay in a
stranger's room he accepted the airbnb
team into y combinator the prestigious
startup accelerator
airbnb finally started to get
investments gain traction and improve
their product
the startup entered a period of modest
growth but what really helped airbnb
grow into the huge company it is today
was a pair of clever growth hacks in
2009
airbnb was trying to take off in new
york city but was struggling to get
guests
looking at the 40 nyc listings on their
platform the founders noticed that hosts
were snapping
amateur shots on their phone cameras
with low resolution
and bad angles gabia and chesky jumped
on a flight to new york
rented a 5 000 camera and took
professional photos of all their listed
properties for free
although this strategy wasn't exactly
scalable it helped airbnb
double their weekly revenue in new york
practically overnight
in 2010 airbnb orchestrated one of the
most infamous
and brilliant growth hacks in tech
history the team realized that most of
their target audience
people who needed lodging but didn't
want to stay in hotels was on the
classified ads website craigslist
so airbnb found a way to automatically
cross-post
all airbnb listings to craigslist
because airbnb offered free professional
photography at the time
airbnb posts on craigslist naturally
stood out
people who clicked on the posts would be
rerouted to the official listing on
airbnb.com
although craigslist eventually caught on
and disabled this hack
hundreds of thousands of people had
already discovered airbnb
and these happy customers started going
straight to airbnb for future lodging
needs
this strategy of importing a bigger
platform's user base
is now a classic around silicon valley
today over 2 million people stay in an
airbnb
every night airbnb's product and user
experience
are great but what really propelled
airbnb to its current success
was its founders creativity knowledge of
viral marketing and willingness to use
bold growth hacks
these skills are all essential for any
technologist or entrepreneur's toolkit
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