TMoney wrote:
Avocado, you certainly are no expert. It may be caused by a tech bubble, but current valuations of several companies are in this neighborhood that show no revenue. Twitter has no real revenue stream, and has a much higher valuation. There is a long list of current tech companies moving toward IPOs.
You have no idea what you're talking about. Twitter has a very substantial revenue stream, with 2011 advertising revenues that were projected at about $150 million early this year. Twitter also has (among other things) a vastly greater customer base than Airbnb. Comparing those two very different companies is just silly.
No competent analyst would say that a company must be worth a billion dollars merely because other companies with tiny gross revenues and no significant net revenues have such valuations. You can't turn a corner hot-dog stand (or website) into a billion-dollar enterprise merely by proclaiming that you're "moving toward" an initial public offering and, like other companies heading toward the public markets, you have no significant profits.