Last time I traveled, I found a bunch of the places I saw on Airbnb listed on other sites for cheaper. More alarming, there were significantly more negative reviews on these other sites (even on a site like Booking), than there were on Airbnb.<p>I'm sure Airbnb will continue to grow, but it seems awfully saturated to me already. I'm amazed at how many listings there are for my neighborhood (in NYC). All these hosts with a dozen locations that they barely maintain. Hard to find verify a host actually cares about a place they rent.
Current headline listed in HN: "Airbnb could plan to IPO by late 2020"<p>Actual headline on TechCrunch: "Airbnb aims to be ‘ready’ to go public from June 30, 2019, creates cash bonus program for staff"<p>That AirBnB could be ready for an IPO in 1 year is the way important date.
Interesting considering that a lot of cities and countries started war against this business model, it's highly regulated, restricted or completely banned.
I have a question, why do companies go public later into their lifespans? If I was Uber wouldn't I want to go public within a year or two of extreme success (2013-2014) where my popularity and reviews are higher to garner more interest and therefore more buyers at a higher initial price? Instead its maybe 8-10 years after launch where regulations and lawsuits have attacked the business model. Correct me if I'm wrong just wondering.
So I will revise my expected date for the next stock market crash to 2021 then.<p>Retail is dying, nobody is buying or selling houses, there are the US tariff wars, more countries are buying/selling energy without buying dollars first, the UK is heading for Brexit, the Euro is heading for Brexit, Quantitive Easing has yet to come home to roost and there are plenty of bubbles.<p>Meanwhile, everyone has a job and tourism is booming.<p>I imagine the AirBnB advisors know more than me about these circumstantial factors and would not want to be doing their big sale on the wrong side of the inevitable recession/crash.<p>Best make hay whilst the sun shines.