Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team | Hacker News Reader

Ashton Kutcher Joins the Airbnb Team

blog.airbnb.com

141 pointssinzone90 comments

Some of the comments here on HN about this are quite amusing, especially since many of the people who poo-poo Ashton's involvement in tech have no issues with a normal VC investment in a company. How is Ashton any more annoying than the concept of some random dude thinking he knows whether or not your idea will fly, simply because he was entrusted with tens (if not hundreds, or even thousands!) of millions dollars' worth of capital from pensions, wealthy people, and others? He's just another guy with money, no different from any of the rest -- except he has massive visibility, and his public image means he is less likely to pull some of the inane shit I've seen many "respected" Valley investors pull on my friends (which, by the way, never gets called out, as they are the ones who are the "sources" leaking things to scoop-hungry newspapers and blogs).

I know the drama kids didn't sit with the computer club kids at the high school lunch table, but really... guys, stop being a bunch of haters.

I think it's because he has no expertise on technology, can give you zero advice, will actually probably give you the wrong advice, cannot help you with your scaling or implementation issues, cannot refer you to the right technical people when you need it. The one thing that silicon valley has that none of us in the rest of the world have is a vibrant network of like minded, able and willing to help people. It's perfectly ok to invest, but I guess that doesn't make you part of the silicon valley. Plus it's the old nerds/jocks war.

Airbnb does not need technical advice right now.

What they want is cheap publicity, and it's exactly what they're getting with the actor.

It's a serious and common mistake to think that the majority of the challenges faced by a startup are technical, especially in a consumer facing startup. More than half the battle is getting people to know about your product, and AK knows marketing and promotion well.

This, this, this. Ashton Kutcher is, in all likelihood, a much better representative of one of the demographics Airbnb would like to access (wealthy hipsters) than any VC would be. The whole game is understanding your audience.

He's a professional entertainer and producer - someone very skilled at connecting with the customers Airbnb want, half of whom probably grew up watching Punk'd - with ungodly reach on Twitter.

That's rarer, and harder to buy, than deep technical skill. That you can buy with cash and equity.

Exactly - 6 million Twitter followers and nearly 10 million Facebook fans make for a powerful strategic investor. In a crowded market flush with capital this kind of exposure is far more valuable than another funding round from a highly technical VC.

Ashton has been a very helpful angel for us and he uses so many tech products that he actually gives great advice.

Him not being part of the valley is a plus! Every VC knows the same exact execs at Facebook, Twitter, Groupon, etc, so you get little benefit from having multiple Sand Hill Road VCs on your team. Ashton can connect you to a whole different world of people and influencers who could really help your company.

I want more Ashtons.

What about Bruce Willis?

Maybe the blog post just read disingenuously. "New media expert", really?

I've got lots of respect for the AirBnB team. They've done a great job building their business and if this helps then good for them.

'New media expert' is a pretty lame title, but he definitely has something to add. He is an internationally recognized celebrity, and Airbnb is a company crossing the chasm and trying to pull in the laggards. Convincing people to use Airbnb is going to take more than ranking high in Google and having the proper precautions in place. Ashton brings insight to the rest of the world. If anything, I'd say he's an 'old media expert'. Or, maybe a branding and publicity expert.

'Celebrity spokesperson'?

I think that's a fitting description.

Your post is spot-on, especially on the comments here being amusing! This is so obviously a huge win that could change the game for AirBNB. Any kind of popular service can be made or broken by a cool, famous person using it or not using it. The most popular draw on Twitter is celebrities!

He's no William Shatner.

Because having Twitter followers and some cash doesn't make you a tech expert, and the media loves to portray him as both that and a social media guru.

Furthermore, there's a big difference between making an investment and "joining the team."

I totally agree with you, and while I am not a fan of anything Ashton has ever acted in or done with that career -- I can say I think he is doing a fantastic job with his investment choices.

Now, that appears to largely be attributed to the people he has been able to surround himself with.

With that said, I don't think any of us would be any different. If you have them money - and you get introduced to people who are very tech savvy, and you have a fairly intense interest in where tech is heading - which it would appear he does -- then this is an obvious and intelligent path one would take.

Further, the more that he is surrounded by these other savvy tech investors, speaks with and joins teams like AirBnB - the more I would imagine he would learn and think up additional things.

So, I have respect for what he is doing in this area.

Also, I would like to point out someone who is thought of as a tech expert and social media guru (by many, not me) - Kevin Rose.

Here is a guy who, in my mind, is milking hi tech media status. Even his fucking incubator for his pet projects is called MILK for god sakes.

The guy is portrayed as someone who should be setting trends - yet I have yet to see an original idea (And if you think Digg was original, then you have not been online long enough - it was a better skin on /. and a less sophisticated user-base thus giving it wider appeal)

So, I say good on Ashton for pursuing something other than acting.

Maybe Kevin should pursue something other than tech.

I know the drama kids didn't sit with the computer club kids at the high school lunch table

We did at my school.

I think angel investing is cool precisely because it is a bad investment. Ashton Kutcher could give all of his money to a responsible financial planner but why not gamble some on the next big thing? AirBNB seems like a good choice for him to bet on, and they'll benefit from his notoriety.

From what I've seen Ashton Kutcher tends to invest in companies that make tech that he really wants use. I don't think profit is really the number one thing on his mind - he already has money. And since it was revealed that he was involved in the Skype deal I bet his portfolio isn't hurting anyway.

Investing in products and services that you like and use is a profit-driven investment strategy.

I've been meaning to write about the absolutely horrible experience I had using AirBnB in San Francisco recently. It was a nightmare.

The place was filthy (the pictures online were taken on their best day ever), the people were unfriendly, the room was small and dank- with no way to even lock the door. It was really, really bad.

I suppose it would be worth a gamble if you have the means to change plans on a dime and pay for a last minute hotel- whatever the price. That's what I had to do. But then, those aren't the people AirBnB is catering to, right?

Definitely an edge case, but I believe it is because of cases like this that AirBnB holds your payment until 24 hours after you've checked in. You were refunded, right?

Yes- the refund policies vary. This place had a liberal refund policy, so I got everything but the first night back. So, to be fair- not a big loss.

It all turned out OK in the end for me, but I can't say I'm a big fan after the experience. I'm sure that there are plenty of great experiences others have had to counter balance my poor one, tho.

We found a place in Budapest for a stag do, via AirBNB, and it was great. Big, clean, well located, cheap, and the landlord was cool. So experiences definitely do vary. I'd certainly go back to AirBNB after this experience.

I guess I'm like Fred Wilson who said "Why would anyone want to rent someone's couch" - I'm probably out of touch or just mildly privileged.

But the idea of sleeping on some stranger's couch doesn't appeal at all (plus the unknowns like cleanliness, security, etc)

Using AirBnB for the first time -- currently staying at a great apartment in Manhattan. My girlfriend and I are both quite happy! Both of us, and the apartment owner, are first-time AirBnB'ers. It _can_ work, I believe, but you've got to vet things carefully.

We had to work around an understandable but (I think) misguided AirBnB restriction that makes it hard to get phone numbers in to messages -- it's so important to be able to talk to someone to understand who you're dealing with!

From what I've seen, with most of them you either get your own bedroom or the entire house/apartment. It's really no different from a typical vacation rental, except the owner is possibly crashing at a friend's house or a motel during your stay.

I've used AirBnB twice, in DC (private room) and Paris (studio flat), with absolutely stellar results.

Any industry that's about to be disrupted has similar "horror-stories" (obviously that's also true for industries that then doesn't go on to be disrupted) and the plural of anecdote isn't data.

My gf and I just found an amazing place in SF for only 60 bucks a night, right on golden gate park. It was 10x better than anything we could have gotten for even $200 a night at a hotel. Don't write off the site because of one bad experience.

I lost respect for Ashton after the thing a few days ago where he released the "Aplusk twitter app" with the tag line "...my latest creation..." and it's just another app rebranded. Seems he's just selling his name now.

Which app?

I think citricsquid is referring to this: http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/23/ashton-kutcher-twitter-app/

Donald Trump does that all the time with properties, this is just the Internet version of that.

Who has respect for Donald Trump?

People who buy his books?

Donald Trump.

I have more respect for Donald Trump than Mark Cuban.

It used to be the other way around for me, until I saw him on Shark Tank (where he just came off as a huge bully).

being an internet version of Donald Trump is not something I would aspire to

Might have just been copy Demand Media wrote for him.

This is funny on so many levels.

I've heard good things about the Kutch from people I respect.

This blog post is really bad poorly wrought though. I wonder how many different pens and motives went in to crafting this monument to celebrity PR garbage.

I'm calling it now: within a year there'll be a romantic comedy movie out called Airbnb (or equiv), starring Ashton, and involving, well, you can guess. Not only will it make for a great gimmick to hang that kind of movie around, but it would be massive "free" advertising for the company's service.

This and his Twitter following are the obvious, most likely wins for Airbnb.

Sponsored celebrity tweets can be obtained for a fairly reasonable fee.

Here's his value add: Ashton's going to show that the service is so trustworthy that he'll start using it himself. You can't get that anywhere else.

I think it's weird how there hasn't been more press coverage of celebrities getting into business and tech. Ashton Kutcher, 50 Cent, Chamillionaire, and other actors and musicians could be a pretty big inspiration to a lot of the teenagers out there.

Why is it weird? All the 'piracy' or lack of quality content has led to decreased profits through traditional movie and music products.

Did you know 50 Cent publishes a series of ghostwritten fiction books available on Amazon.com(http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse... )?

..or his Twitter pump-and-dump for OTC penny stocks?

These celebrities have a certain lifestyle to maintain and need to keep the cash-flow up.

I saw and brought attention to his OTC "pump-and-dump". It turned out that he was an active investor in and advisor to the company (I think it was Gunnar Optiks) and it seemed to be mostly an honest mistake.

mostly an honest mistake

What percentage was dishonest?

He was trying to encourage people to buy stock in the company, but it did not appear that he was attempting to pump and dump the stock, and it did not appear that he was aware of the potentially illegal nature of what he was doing.

Basically he was treating it just like he'd tweet and tell everyone about some new artist that signed to his label.

I wonder what kind of value Ashton could provide through simply tweeting about AirBnB once a week to his audience - whether or not he had one half decent thing to contribute tech wise. That seems like a real big benefit for AirBnB if he chose to do it, because his influence and reach is so huge, and there is no marketing cost for him to do so.

Even more so, if he made a documentary, or even put some short youtube clips up off him staying at places listed on AirBnB.

Makes me jealous as a techie in India, where our rich and famous show very little interest in startups. Congratulations and good luck to AirBnb.

Makes me jealous as a techie in Germany, where our rich and famous show very little interest in startups. ;)

I guess California is just a notable exception to the rule.

So if I list my place on Airbnb, is there a chance Ashton will come crash on my couch? Because that would be a great marketing gimmick.

I think this used to be called celebrity endorsement.

I remember when companies would pay celebrities to endorse them, not vice-versa.

That was before companies became vehicles for multiplying money ;)

This reminds me of a random shower thought I had - we are living in an age of modern alchemy.

AKA - another bubble :P

Is this really a good thing? What does he offer?

Millions of Twitter followers.

Airbnb has done a great job already of promoting themselves (e.g., rent a country/village promotions) so I tend to think they know what they're doing. Kutcher could put his pad up there, get some of his famous friends to offer their places?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2586460

One word: Publicity. He will help them reach new audiences, and his audience is their target demographic.

I hope they have a plan to get a good director and good scripts

"Like Planet Hollywood and Flooz.com, MVP.com proved that celebrity endorsements are worth nothing in the long run."

via "Top 10 dot-com flops": http://www.cnet.com/1990-11136_1-6278387-1.html

I guess it's good news if it means less movies starring him... Did you see Killers? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1103153/ I did, and I'm sorry.

There was a great piece about Ashton and Demi by Fake Steeve Jobs; here it is: http://www.fakesteve.net/2009/10/i-just-had-weirdest-meeting...

That said I'm sure he's a really nice guy and all; but why would startups need celebrities? Having actors endorse your products in ads is one thing; having them hang around in the office is another... Isn't that a little distracting?

I didn't get the impression that he would actually be in the office all of the time.

I think you guys are being unnecessarily hard on Kutcher. It is a flawed assumption that being a celebrity (sportsman, musician) means you have no additional value.

There are medical doctors than when on to play football (the real one); Nigeria has a Cornell Physics PhD candidate that does rap. etc.

Why do you guys (critics) believe you can add better value to AirBnB than Aston.

I believe celebrities need to do a little bit extra to show they are more than what is seen on TV.

So take a moment to stop beefing and say

Congrats AirBnB for a nice coup.

It isn't that he is a celebrity, it is that he is Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso).

This isn't Natalie Portman we are talking about....

or even Dolph Lundgren:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolph_Lundgren#Education

Michael Kelso is a fictional character.

With the amount of followers Ashton have and the demographics of those followers a tweet alone could make it all worth it.

Airbnb is successful but still need much more traction. I think this will help them.

But there's no bubble.

Airbnb has a solid business model.

Hey now, I say if MC Hammer can promote good products (Flipboard), so can Ashton Kutcher.

MC Hammer also promotes crap products, like 49ers WR Michael Crabtree.

Congrats to the Airbnb team!!

the press release (read: blog post) was nauseating in its saccharine bullshit, but hners aren't the target audience... it was written for the legions of ak fans who know ak but not airbnb.

Valleywag's take on Ashton and Demi: http://gawker.com/5793552/ashton-and-demi-are-the-horsemen-o...

Ashton who?

He made a wise move, and I think AirBnB rocks, but I wish the guy would just go away.

He's not worthy.

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