Billionaire investor Peter Thiel on why you should buy AirBnB stock when it goes on sale this week

Limousine Libertarian wrote:

adsfdasfasfsafadfa wrote:

So you would have no problem with your neighbor running a day car facility, homeless shelter, assembly line, car detailing and repair shop, and so on out of their house? After all why should you have any right to decide what they do with their property?

I would not only tolerate but encourage that.

Ok, you’ve both lost me now. No, there’s nothing wrong with somebody paying you money to use a house for the original purpose of a house, condo, etc. You wouldn’t encourage your neighbors to run a homeless shelter out of their home. If you would then you’d already be doing it. Sit down

Come On wrote:

Limousine Libertarian wrote:

I would not only tolerate but encourage that.

Ok, you’ve both lost me now. No, there’s nothing wrong with somebody paying you money to use a house for the original purpose of a house, condo, etc. You wouldn’t encourage your neighbors to run a homeless shelter out of their home. If you would then you’d already be doing it. Sit down

Your objection doesn't make sense. It's already common ("legal" or not) for people to use their private residences to run day cares, repair shops, and yes even homeless shelters. You say it like it's an absurd hypothetical.

Coevett wrote:

Sham 69 wrote:

What is Air BnB?

'Remove the middleman' applied to tourist accommodation. The guy who founded it was a regular poster here who would often be called stupid by the trolls. Now he's a billionaire.

And a sub 15 5K pb.

There were 3 founders. I’m pretty sure none of them were good runners.

Chris Lukezic is high up in the company and he ran 3:34 in the 1500m, so I’m sure he could run under 15 5k.

I will be looking for opportunities to buy AirBnB and to short Door Dash near the IPO pricing. Shares to short are hard to come by at IPO, so you may have to wait a bit until stock options become available.

I would agree on the call to go short on Uber. Hard hit during the pandemic. Their main business model is falling apart. They destroyed the cab industry by undercutting them on pricing by operating at a loss. The plan was that once the cabbies were out of the way, they would raise prices and cut pay to drivers. But then along came tons of additional demand for drivers from services like Grub Hub to casual delivery carriers for Amazon. Uber couldn't screw their drivers because they had to compete with other services. Now, Uber has conceded that its ultimate goal of driverless vehicles is not going to happen any time soon. Uber sold off its driverless vehicle division. So, it is hard to see how Uber finds any sustainable profitability.

AirBnB does not at all strike me as a big growth company. There is solid competition from VRBO, VACASA and a lot of smaller players in niche markets like beach and ski rentals who do quite well without having to list on the two big players. The pandemic bounce is not going to last with a vaccine presumably ending the pandemic in 2021. And people are getting wise to the fact that you can duck the fees by going directly to the owner after you rent one time from an online service.

Vrbo predates AirBnB and yet AirBnB has grown to 20% of the vacation rental market -- without tapping public markets. Now they will be awash in cash for scaling up in the U.S. and, especially, internationally. They are absolutely poised for growth.

Come On wrote:

Limousine Libertarian wrote:

I would not only tolerate but encourage that.

Ok, you’ve both lost me now. No, there’s nothing wrong with somebody paying you money to use a house for the original purpose of a house, condo, etc. You wouldn’t encourage your neighbors to run a homeless shelter out of their home. If you would then you’d already be doing it. Sit down

The purpose of a house is to provide shelter and raise kids. Also a place to work on your car. So a homeless shelter, day care center, car repair, and so on is just as close to the original purpose as running a hotel right? You are right I am not encouraging my neighbors to run a homeless shelter. I am also not encouraging them to run hotels either.

In my experience, for a similar price as a Holiday Inn you get

* WiFi that works

* Parking, usually on driveway, meters away from your space

* Don't have to feel awkard walking through hotel lobby in your running shoes and shorts, going up elevator sweaty after your run

* Packets of Quaker oatmeal, coffee, tea, etc.

* Fridge, sometimes stocked with local beer

* Stove, microwave, utensils, dishes, etc.

* Don't have to wait in a line to check in/out

* "Extras" from host, sometimes

* Better range of locations to choose from

* Large, comfy bed

* Netflix

I think for the hosts it's a big initial investment to get a highly rated pad, and it's competitive, but once they've recooped that initial spend they make healthy profit margins. The highly rated hosts have guests the majority of days and are selective about who they choose (This is different than Uber, as highly rated drivers are usually desparate enough to pick up lowly rated riders). So I believe there's a social dynamic, like a feeling of being in an exclusive club, that helps drive the business.

Further, it's starting to fill the new demand for short-term apartment rentals, creating new business and also taking away business from Zillow.com and Apartments.com for example. It seems pricey until you realize that you're getting internet, parking and utilities paid for, and a no-strings-attached deal because you pay up-front and no bogus move-in fees or damage deposit.

This IPO was BS.

How the heck does it go up that much... ridic.

All the insiders that got in early make a killing. Another ponzi scheme.

That IPO is ridiculous. This is basically conformation that we're in a bubble, and the pop will be ugly. I'm not going to try and time it though.

just checking it out now. Doesn't look like there was a good opportunity or entry point for retail investors as it sure looks like it ended about where it started trading, due of course to demand, Trading IPO stocks on the open market is tricky. I used to do it back before the burst of the tech. bubble.

The real issue is when people are buying homes not to live in but for the sole propose if renting out. Now a neighborhood has to put up with this “investor”’s “investment” bringing in bachelorette parties ever weekend. The Airbnb owner has no skin in the game, while neighbors lose sleep and quality of life. Just another example of eroding social trust facilitated by Silicon Valley and “progress”. Easy money, so you know someone is getting absolutely f****d somewhere along the line.

I used to be a libertarian like yourself but then I grew up and realized that humans operate best under states of partial freedom. You’re either on the side of the neighbors or you’re on the side of global capital.

I would go with s&p over decades instead of paying attention to stupid tips

a town planner wrote:

The real issue is when people are buying homes not to live in but for the sole propose if renting out. Now a neighborhood has to put up with this “investor”’s “investment” bringing in bachelorette parties ever weekend. The Airbnb owner has no skin in the game, while neighbors lose sleep and quality of life. Just another example of eroding social trust facilitated by Silicon Valley and “progress”. Easy money, so you know someone is getting absolutely f****d somewhere along the line.

I used to be a libertarian like yourself but then I grew up and realized that humans operate best under states of partial freedom. You’re either on the side of the neighbors or you’re on the side of global capital.

Appeals to "eroding social trust" are just romanticized nonsense. Your quality of life isn't negatively impacted by your neighbor's rental home, unless they host loud parties, which is already solved by your local noise ordinances.