Skift Take
Worth a read, not just to appreciate the transparency into the product-led thinking of a giant, now-iconic company but also to just get inspired by some of these suggestions, and who knows, more startups to come out of these ideas.
Rafat Ali
If Airbnb could launch anything this year, what could it be? Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky last asked this question back at the start of 2017 when it was a private company, at the start a more-transparent phase of the always-controversial company.
Five years and a pandemic later, Chesky has continued to become more accessible and transparent — at least on the product side, if not the financial side — in how he runs the company and as part of that decided to bring out the question again, only this time as the CEO of a $110 billion market cap public company. Of course in keeping with the much-larger size of the company and a large personal following on Twitter for him, the responses flooded in from all around the world, many of them great startup ideas in themselves and many of them features that would make a lot of sense for Airbnb. Or Vrbo, or any other hospitality company for that matter.
With Chesky actively responding to many of the suggestions he liked — and also disclosing some of these ideas they are already actively working on or about to launch — the thread is well worth a read. We curated some of the ones we liked, including one of my own suggestions: that Airbnb should invest in a travel agency/advisor business to actively help people, particularly young families, plan and book vacations. I wouldn’t be surprised if Airbnb considers making a boutique acquisition in this space at some point, to scale it up.
Common asks: add better tools/services for co-working/digital nomad life, services for families, better search, better ways to connect people staying at Airbnbs, connecting to more local services, pricing transparency — Chesky reiterated Airbnb is working on that in a big way now and launching something soon — and of course the perennial asks of launching an airline and a loyalty program or a subscription service, and more.
One of my favorite suggestions: a way to search-and-book multiple Airbnbs around a location for larger groups or family reunions.
If Airbnb could launch anything in 2022, what would it be?
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 2, 2022
More rationally, a paid travel advisory business to help plan travel for people booking Airbnbs, particularly families, I would think would be a hit.
— Rafat Ali, Media Owner & Operator (@rafat) January 2, 2022
I’m biased, but there’s still a massive opportunity for authentic local recs. Airbnb could own a space that is still largely dominated by folks going on Facebook and writing, “Going to [insert city]…where should I go?” And taking a bunch of recs from other one-time visitors.
— joahspearman (@joahspearman) January 3, 2022
Great suggestions. We are fixing the guest search limit. The marketplace (or an Airbnb store) is a popular requests, especially for Host supplies
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 2, 2022
Yes, this is a great idea, and coming soon
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 3, 2022
The ‘Superguest’ program is long over due and would help to add positive incentives for Guests and Hosts. As we get back to global travel in 2022 this could be a quality way to foster trust and good behaviour. ?
— Paul Hart (@Snakecharmer) January 2, 2022
more coliving! I’m in miami and airbnb’s are in short supply, expensive and taxes are high. my friends who are visiting want to check out the city for a bit. Wish we could have group living/shares together. I was using https://t.co/P5hUy3kJXZ instead of airbnb
— Greg Ferenstein (@ferenstein) January 2, 2022
Company retreats. Curate places based on employee count. Spin off a version of the current timeline view for people ops teams to plug in events (custom or Airbnb experiences) and easily share schedule with their teams.
— Quintin Woods (@qdwoods) January 3, 2022
A private, agent-less, real estate exchange for hosts looking to sell and aspiring hosts looking to buy. Offers, title, etc, all automated. Showings can be blocked off in the app.
1% commission per transaction.
— Zack (@zackddclub) January 3, 2022
Meeting other guests is super popular request
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 3, 2022
B2B: get into property management to help landlords, service, maintain and clean properties or at least comparison shop between different property management firms
— Deep Bagchee (@DeepBagchee) January 3, 2022
Option to include car rental with the house. Most people come for vacation, and they book a car separately from another platform. Bundle them. AirBnb points for every rental, and then redeem them to book. Obviously, transparent fees display
— Srikar Reddy (@Srikar_Reddym) January 2, 2022
– Partnership with Hertz/Turo/Tesla to have rental cars delivered to properties.
– Gym/yoga collaborations.
– Built in cleaning, lawn, and laundry service would make being a host in multiple cities much easier.
– Hostel-like meetups with others staying in Airbnbs nearby.
— Danny Baldus-Strauss (@BackpackerFI) January 3, 2022
Neighborhood shared gyms. Someone uses existing or purpose build detached dwelling space to put equipment, Airbnb offers financing for equipment, close neighbors can join and use the gym. Basically a micro neighborhood gym.
— Jason Harinstein (@jharinstein) January 3, 2022
Early check-in for a premium or late check out if available
Nice oppurtunity for hosts I think— Pat (@patphelan) January 2, 2022
Places for homeschool kids to meet up and use as a classroom space
— Michelle Duong Davenport (@michelledavenpt) January 3, 2022
A feature that allows me to make my listing only visible to friends / folks I have vetted.
Why?
I don’t care about maximize bookings. I care about the quality of people who get to stay at my space.
— Tina Roth Eisenberg (@swissmiss) January 3, 2022
Airbnb credit card w/rewards for number of stays
— Ben Carlson (@awealthofcs) January 2, 2022
1) Being able to search by the most exciting things happening around the planet (events, a great time/place to experience certain cultures, seeing your favorite artists/sports team) and automatically suggesting trips around it.
— Pim de Witte (@PimDeWitte) January 3, 2022
I think that @Airbnb should launch an emergency platform for those escaping abusive and toxic environments. Almost like a halfway house by partnering with local and regional orgs. https://t.co/YOVS3vN3Vx
— Angelo (he/him/his) (@angelojasa) January 3, 2022
So many hidden gems in airbnb that are hard to discover. Investing in experiential search could be a good direction. Currently the search box only takes addresses.
— Wael Ghonim ? (@Ghonim) January 3, 2022
We are updating how we display pricing.
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 3, 2022
I love when Hosts leave something out for guests. I think the most feasible thing logistically would be to encourage and incentivize their creation vs fulfilling since we are in 100k cities
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 3, 2022
This is cool. We’ve been getting requests to allow people to crowdfund Airbnb’s (especially unique ones like treehouses)
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 3, 2022
This is something I wanna do. When you stay in an Airbnb for a month, you have to clean it yourself, regardless of whether you are willing to pay someone else to clean it
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 2, 2022
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Updated Jan. 4, 2022
Tags: airbnb, online travel, short-term rentals
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