AirBnB's IPO is clearly going to be on hold for quite awhile, (maybe even until next year), as the effects of the COVID-19 wreak havoc on the short term rental industry well into 2020.
I just listened to Brian Chesky's message about giving hosts 25% of what they might have earned from COVID-19 approved reservation cancelations...I'd like to say thank you to Brian for that gesture, it will help.
I've been a host since late 2015 and my listing has earned AirBnB around $40K, (using a conservative 17% guest/host for total fees), over the preceding 4+ years so I would like to think I am already a vested partner in the company. Make no mistake, I feel like I have done well for myself over the years with this partnership...I managed to quit a mind numbingly stressful service industry job (at a hotel of course!) and start my own micro-hotel that allows me far more income and freedom...it's been great overall.
I think there is an opportunity for Mr. Chesky to do us all a solid now that there is a lengthy pause in place for the company's IPO...here is the pitch.
While we as hosts, and the company as a whole, will suffer a significant medium-term loss of revenue, fear not because there will be a return to normalcy. Nobody can accurately gauge when business will return to what it was, but travelers will return...and I suspect it will possibly be even better than before because guests will now be more cautious about choosing to book stays in hotels which may be viewed as cross-contamination threats whereas individual residences are far less prone to those issues and thus may be more desirable...just a theory though.
What I'm getting at is that we are going to suffer but we may be able to eventually help out both the individual hosts and the mother company quickly get back to some semblance of normalcy. I would suggest to the powers that be that they offer hosts the opportunity to buy into the company as stockholders before they present it as a public offering. We as hosts have already bought in to the idea of the company and we know that the business model at its core is a sound one. While AirBnB could go looking for significant bridge funding from loans and venture capital to help keep things moving along until the COVID-19 crisis subsides, they could also probably find a significant source of funds from the very hosts who have made the company so valuable. With over 7 million properties worldwide (660,000 in the US alone) how many hosts may be willing to buy at least $100 worth of AirBnB stock? If only 1.75 million hosts invested $200 apiece that would be $350,000,000...I would invest A LOT MORE than $200 if I had the opportunity. In a few years when things are humming along again that investment would be worth appreciably more...a nice dividend to either help make up for the lost revenue from COVID-19 or just a solid long term investment to hold onto. In order to be fair, anyone buying stock would have to have been a legacy host who had been with AirBnB since perhaps at least 2019...otherwise everyone would just open a new host account to get in on the deal.
Anyway, I don't think I'm alone when I say I have a few bucks I'd be willing to invest in AiBnB right now if it would help to insure the solvency and resiliency of the company as it moves through this unexpected downturn towards what will almost certainly be a steady rise back to what it was before COVID-19 surprised us all.
Be well, wash your hands a lot, and believe in the future!
