trying to make more money
Shutterstock

3. How it all began

Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk invented Airbnb in 2008. They rent an empty room in San Francisco as a place to sleep and eat breakfast to earn extra income. When a significant convention arrived in the city, all the hotels across the bay were sold out. Friends realize how big the family sharing market can be.

They created a website to make a home-sharing marketplace, naming it airbedandbreakfast.com. They even financed their startup by selling a 2008 presidential race caricature breakfast cereal - Cap’n McCains and Obama O's.

Advertisement