by Leigh Gallagher
This is the first book to tell the intriguing story behind Airbnb – a company valued at $30 billion.
Two broke art school graduates and their coder-whiz friend set up a platform that – in less than a decade – became the largest provider of accommodation in the world.
Yet the company has not been without controversy. By disrupting a $500 billion hotel industry, it was bound to make a few enemies. This is the story of regulators who want to shut it down, hotel industry leaders who want it to disappear and neighbourhoods that struggle with private homes open for public rental. But beyond the headlines and the horror stories, Airbnb has changed the terms of travel for a whole generation – where a sense of belonging has built trust between hosts and guests that hotels have struggled to replicate.
The book reveals what got Airbnb where it is today, why they are nothing like Uber and where they are going.