PitchMagic

Airbnb pitch deck (2008)

Airbnb's 2008 pitch deck is the original AirBed&Breakfast seed deck, pitching a site to book a room with a local instead of a hotel. The company raised a $600K seed round. Founders still study the Airbnb pitch deck because it covers problem, market, model and ask in 14 short slides with almost no wasted words.

Company
Airbnb
Year
2008
Round
Seed
Raised
$600K
Slides
14
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Deck © Airbnb. Shared for learning, credited to scribd.com.

What's in the Airbnb pitch deck

All 14 slides, in order.

  1. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 1: Welcome

    Slide 1 · Welcome

    The AirBed&Breakfast logo and a one-line pitch, book rooms with locals rather than hotels.

  2. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 2: Problem

    Slide 2 · Problem

    Three problems. Price matters to people booking travel online, hotels cut you off from the city and its culture, and there is no easy way to book a room with a local or become a host.

  3. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 3: Solution

    Slide 3 · Solution

    A web platform where people rent out their space to travelers, so guests save money, hosts make money, and both share culture.

  4. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 4: Market Validation

    Slide 4 · Market Validation

    Couchsurfing.com has 660,000 total users and Craigslist had 50,000 temporary housing listings in one week in the US.

  5. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 5: Market Size

    Slide 5 · Market Size

    Three circles show 2 billion+ trips booked worldwide, 560M budget and online trips, and 84M trips as the share AirBed&Breakfast aims for.

  6. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 6: Product

    Slide 6 · Product

    Screenshots of the three-step flow, search by city, review listings, book it.

  7. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 7: Business Model

    Slide 7 · Business Model

    A 10% commission on each transaction, with 84M trips at an average $25 fee giving $2.1B in revenue projected by 2011.

  8. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 8: Adoption Strategy

    Slide 8 · Adoption Strategy

    Target big events like Oktoberfest and Mardi Gras, partner with cheap travel sites such as GoLoco, Kayak and Orbitz, and use a Craigslist dual posting feature.

  9. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 9: Competition

    Slide 9 · Competition

    A two-axis chart, affordable to expensive and offline to online, with AirBed&Breakfast alone in the affordable online corner next to Couchsurfing, Craigslist, Hotels.com, VRBO and others.

  10. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 10: Competitive Advantages

    Slide 10 · Competitive Advantages

    Six advantages, including first to market, host incentive, list once, ease of use, profiles, and design and brand.

  11. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 11: Team

    Slide 11 · Team

    Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk with one line each on their background, plus advisor Michael Seibel of Justin.tv.

  12. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 12: Press

    Slide 12 · Press

    Short quotes from blogs and sites including Mashable and Webware.

  13. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 13: User Testimonials

    Slide 13 · User Testimonials

    Four users with photos and one-line quotes about saving money and meeting people.

  14. Airbnb pitch deck, slide 14: Financial

    Slide 14 · Financial

    The ask, a $500K angel round for 12 months to reach 80,000 transactions and $2M in revenue at a $25 average fee.

What the Airbnb deck does well

  • Slide 2 names three problems in three short sentences, each one a real reason a traveler would switch.
  • Slides 4 and 5 prove demand with numbers from existing behavior on Couchsurfing and Craigslist before sizing the market.
  • Slide 14 ties the ask to one milestone, 80,000 transactions in 12 months, so investors know what the money buys.

What founders can learn from it

  • Point to people already doing a clumsy version of your idea, the way Airbnb used Couchsurfing and Craigslist, as your best early proof.
  • Show the revenue math in one line, users times fee equals revenue, instead of a full spreadsheet.
  • Keep each slide to one idea and a title that says what it is, so a busy investor can skim the whole deck in two minutes.

Questions about the Airbnb pitch deck

How many slides are in the Airbnb pitch deck?
The original 2008 Airbnb pitch deck has 14 slides.
What's in the Airbnb pitch deck?
It opens with a one-line pitch, then covers the problem, solution, market validation, market size, product, business model, adoption strategy, competition, competitive advantages, team, press, user testimonials and the financial ask.
Can I download the Airbnb pitch deck?
Yes. The full Airbnb pitch deck is free to download as a PDF on this page.
How much did Airbnb raise with this deck?
Airbnb raised a $600K seed round. The last slide of the deck asks for a $500K angel round to fund 12 months.
What problem did the Airbnb pitch deck describe?
It said travelers care about price, hotels leave you disconnected from the city, and there was no easy way to book a room with a local or become a host.

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