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We talk to Brian Chesky today – founder and CEO of airbnb.com, a website that allows users to rent out spare rooms from someone who has a room to share. While hotel rooms are the norm for travellers, airbnb has created an alternative by allowing people to rent and rent out spaces in their homes. Apart from the cost factor airbnb offers its users unique experiences. In fact, Brian is living in rooms offered on airbnb to experience first hand how well his idea works! Read on.

Ideabing: How did you hit upon the idea of Airbnb? Give us some background.

Brian: The idea for Airbnb began back in 2007 when my roommate and fellow co-founder, Joe Gebbia, decided to rent out 3 air mattresses on the floor of our apartment for the IDSA design conference. All the hotel rooms in San Francisco were completely sold out. We recognized an opportunity to make some money and some interesting people by hosting them in our apartment. Some of our friends caught wind of the idea and asked us how to do the same thing in their cities around the country. It was at that point we realized we were on to something special.

Ideabing: How long did it take from concept to prototype to Airbnb.com?

Brian: In the lead up to IDSA 2007, we built a very basic site in just a few days. It wasn’t until the summer of 2008 that we convinced our friend and developer, Nate Blecharczyk, to join us. Nate helped us build a much more robust website which launched in August of 2008. With Nate on board, we were able to begin facilitating transactions as well as build in all the social aspects of the site that you see today. The design and interaction of the site has evolved constantly since then. Everyday we are striving to build a better product for our users. The design process will never end.

Ideabing: Tell us about the good bad and the ugly you faced while making Airbnb happen.

Brian: Starting a company is never an easy thing. As with any fledgling company, there were some tense moments and late nights. However when we hit milestones, pushed new features, or brought new people on to the team, excitement took over. Those memorable moments constantly push us to do bigger and bigger things.

Ideabing: How do you make sure your listings are legitimate and safe?

Brian: Airbnb is built around the community of users who are extremely passionate about the brand. Their passion has set a very high standard of etiquette for the site. Due to the way we handle and facilitate transactions our community is safeguarded from the possibility of financial scams, on either side of the transaction. This is a protection that most other vacation rental companies cannot provide. We also offer around-the-clock customer support for our users. Our community can rest assured that we are always there for them.

Ideabing: You were out on an Airbnb trip – Tell us about your experiences.

Brian: I’m actually still living on Airbnb and will continue to do so until the build-out of our new headquarters is completed. We launched Airbnb from the living room of my San Francisco apartment. The same space remains our office today. Our team is now 18 employees so we are utilizing my old bedroom as additional work space in the meantime. Living on Airbnb has been an amazing experience so far. The insight I’ll gain will be tremendously valuable to the company going forth. If you are interested you can follow my updates on blog.airbnb.com

Ideabing: Your current market size?

Brian: The market for Airbnb is enormous. We currently have the world’s most unique selection of non-hotel accommodations you can imagine being booked in over 5,000 cities and 145 countries around the world. You can find anything from a couch to a castle, apartment to villa, available by the night. The price range for places on Airbnb range from $10/night to $5,000/night. It is a global marketplace for anyone to their extra space and for travelers to find unique and truly local accommodations options.

Ideabing: How many countries is Airbnb in now? Target in 2 years time?

Brian: We have Airbnb hosts offering properties in 146 countries. This number continues to grow by the week, but will obviously flat line at some point. Since there are only 195 countries in the world, it is safe to say we already have a truly global presence.

Ideabing: Your thoughts about the competition? Do you think Airbnb has created a market segment?

Brian: I think more than creating a new market segment, we’ve actually changed the landscape of travel forever. Our users are really the catalyst for that change. We never could have imagined or even dreamed of having such an amazingly passionate user base. It is the community that makes traveling through the site so special.

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