“This is war. In a war between missionaries and mercenaries, the missionaries always win.”
Brian Chesky
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Today, Airbnb is one of the most successful tech companies in the world. Its listings span the globe. Its market cap is over $90 billion.
But back in 2011, Airbnb almost died. The assailant: two brothers from Germany with a history of copying the most successful startups.
Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, told the story of this near death experience on the excellent new Crucible Moments podcast by Sequoia.
A Perfect Clone
“One day, we like noticed that we’re getting all this scraping data and like a lot of weird messages are being sent to our hosts to list them on this site called Wimdu.”
Brian Chesky
Wimdu was a perfect clone of Airbnb. It was created by the Samwer Brothers in Berlin.
The Samwer brothers were notorious among US founders and VC’s. They had copied Groupon, and Airbnb was next.
“All of a sudden, I felt like we had a gun to our head.”
Brian Chesky
The Samwer brothers threatened to take over Europe, locking out Airbnb. Since Europe is where Airbnb’s American user base wanted to go, this could’ve kill the company.
Do or Die
The brothers invited Brian to Germany for a meeting.
“…make no mistake — this was do or die.” – Brian Chesky
Brian and Sequoia Partner Greg McAdoo arrived at the converted factory in Berlin that was home to Wimdu. They were shocked at what they saw: hundreds of people, cloning Airbnb.
“On the left monitor is Airbnb’s website and the right monitor is Wimdu. And literally there are designers and engineers cloning the site, like an assembly line cloning the product, in front of us.”
Brian Chesky
The Samwer brothers offered Brian and Greg a choice — buy us, or else.
Brian’s Choice
It would’ve been easier for Brian to buy Wimdu. But it would’ve diluted the company and encouraged more copycats.
Brian decided to stand firm.
“You had the baby, you raise the baby, I’m not adopting your baby. You raise the baby. And I thought ‘there’s no way they’re going to raise this baby for 18 years.’”
Brian Chesky
Brian was right. The Samwer brothers didn’t give a damn about connecting hosts with travelers. They just wanted a quick payday.
And indeed, the Samwer brothers gave up seven years later, in 2018.
What I Learned from Brian as an Investor
No founder who doesn’t care about the business will last 18 years.
To probe a founder’s motivations, I like to ask, “What made you want to start this business?” I’m looking for a personal connection to the problem.
Brian had experienced the pain of being unable to make rent. Taking in boarders saved him.
Brians are rare. But when you find one, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.
If companies I invest in are successful enough, they too will face copycats one day. Brian’s experience tells me not to worry — if I’ve backed the right horse, I’ll succeed.
Wrap-Up
Every company faces a near death experience.
Brian’s story shows us that the way to get through it is perseverance. That perseverance comes from a deep desire to solve a problem.
Have you faced a copycat? What happened?
Leave a comment and let us know!
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