How Airbnb Founders Grew From An Idea To A $31 Billion Company

It all started with two guys, and an air mattress. In 2007, Brain Chesky and Joe Gebbia were broke and looking desperately to make some extra money to pay their rent in San Francisco.

Instead of just finding odd jobs, they decided to do something very creative at the time: rent out air mattresses in their apartment to attendees of a conference because all the hotels were booked and expensive.

The two friends had yet to learn that their simple idea would turn into a multi-billion-dollar business. Today, Airbnb is the world’s largest online marketplace for booking rooms and other accommodations.

Before Airbnb, They were two college students.

The two founders met while attending the Rhode Island School of Design college. They were both studying Industrial Design.

Chesky and Gebbia had very different college experiences. Chesky was very outgoing and was always organizing social events. On the other hand, Gebbia was more introverted and spent most of his time on his design projects.

Despite their different personalities, the two friends bonded over their passion for design. They would often work on projects together and bounce ideas off each other.