Profile, payments and preview is how we went on to build trust: Airbnb cofounder Nathan Blecharczyk

NEW DELHI: Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder and CTO of Airbnb, said that the first year of starting up the company was a disaster as they had not raised any venture capital and were on the verge of quitting. Blecharczyk co-founded Airbnb along with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, in 2008 and has since emerged as one of the pioneers of the sharing economy.

“The economic recession had just set in at the time. In the first year, we raised money out of making breakfast cereals, and the tag was Obama Oats and Captain McCain ( John McCain) with the hope that we will get publicity as it was election year,” Blecharczyk said while talking to Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon-Valley based author, speaker, entrepreneur, and evangelist in a fireside chat at the Economic Times Global Business Summit.

Blecharczyk said that profile, payments and preview is how Airbnb went on to build trust between the renters and the hosts.


Talking about regulations in the sharing economy, he said that the sector was now establishing protocols with existing stakeholders.

"We have started working with cities on collecting hotel tax for them," Blecharczyk said, adding, "Airbnb had collected $1 billion in hotel tax."

“ We want to help cities also grow with us and create micro entrepreneurship by giving the opportunity of self employed to our hosts," he said.