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In 2008, when Airbnb was founded, there were things like couch surfing, but there really wasn't an easy way to book a room with a local, which the founders thought could be cheaper than hotels.
The solution was a "share culture," where locals could make money renting space on their floors via air mattresses to strangers.
There were already 630,000 users on competitor site, Couchsurfing.com. So there was some interest in the space.
The team believed the opportunity was big. Paul Graham, Airbnb's first investor through startup accelerator Y Combinator, wrote an email to fellow investor Fred Wilson expressing his optimism for the company: "There's no reason this couldn't be as big as Ebay. And this team is the right one to do it," he wrote in 2009.
Here's what an early version of Airbnb looked like.
Unlike a lot of startups, which aim to amass big audiences first, then worry about revenue second, Airbnb always had a plan to make money. It wanted to take 10% of each rental transaction.
To spread the word about Airbnb, the founders planned to throw events, partner with booking services, and use good old Craigslist.
Craigslist was perhaps its biggest competitor. That and Hotels.com, the founders concluded.
The idea for Airbnb now seems like a no-brainer. And it turns out the founders were right about a lot of their competitive advantages. Ease of use, brand and host incentives have all helped the company scale to massive success, and billions in revenue.
