Who is Brian Chesky?
Brian Chesky is the co-founder and CEO of the company, Airbnb. The three Airbnb founders includes Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk. Chesky attended the Rhode Island School of Design in 1999. In 2004, he obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Industrial Design.
Brian Chesky worked in LA at 3DID as an Industrial designer and strategist. Later, he moved to San Francisco and there he shared an apartment with his friend Joe Gebbia. Joe Gebbia, would later become one of the three Airbnb founders.
Airbnb
Airbnb, is a company where users can list their space and other users can book the space anywhere around the world. Airbnb stands for Airbed and Breakfast. The company was founded in 2008 when Brian Chesky and his friend Gebbia, rented out their apartment space they had to some travelers.
He was facing some financial hardships and to obtain cash he would rent out part of his apartment to travelers. This was how the idea of creating Airbnb had began.
How to use the Airbnb App
The Airbnb app is free to download and almost anyone can host on the app. Airbnb is full of users that want to list their space for other users to book. In order to find out what places are being listed to book, you can access Airbnb on the app or through their website. Once you are there, you are able to enter your destination, the dates you plan to travel, and the number of travelers that will be staying at the Airbnb location. From there, you are able to see all the results that popped up based on your search.
You are also able to filter it further by price range, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the amenities, facilities, property type, house rules, etc. There you are able to find a space that best suits the preferences of you and your travelers. It allows you to see if you are able to book a private room, a studio, or a whole home! It goes based on your preferences and what you are looking for.
Host on Airbnb
When you are on Airbnb, you are also able to host. This allows you to list your space and earn money. In hosting, there is a lot of flexibility that comes with it. You are able to host whenever you want through Airbnb. There is no required minimum or mandatory time that you have to host. You are also able to block out dates that you do not want to offer your space.
With Airbnb, you can also set prices that you wish to rent your space out for. The user can choose nightly prices and they can also add other details such as cleaning fees, weekly discounts, and special prices for specific times of the year.
When hosting, you are also allowed to establish rules and set expectations for your space. These are known as house rules that prior to booking, guests must agree to. If the rules are broken by a guest, you can cancel the reservation without any penalty.
Getting Paid
You are able to generate pay based on how much you rent your space out for and how often. According to the Airbnb website, the payout a host receives is the nightly rate minus the 3% host service fee. This service fee goes towards the Airbnb company to cover the costs of running the business.
Airbnb Experiences
A new feature that has been brought about in the app is Airbnb experiences. On the same app, people are able to book experiences from other users. If you travel to other parts of the world, you’d want to have new and exciting things to do while you’re out there. Airbnb experiences allows for this to happen.
Airbnb allows users to book experiences in different parts of the world such as hiking, sailing, surfing, etc. For example, if a traveler came to visit LA, someone can have posted on Airbnb that they are offering a hike to the Hollywood sign along with a photoshoot for X amount of dollars. This is what is considered an Airbnb experience.
The experiences on Airbnb are reviewed in order to make sure they meet high quality expectations. Through this app, you are able to host or book an experience.
Profits
Airbnb is a very successful and innovative company. It currently has approximately 150 million users on the app. In 2018, Airbnb made $100 million in profits and $2.6 billion in revenue. The whole idea of creating Airbnb came from Brian Chesky just trying to earn some cash to pay his rent. Who knew that solving his own problem led him to the idea of creating such a profitable company today.
Overall
Brian Chesky has created a company that has allowed for users to be able to rent out their space and earn money for it. This has helped many people that could have been going through financial hardships or simply provide an extra source of income for others.
Airbnb has become a well-known and popular app for people who enjoy traveling, taking vacations, and embarking on new adventures and will more than likely continue to grow and expand.
