Wow, with everything that's going on, this kid has the nerve to do an FT story that's more about him than the current situation. Absolutely baffling how bad his judgement is.
Is anyone else finding it interesting to see how a bootstrapped startup is implementing tighter security standards and accepts slower growth as a consequence while the startup du hour, fueled by massive amounts of other people's money, is pursuing growth at all cost and with little regard for the consumer? Reminds me a little of the YouTube founders who wanted to grow and be acquired as fast as possible and willingly accepted pirated content.
I think this has nothing to do with Roomorama taking advantage of the situation for their own profit. If anything, these guys have every right to be pissed off that a careless competitor is tarnishing the whole industry.
I wish I could upvote that comment multiple times.
That's true in general. Bootstrapped startups, as a whole, are generally built to be long-standing real businesses, and they treat the business as such. You don't sink tons of your own money into an effort if you dont truly believe in the profitability of the business (profitability of the business, not potential valuation or perceived growth). Neither myself nor any of my friends who are bootstrapping their own firms pursue growth in favor of customer support, security or aggressive valuation.
They have every right to promote their differentiation. Speaking as someone who lives in a great part of Manhattan and is often out of town, I've never used AirBnb because I don't trust their verification. I will definitely look for a competitor that does more thorough screening, even if the volume and rental price is lower. It's worth it to me.
You should put the URL in the header.