7 ms·
A lot of tech is getting hit, it seems like Airbnb is more in the spotlight
by drwl 6y ago
A lot of tech is getting hit, it seems like Airbnb is more in the spotlight
- remote_phone 6y agoFANG is surviving, if not thriving. A lot of famous companies will disappear in the next 9 months. This feels a lot like the dotcom bust to me.
- dillonmckay 6y agoAll global companies, too.
- three_seagrass 6y agoQ1 results only cover a few weeks of the lock down. FAANGs require consumers to continue spending, and with 30+ million unemployed, that's a lot less disposable income and piling debt. We won't be able to fully see the results of the pandemic in the FAANGs until early Q3.
- DamnYuppie 6y agoWhy do people consider AirBnB tech? They are a services company with a website connecting external parties. This isn't hard tech, this is marketing. Edit: It seems people are under the impression that because you have lots of technology that is required to run your company you are a technology company. I don't believe that to be true in this day and age, tire distributors probably have more technology requirements then AirBnB does but we don't consider them tech companies. By the same token I wouldn't consider Expedia/Travelocity etc to be tech companies either the use tech to provide a service.
- keiferski 6y agoI’d probably put them in the same category as Etsy: tech-enabled marketplaces.
- GuiA 6y agoShortest answer: because they went through YC.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- KoftaBob 6y agoTheir core business is a marketplace connecting travelers to hosts and their homes/rooms. That marketplace is software. If you're a company selling a service that is completely software based, are you not a tech company? By the definition you seem to be using, the only companies that can be considered tech are enterprise SaaS.
- Barrin92 6y agoThe defining feature of tech is marginal cost of production close to zero at scale . Meaning, as you grow your business you increasingly automate away human labour. That's why Instagram was worth billions with 13 employees. You're not a technology company just because you rely on software. Walmart makes software too, much more of it than airbnb actually. You're a technology company if you automate away human labour. This doesn't really seem to be the case for most of these 'marketplace' companies which is reflected in their margins. They just have to keep adding more labour as they expand.
- decafninja 6y agoMy personal take on what defines a "tech company" is a company that understands and respects that tech drives its business and thus treats its tech employees with respect. Almost every large company is tech driven these days. But in a lot of them, tech is considered more of a necessary evil "cost center". The tech employees are treated as second class citizens compared to the marketers, salespeople, traders, etc. who are the "profit center". A big investment bank (disclosure: I work at one) arguably has more tech running through its veins these days than say, Airbnb. But I would firmly classify Airbnb as a "tech company" per the above definition, and the bank as "not a tech company".