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Comment by nomadpass | Hacker News Reader

Am hoping some investor who may be lurking here might want to participate in our seed round. We have gotten some offers last week of 1.5-2m for 15% but terms not founder friendly.

We can email/fax proof if necessary to prove it.

Hoping the HN community can come to the rescue :)

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I'm not a lawyer, but be careful about general solicitation of investment.

SEC link: https://www.sec.gov/education/capitalraising/building-blocks...

Isn't this sort of a roadshow but aimed instead at angel investors and not the usual pre-IPO investors?

I'd take that deal while it's still on the table.

Thank you, I am considering it. It was 2m for 15%. But terms are not founder friendly.

I don't imagine they would be with a fairly high-risk idea like this.

Airbnb was high risk also in 2009...it may seem obvious now, but back then having someone stay in your house wasn't so obvious was it?

Yes, but high risk in a different way. Airbnb was high risk because it was a largely unproven business model. Nomad is high risk because it is entering a very crowded market without a killer feature.

https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smallbusiness/1003/gall...

    Funding: Cereal sales; Y Combinator incubator
    Amount raised: $30,000 from cereal; $20,000 from Y Combinator
    Launched: August 2008

> Months later, the AirbnB team was accepted by the Y Combinator incubator, which gave them three months of support and training and an additional $20,000 to fly to New York -- their biggest market at the time -- to meet users, throw launch parties and promote the site. By the time they exited the incubator and presented their project to investors, AirBnB was profitable. In return, Y Combinator took an equity stake in the company. AirBnB's founders won't say exactly how much they gave up, but Y Combinator's typical deals involve a 2% to 10% stake.

The business model was valid before YC noticed them and they were profitable when they left after the incubator.

Airbnb did not establish this business model. That was done by VRBO. Airbnb had an app (instead of just a website), looked much nicer (in my opinion) and suspect was easier to use particularly by the hosts.

Your offering is Airbnb but cheaper. It is possible that it can work (the market seems large enough that there could be room for three competitors), but I would suggest trying to understand why Airbnb charges 17% while still losing money. Are they simply inefficient operators or are there hidden costs that you haven't been thinking about. Also, talking to hosts about what aspects they do not like about Airbnb (other than price) is likely a good idea.

Also, I would suggest making it easy for hosts to list / operate their properties on Airbnb, VRBO and your system (if that is possible - I'm not certain if exclusivity is needed). If you can beat Airbnb at this, then you will automatically create a market for your system and can eventually start eating away at VRBO / Airbnb market share. Basically, commoditize the space and be the lowest cost participant. Just some thoughts.

No offense OP, but that’s a lot of money for a website with poor UX and no users. Take the money offered.

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