Ahead of IPO, Airbnb achieves profitability for second year in a row
They're often considered similar businesses, but intuitively it seems to me that, long-term, Airbnb will be valued higher than Uber and other ridesharing companies.<p>Home rentals seem to be simpler market to operate in than coordinating real-time supply and demand between drivers & riders. Additionally, Uber seems to be facing issues on the driver side of the business - they have a $650 driver acquisition cost & a 12% monthly churn rate [1].<p>It seems to me like this is the economics problem of a return on capital (Airbnb) vs. return on labor (Uber, etc.) playing out in the on-demand space.<p>[1] <a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4231786-will-wall-street-show-uber-patience-amazon" rel="nofollow">https://seekingalpha.com/article/4231786-will-wall-street-sh...</a>