after attending college, chesky worked as an industrial designer and strategist at 3did, inc. in los angeles. he later moved to san francisco, where he shared an apartment with gebbia. in october 2007, the industrial designers society of america was hosting a conference in san francisco and all hotel rooms were booked. the pair could not afford rent for the month and decided to rent their apartment for money. they purchased three air mattresses and marketed this idea as "airbed and breakfast", with three guests staying the first night.