On: Airbnb’s Stunning IPO

[bob33212]

I assume most investors are smarter than that and are hoping AirBnB will build a monopoly similar to how google did with search and Wikipedia did with online encyclopedias.

A 5% monopoly tax on most rentals/hotels does give you a huge profit eventually.

[chungus_khan → bob33212]

There are a lot of tremendously unprofitable monopoly plays riding this sort of dream train, particularly since 2008.

Which ones will work and which ones won't is hard to tell, but that is indeed what investors are betting on.

At least Airbnb has a business model that could theoretically make it to profitability. An alarming number of these don't have any coherent path.

[Ekaros → bob33212]

I really wonder if these monopolies will happen.

Is there any paid service with actual monopoly yet? Amazon has market share, but also competitive prices. To me all of these big markets like taxi, food delivery and online booking seem rather low barrier of entry. And that the customers will be price aware. That can't be really compared with free services like Google, Wikipedia or Youtube...

[ialex → Ekaros]

VISA and Mastercard are close to monopoly there are also debt rating companies that control a market but cannot remember their name.

[chungus_khan → Ekaros]

The optimal shape for most markets is a duopoly. Both competitors get a large enough stake to continue growing, but don't really meaningfully compete, and don't have to worry as much about antitrust.

[JanisL → bob33212]

I just don't see a monopoly being possible in this space for a variety of reasons. Specifically it doesn't seem politically viable.