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Jessica Livingston: Your Startup Idea Is Going to Evolve. Let It.

By Jessica Livingston · Startup Growth · 2 min read

Airbnb came to YC with the idea of renting out airbeds during conferences. Then it morphed — airbeds without conferences, then whole homes. Barry Manilow's drummer changed everything.

Key Points

It's more important to get started with something than to get the idea just right
Your idea is always going to evolve — Airbnb is one of the most famous examples
Barry Manilow's drummer asked to rent out his whole apartment. That became the majority of Airbnb's business.

Your idea is always going to evolve. Airbnb is to me one of the most famous examples of an idea that has evolved.

Get Started, Then Evolve

Interviewer: How important is it to get the idea just right at the beginning, or to just get started with something?

Livingston: I think it's more important to get started with something and build it. Because your idea is always going to evolve. Airbnb is to me one of the most famous examples of an idea that has evolved.

It's more important to get started. Your idea is always going to evolve.

Airbeds During Conferences

Livingston: They came to us with their idea — renting out airbeds in your home while you were there, during conferences. That's pretty focused. Then they said — OK, now we're renting out airbeds but not during conferences. Then it was renting out your whole home. It morphed.

Did all of that morphing happen during the YC program? No. How long did it take? I want to say about a year.

Airbeds during conferences → airbeds anytime → whole homes. It took about a year to morph.

Barry Manilow's Drummer

Livingston: Airbnb was always very strict about the host being home — so they could provide breakfast, because it was AirBedAndBreakfast.com.

Then one of their hosts was Barry Manilow's drummer. He had this great place in New York City. He contacted them and said — hey, Barry's going on tour, I'm going to be gone. Can I just rent out my apartment while I'm not there?

The Airbnb guys were like — oh, that doesn't really fit. But that's how they figured out how to rent out whole spaces. To this day, I think that's the majority of their business. It took something like that to get them to even consider doing it.

Barry Manilow's drummer asked to rent out his whole apartment. That became the majority of Airbnb's business.