Topic: San Francisco

In 2007, Rhode Island School of Design roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Jebbia faced an inability to pay their rent in California. They launched a temporary bed and breakfast using three air mattresses during a sold-out design conference, calling it Air Bed & Breakfast. This "scrappy" idea eventually evolved into the billion-dollar company Airbnb.

In 2007, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia faced an inability to pay rent for their San Francisco loft. During a local design conference with sold-out hotels, they launched a temporary bed-and-breakfast using three air mattresses and a simple website called Air Bed & Breakfast. Despite initial investor rejections, the venture evolved from a desperate attempt to pay rent into a billion-dollar global company.