Brian Chesky

I pack everything back of old Honda Civic and I drive up to San Francisco. I get to San Francisco and Joe tells me we have one problem. I said, what's that problem? He said, well, remember how I told you the rent is $1,000? Well, now it's been raised and it's now $1,150. And I'm like, oh, I couldn't even afford the old rent check. Right.

I pack everything back of old Honda Civic and I drive up to San Francisco. I get to San Francisco and Joe tells me we have one problem. I said, what's that problem? He said, well, remember how I told you the rent is $1,000? Well, now it's been raised and it's now $1,150. And I'm like, oh, I couldn't even afford the old rent check. Right.

I pack everything back of old Honda Civic and I drive up to San Francisco. I get to San Francisco and Joe tells me we have one problem. I said, what's that problem? He said, well, remember how I told you the rent is $1,000? Well, now it's been raised and it's now $1,150. And I'm like, oh, I couldn't even afford the old rent check. Right.

It turns out that weekend, a design conference was coming to San Francisco. And we went on the conference website for this conference. All the hotels are sold out. We had this idea. We said, what if we just turned our house into a bed and breakfast for a design conference? No way. I didn't have any beds though, because I just moved there. I didn't even bring a bed with me.

It turns out that weekend, a design conference was coming to San Francisco. And we went on the conference website for this conference. All the hotels are sold out. We had this idea. We said, what if we just turned our house into a bed and breakfast for a design conference? No way. I didn't have any beds though, because I just moved there. I didn't even bring a bed with me.

It turns out that weekend, a design conference was coming to San Francisco. And we went on the conference website for this conference. All the hotels are sold out. We had this idea. We said, what if we just turned our house into a bed and breakfast for a design conference? No way. I didn't have any beds though, because I just moved there. I didn't even bring a bed with me.

Joe had three air mattresses in the closet. So we pulled the air beds out of the closet. We inflated them. We called it airbedandbreakfast.com. And that's where the name Airbnb comes from.

Joe had three air mattresses in the closet. So we pulled the air beds out of the closet. We inflated them. We called it airbedandbreakfast.com. And that's where the name Airbnb comes from.

Joe had three air mattresses in the closet. So we pulled the air beds out of the closet. We inflated them. We called it airbedandbreakfast.com. And that's where the name Airbnb comes from.

And we ended up having three people stay with us. Basically what happened was we were able to pay our rent But something I never expected happened, which is these three strangers came as strangers and they left as friends, which is not surprising when somebody lives with you for a week, you take them around the city. And Joe and I realized maybe there's a bigger idea here.

And we ended up having three people stay with us. Basically what happened was we were able to pay our rent But something I never expected happened, which is these three strangers came as strangers and they left as friends, which is not surprising when somebody lives with you for a week, you take them around the city. And Joe and I realized maybe there's a bigger idea here.

And we ended up having three people stay with us. Basically what happened was we were able to pay our rent But something I never expected happened, which is these three strangers came as strangers and they left as friends, which is not surprising when somebody lives with you for a week, you take them around the city. And Joe and I realized maybe there's a bigger idea here.

I asked Joe, I said, who's the best engineer you know? He said, my old roommate Nate is. And this leads to how I got to know President Obama. Well, that's before, but 2008, summer of 2008, we're trying to figure out how to launch Airbnb. And we got this chicken and egg problem they use in the marketplace. How do you get people to list their homes when there's no people traveling?

I asked Joe, I said, who's the best engineer you know? He said, my old roommate Nate is. And this leads to how I got to know President Obama. Well, that's before, but 2008, summer of 2008, we're trying to figure out how to launch Airbnb. And we got this chicken and egg problem they use in the marketplace. How do you get people to list their homes when there's no people traveling?

I asked Joe, I said, who's the best engineer you know? He said, my old roommate Nate is. And this leads to how I got to know President Obama. Well, that's before, but 2008, summer of 2008, we're trying to figure out how to launch Airbnb. And we got this chicken and egg problem they use in the marketplace. How do you get people to list their homes when there's no people traveling?

How do you get people to travel when there's no homes? So we needed a big event. The biggest thing happening in the summer of 2008 was the election. And then Senator Obama was just nominated as you remember. And I remember sitting at home with my roommate Joe, and there was like the CNN on TV, DNC housing crisis. They move him from the basketball arena to the football stadium.

How do you get people to travel when there's no homes? So we needed a big event. The biggest thing happening in the summer of 2008 was the election. And then Senator Obama was just nominated as you remember. And I remember sitting at home with my roommate Joe, and there was like the CNN on TV, DNC housing crisis. They move him from the basketball arena to the football stadium.

How do you get people to travel when there's no homes? So we needed a big event. The biggest thing happening in the summer of 2008 was the election. And then Senator Obama was just nominated as you remember. And I remember sitting at home with my roommate Joe, and there was like the CNN on TV, DNC housing crisis. They move him from the basketball arena to the football stadium.

And they're like, wait, where are all these extra people gonna stay? That's how we launched. We launched the Democratic National Convention. We got like 80 bookings. I thought we were huge. And then next weekend for Senator McCain, we had two bookings, not as popular. And then the following week, no bookings. And I realized if only there were political conventions every week, we'd have a business.

And they're like, wait, where are all these extra people gonna stay? That's how we launched. We launched the Democratic National Convention. We got like 80 bookings. I thought we were huge. And then next weekend for Senator McCain, we had two bookings, not as popular. And then the following week, no bookings. And I realized if only there were political conventions every week, we'd have a business.