Transparency is worth $1bn today
Every heard of AirBnB.com (Air Bed n Breakfast)?
Forward thinking, start-up entrepruneur Brian Chesky has created a service that bridges the gap between travelers and ‘spare bedrooms’. Anyone can become a hotel for the night and anyone can book a room, with the only middleman being the website. That transparency has earned Chesky a $1bn valuation as he is raising $100m to fund the huge growth he is seeing.
Interesting that many tech savvy investors and even travel businesses passed on this investment as they didnt think people would want to offer their spare bedrooms. BUT Chesky’s bet paid off as airbnb has grown at over 800% per year since and has booked over 1.6m rooms.
Transparency = $
People did this sort of thing locally. A widow in the North End survived the Depression by cooking meals and serving them in her dining room to clients who booked the evening. One client, a bachelor judge, would entertain there every Wednesday night.