Hey, it's Kim Commando today, your daily podcast to keep you up to date with all things digital and beyond.

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Have you ever had one of those moments where you're like,

if only I could get this idea to market, and then I could be the next billionaire?

I would have this unicorn company.

It would be amazing.

And then you're like, well, I'll do that tomorrow.

Okay.

Well, so many of us have these ideas.

But joining us today is Nathan Blacharzig. He's the co-founder and chief strategy officer for Airbnb. Okay, we all know about Airbnb, but I don't know if you know how big Airbnb is. I mean, think about this. How many listings do you think are around Airbnb right now? How many? Make a guess. You're wrong. Okay. The right number is

7.7 million listings in 220 countries. And I admit, I've made a lot of money over the years

from Airbnb. I sold the properties, but it was pretty amazing at that time. So, Nathan, let's just start at the beginning.

How the heck did you guys come up with this idea for Airbnb?

I remember it had something to do with what?

An air mattress in San Francisco.

Is that right?

Yes, that's right.

Frankly, we were just trying to solve our own problem and pay the bills one weekend. You see, we were living together, the three of us. The three co-founders today were, you know, before there was a company, just roommates living in San Francisco. And our rent was raised 25%. Wow. And I said, well, you know what? Actually, I'm moving out of here.

That's too much for me.

The other two guys wanted to remain, but they had just quit their jobs to become entrepreneurs,

also known as unemployed.

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