Airbnb and Uber are chalk and cheese

The Economist (10/10/2019)
  • As Airbnb prepares to go public (2020), its boss Brian Chesky is pointing out how it differs from Uber.
  • While unemployed, Chesky and friends started Airbnb in 2008 by renting out empty rooms (with airbeds) in their apartment.
  • Airbnb has hosted 500 million+ bookings and 2 million people use it worldwide every night.
  • Whereas Uber loses billions, Airbnb has been profitable since 2017 ($93 million estimated annual profit) and it lacks major competitors (eg Lyft).
  • Airbnb was recently valued at $31 billion.