Do Airbnb hosts in New York have an expectation of privacy when violating state law out in the open on the Internet?  That’s a central issue in Airbnb’s legal struggle against the New York Attorney General.  The Internet Association, a lobby group funded by Airbnb, filed a brief today supporting Airbnb.  Having read through all its […]

New York property managers don’t want their buildings in online listings of cheap nightly rentals.  Building supervisors have begun formally warning residents against listing their apartment on short-term rental services like Airbnb.  Property managers are also asking tenants to report neighbors they suspect are using such services.  Airbnb’s Fight Against New York And Protecting The […]

Notwithstanding investor rants about foreigners lacking brains and being unqualified to run a business, Airbnb continues its mission of being a global travel marketplace.  The share economy company that enables people to stay in unique spaces in 33,000 cities across 192 countries recently won a legal battle in New York City.  However, the war continues […]

Hello L.A. is a five-day event hosted by Airbnb that is going on right now.  Airbnb’s press release says Hello L.A. is “a five day hospitality experience celebrating the most interesting people, places, and experiences in Los Angeles.”  As Entertainment Weekly writes, Hello L.A. lasts from September 27 until October 1, featuring celebrities hosting and designing […]

Goldbely connects curious eaters with America’s most regionally famous and unique gourmet foods.  A team of “food explorers” personally selects every item available.  Shipping of orders is directly from food purveyors, often with overnight delivery.  Many items include free shipping.  TechCrunch recently hosted a video tour of Goldbely’s San Francisco headquarters.

Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and eBay’s John Donahoe often collaborate, according to both CEO’s at Fortune’s Brainstorm TECH Conference.  On a panel discussion, both men described the lessons they have taught each other about building a great company.  Airbnb (YC W09) must continue to learn, and learn fast.  The popular share economy service that lets people stay in unique […]

On Quora and elsewhere, the question I get asked most often about Y Combinator is… “Who’s the next Dropbox or Airbnb?”  I’m now confident enough to call it: Stripe is the next Dropbox or Airbnb. Stripe is very popular with developers, a good indicator for Google-like success.  And like Airbnb, Stripe presumably makes money from every transaction.  I admittedly […]

Airbnb could soon be a billion dollar a year business, explains Business Insider.  Every time I get ready to write about Airbnb they have more news.  This past November, Airbnb announced Airbnb Neighborhoods and also Local Lounges.  In December, Airbnb acquired Localmind, a popular local question and answer app that’s been described as “like Quora and […]

Airbnb’s engineering blog has a thorough posting about how Airbnb created its “Holiday Cards” application.  The objective of Airbnb Holiday Cards was to “let guests and hosts email greeting cards to one another, with custom art from our awesome designers and a personalized message from the sender about their experience.”  The challenges with the project […]

Corporations in the high-tech industry spend millions of dollars every year in Washington, D.C.  That money is spent on influencing politicians to change the laws that affect those companies’ agendas.  Big corporations need not be only ones to profit from public policy, though.  Businesses of all sizes can hack potential growth simply by paying attention […]