airbnb

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The pace of startups popping up seems matched only by the emergence of new "incubators," or "accelerators," whichever word you chose to describe these startup boot camps that have cropped up across the country.

And Paul Graham, the man behind the grandaddy of them all, Y Combinator, barely pays attention to them. What he is convinced of, though, is that many will die, and that they're formed for the wrong reason.

"People are doing it because it's the cool thing to do," Graham told me during a break … Read more

Two of the largest accommodation booking sites used in the U.K. have teamed up for this summer's Olympic Games.

Airbnb--an online marketplace where travelers find and book places rented out by homeowners, renters, and landlords--announced today that it had acquired its largest U.K. competitor--Crashpadder. Rather than sleeping in hotels or couch surfing, travelers can short-term lease apartments, houses, condos, and even castles through these sites.

U.S.-based Airbnb launched in 2008 and has since grown to have an accommodation database that serves more than 19,000 cities in 192 countries and has booked more … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Talk to just about any entrepreneur in Silicon Valley these days, and there's a better than average chance one name will come up: Ron Conway.

The founder of SV Angel, an investment firm that has its fingers in dozens of the biggest names in technology today, Conway is known by many to be among the savviest investors around. His portfolio is a who's who of the best and brightest in tech--Twitter, Airbnb, Dropbox, Groupon, and dozens of others. He's not only successful, he's also prolific.

In a recent profile in Fortune, Conway explained that he … Read more

Marc Andreessen's view of the world boils down to software.

From where he stands, as the guy who co-founded Netscape Communications and now co-runs the powerful Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, no industry is safe from software. Or, as Andreessen put it in a much-discussed piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, "Software is eating the world."

Software has chewed up music and publishing. It's eaten away at Madison Avenue. It's swallowed up retail outlets like Tower Records. The list goes on.

No area is safe--and that's why Andreessen sees so much … Read more

Who needs to go to a restaurant to have a great meal when you could have one made for you at home?

That's the idea behind KitchIt, a Silicon Valley startup that is hoping to use technology, smart and easy design, and good culinary industry connections to offer everyday people custom restaurant-quality meals at home at affordable prices.

The concept is simple: To use KitchIt, you go to its Web site, enter your city, the date and type of the dinner you're planning, how many people are in your party, and the price range per diner.

Once you'… Read more

After backing out of a new funding round for Airbnb, a former Facebook employee and current venture capitalist says he's back in, following an embarrassing leaked e-mail involving the deal.

On Saturday, an e-mail from former Facebooker Chamath Palihapitiya to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky appeared on AllThingsD after being leaked to ATD reporter Kara Swisher.

In the e-mail, Palihapitiya objected to how the $112 million deal, announced in July but not yet finalized, was structured--with the company's founders enjoying a large cash-out (in the form of a $21 million dividend), and other employees getting relatively little:… Read more

This week, a yearlong cyberwarfare campaign has been uncovered that has stolen everything from private intellectual property to high-level government secrets. The plot thickens in the Airbnb vacation rental horror story, and we bring you Twitter's 30 most eligible bachelors!

You're going out of town for a week and could use some extra cash. Why not rent out your home through a travel marketplace like Airbnb? It can match you with a traveling stranger and you could come home richer.

That's what a San Francisco woman known as "EJ" hoped for until she came back to a ransacked apartment with her personal items stolen or destroyed. She has described her experience with Airbnb as "utter hell."

Airbnb has apologized and implemented new protection measures such as $50,000 for damages for users who rent out their homes.

That hasn't stopped many people from blaming EJ for being so trusting as to leave her credit card, birth certificate, passport, and other important documents at home when her unpleasant guests arrived. She has written about the online vilification of her, which is really blaming the victim.

While the incident was no doubt an exception to the many uneventful and even wonderful transactions that happen through sites like Airbnb and VRBO, it has rekindled discussion of travel marketplaces and the wider issue of trusting online strangers.

What do you think? Has the Airbnb debacle affected your views about accommodations sites? Would you consider using one (as either a homeowner or guest) if you haven't already? Vote in our poll and add your comments below.

And, of course, bon voyage! … Read more

It's always possible to find a room for the night when you're traveling, but if it's last-minute, it'll cost you. Luckily, there are two apps that help you dig up deals for the right price.

Hotel Tonight (for iPhone and Android) focuses its search on the swankier side of accommodations, finding you deals on unsold rooms in hip, stylish, or boutique hotels.

You may have heard of my second choice, too: Airbnb, a peer-to-peer service that facilitates an owner's short-term rental of a space to guests (that's you). Unfortunately, Airbnb has recently been at … Read more