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We know about many actors who have been stars overnight. But, probably, you may not know about a brand that became a sensation overnight. Some friends created a website and became a global sensation. However, people do not know about the hard work that has been put in.
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Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky met at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002. Joe made a mattress especially for those who suffer from back pain. He also created a website for selling this mattress. Product designers presented that the mattress was made from eco-friendly resources and called it Amazon for sustainable materials.
Meanwhile, Brian quit the job of designer from Simon Cowell's television show. After leaving his job, he came along and settled with Joe, his old classmate.
In 2007, they were struggling even to pay rent, and They wanted cash as soon as possible. A design conference was going to be held in San Francisco. They contacted the organizers for a stay and found that every hotel in the city was booked. They both had an idea.
This idea certainly made them arrange for rent. They thought, "Can conference visitors be provided with a renting facility at others' homes near the place?" They bought three mattresses for this purpose. They also created a website and named it airbedandbreakfast.com. They decided on the cost of eighty dollars per night stay. Six days later, they got their first customer.
The 30-year-old Indian, a 35-year-old woman from Boston, and a 45-year-old uncle from Utah became their first guests. They then served the roommates matching service for the first four months and found that roommates.com already existed. Knowing this, they returned to Air Bed and Breakfast. They launched the brand a second time, but nobody noticed.
The third time, they targeted the time when hotels were full. It was 2008, and the music festival was about to take place in Austin. But, they could capture only two householders, one of which was Brian's. There was neither response from the start-up nor money. So, they contacted Angel Investors. They met over 15 investors but were poorly rejected.
By the way, Nathan had also joined them. He was a programming expert. Three of them created a new website together. More than 800 listings were made in a single week. Despite all the listings, they were not getting money; customers were not approaching. They did a creative PR stunt a week before the election's time.
They branded breakfast packaging in the name of Obama's O's and Cap'n McCain – leaders of both parties. They sold 800 limited edition boxes at $ 40 and earned thirty thousand dollars. Coincidently, they caught the attention of Paul Graham, a venture capitalist. They had the opportunity to join Y Combinator, a well-known start-up accelerator. They worked there for three months. Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures provided funding, and the rest is history.
The sweetness of philosophy that comes from the story of struggle is always different. At first, there is always a zero, but every single one is added to one after that. So, the story starring zero, in the beginning, is always pleasant.
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