INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Airbnb brings in billions of dollars of revenue annually and is profitable on an EBITDA basis, so many wonder if and when the home-sharing
At the Code Conference today, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company will “be ready to IPO next year, but I don’t know if we
will.”He added that he wants to make sure it’s a major benefit to the company when Airbnb does go public
Following some more probing, Chesky said he has “no issues with [going public] at all
It could happen.”Meanwhile, Airbnb has been struggling from a regulatory standpoint since at least 2010
Specifically, San Francisco and New York are two of the most difficult cities from a regulatory standpoint, Chesky said.In New York, for
example, there has been a standstill since 2010
At this point, Chesky said he expects it to take a few more years to overcome the challenge in New York.“It doesn’t seem like the end is
in sight with that challenge,” Chesky said
That challenge, Chesky said, involves the hotel industry and unions that “have galvanized people in these perpetual battles.”Another
general critique of Airbnb is its effect on rising rent costs and displacement
Chesky added that if it was simply a business decision, “it probably wouldn’t be worth it to stay there” in New York
But Chesky said there are hosts who have come to rely on Airbnb to earn income.At Code, Chesky also touted Airbnb’s experiences product
and how it’s growing 10x faster than its homes product
Airbnb Experiences sees 1.5 million bookings a year, Chesky said
Experiences, which Airbnb started testing in 2014 and officially launched in 2016, is Airbnb’s product that helps travelers find things to
do in cities throughout the world.When it first launched, Airbnb didn’t verify the experiences, but after some bad experiences, Airbnb has
started verifying them.“They’re doing incredibly well,” Chesky said
He added that the “experience economy” is growing and “there will probably be a massive economy around experiences.”
