<p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">What do you do when you're broke, rent is due, and hotels are fully booked? If you're Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, you blow up a few air mattresses, call it a bed &amp; breakfast, and accidentally start a billion-dollar business.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">In 2007, these two designers turned their living room into a makeshift hotel for conference attendees, charging $80 a night. Three guests, a lightbulb moment, and some pancakes later, AirBed &amp; Breakfast was born.</span></p><h2><br></h2><h2><strong style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">From Hustle to Hospitality Giant</strong></h2><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">The idea clicked. Soon, emails flooded in from travellers looking for affordable stays and homeowners eager to list their spaces. Sensing potential, Chesky and Gebbia brought in Nathan Blecharczyk, their engineer roommate, as a co-founder.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">They expanded beyond air mattresses, allowing homeowners to rent out entire apartments, homes, and even unique stays like treehouses and castles.</span></p><h2><br></h2><h2><strong style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">A Name That Stuck</strong></h2><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">By 2009, “AirBed &amp; Breakfast” felt outdated, so they rebranded to Airbnb. But before they could take off, they hit a financial roadblock. Investors weren’t interested, and the company was running out of money.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">To stay afloat, Chesky and Gebbia launched limited-edition cereal boxes, "Obama O’s" and "Cap’n McCain’s" during the 2008 U.S. election. Selling for $40 a box, they made $30,000, which kept Airbnb alive and caught Y Combinator’s attention, securing them funding.</span></p><h2><br></h2><h2><strong style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">A Billion-Dollar Game-Changer</strong></h2><p><span style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26);">Today, Airbnb has over 7 million listings in 220+ countries, redefining travel by making home-sharing mainstream. From a desperate rent hack to a $100+ billion company, Airbnb proves that big ideas can start in small spaces - literally.</span></p>

Airbnb: From Air Mattresses to a Travel Empire

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Airbnb: From Air Mattresses to a Travel Empire

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