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Think outside the box, constantly experiment and evolve

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Abstract

Like many other web start-ups, Airbnb was initially launched without a business model. The founders, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk, did not want payments to interfere with the attractiveness of the service. So, at first, they provided Airbnb for free. The web site connects people with space in their apartments with people looking for vacation rentals. The service has continually expanded the types of spaces offered, from private apartments to private islands. By connecting people with people, it strives to provide a positively personal experience in a foreign city — very different from an anonymous hotel room.

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Notes

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  8. Niko Marcel Waesche (2003) Internet Entrepreneurship in Europe, Venture Failure and the Timing of Telecommunications Reform, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, p. 190, footnote 25.

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© 2011 Erik Schlie, Jörg Rheinboldt & Niko Marcel Waesche

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Schlie, E., Rheinboldt, J., Waesche, N.M. (2011). Think outside the box, constantly experiment and evolve. In: SimplySeven. IE Business Publishing. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230349674_1

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