Honest question: at what point does a company stop being called "[two] guys (...) at a battle to save their company", and starts being called a multinational enterprise with ~2000 employees?
i know this is a popular talking point in tech forums, the whole "when does a startup stop being a startup when they have more employees than etc etc"
personally, i think the point where a startup becomes a company is very clear: the point where the company's core business is able to provide sustainable positive cash flow. i believe that as long as a company is still in the "burn rate" phase where instead of trying to figure out where they can squeeze more profits, they're simply trying to figure out how long they can keep running with what money they have left, then they're firmly still in the startup phase.
Humble guys?? How about those ads where they basically bragged about how benevolent they were for finally being strong armed into paying their back taxes? And then the PR guy was completely unprofessional to the reporters who asked if it was really an actual ad campaign because it was so shockingly distasteful and absurd.
"We emailed Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty to ask whether the library ad was "real." He responded by email, "as opposed to a fake one :)"
A follow up email, explaining that we were in fact seeking confirmation as to whether the ads are actually from Airbnb received the following response: "Are you seriously writing on this?"
Nulty did not respond to another follow up email. "
He seems pretty ruthless; willing to do anything to make money. Running a spam operation is a questionable act. These same attitudes and acts of moral wrongdoing seem to perpetuate along the operations of his current company (Airbnb). What's to stop him except of course the risk of facing criminal legal charges?
I don't think ruthless because I don't know if he physically hurt anyone, but its a secret how he got off FBI top list with no consequences whatsoever.
Perhaps high connected friends - who knows? But there are people sending 1/1000th of spam volume he did and are doing 10 years in jail, so ultimately that's where I think Nathan belongs.
I know their lead JavaScript guy is not too humble at all. He's a real asshole on IRC and you'll see exactly what I mean if you have a disagreement with him.
I think you should re read your statement. In particular: "..constant battle to save their company". Is a person who raises 500 million in funding constantly at a battle to save their company?
That capital comes with an expectation of significant return. It's not an unstrung purse with guarantee of perpetual safety.
I think the comment more refers to hospitality industry litigiousness (and sometimes, competition). I think any feeling of invincibility would be curtailed by constant embattlement in their own headquarter city.
That or breaking zoning laws in cities and making the rest of us miserable while our "neighbor" profits.
You ever had a surprise AirBnB right above you? At 4AM on a Wednesday morning? Yeah, the tenant got dinged, eventually... maybe. I still had the joy of feeling someone's musical choices during time I had planned to be asleep with no real recourse from security or the police.
Why are you mad with airbnb and not with your local police? It's not airbnb's job to handle noise complaints, but it is the job of your local police to enforce the law (whether it's the law against short term sublets or the law against noise).
They seem like humble guys who are constantly at battle to save their company.