Airbnb, Sustainable Competitive Advantage — Business Strategy and The Key Success Factors
In 2008, three recent college graduates Chesky, Gebbia, and Blecharczyk, started a website called Airbed & Breakfast(which became Airbnb) to allow people to rent out part of their homes to travelers — An alternate for expensive hotels. The idea itself was not new, and the market already had similar websites — HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, Couchsurfing.com, BedandBreakfast.com, and Craiglist.
Though Airbnb was a late entrant, it began to climb up the ladder quickly. By 2016, within eight years, the valuation of Airbnb reached $30 billion whereas, HomeAway was at $4 billion. The new company had 140 million guest arrivals in that year. It was phenomenal growth.
What were the reasons behind Airbnb growth? How did the brand build its sustainable competitive advantage?
Note: The following content is largely from the book ‘The Airbnb Story’ by Leigh Gallagher.