Why AirBnB should buy Foursquare

It makes so much sense

Ever had a friend who would seem to be the perfect fit for this other friend?You know what I am talking about right?

1. Checking in? — The endgame for AirBnB seems to become the travel planner for the end customer. You have them book their trips, their stays — why not give them a handy reckoner of what to do now that the 4.5 stars accommodation has been taken. Guidebooks are a relic of the past and given the social context — there definitely is some meaning to reconstructing the guidebook for this day and age. After you check in with your host, why don’t you check in with the 4square app to see what cool spots the cool kids frequent?
2. Engagement — AirBnBs end goal is a lot to do with prepping and retaining customer engagement. They have a ton of data and they are not shy about using it to forge a path ahead. Foursquare has a dedicated user base. The persona of someone willing to take a chance with a host overlaps with that of an adventurer on an expedition to see what’s good in a foreign land. It intuitively makes a lot of sense
3. Global reach — Both these “startups” have global reach and would dovetail nicely with their own respective strategies for expansion. You could easily pile on users for different use cases and get a quick start guide. Vice Versa — you could pretty easily bubble up vacation suggestions on the 4square app and let the engagement drive the rest of the point home
4. Distraction — Litigation, jockeying by lobbyists, squatters and startups dedicated to fighting AirBnB all come with the territory of success. But do you really want to be dragged through the mud while you prep for the roadshow that leads to your eventual IPO? And with Uber stealing a march on collaborative consumption, for better or for worse, do you really want bad PR? Better to refocus the energies on the customer, their value and a new experience — door to door.

Flights of fancy yes, but this particular MVP could start pretty easily with an API integration as well ☺