Re:Airbnb to earn $183M in 2012 (I think)
by rwhitman on Friday July 06, 2012 @12:10PM
(#4208343)
The barrier to entry is that they have the largest marketplace. Anyone entering this space needs to acquire both buyers and sellers, and convince them that their network is more valuable.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Yes, I acknowledged this point in the original post and I don't disagree that it is a substantial hurdle.
One could have made the same argument for Groupon circa 2009. Look at it now. (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/business/smallbusiness/10s... or their stock price chart)
Here's an example competitor: http://www.onefinestay.com/