Short-term rentals spur businesses around new services for visitors

Apr 2, 2018
As more and more vacationers book private residences for trips, using sites like Airbnb or HomeAway, there’s no front desk to call when they need something. So online concierge services and other support businesses are springing up in response. The New Jersey-based concierge service Stock the House, for example, provides somebody who will do grocery […]

When companies choose not to go public, does that hurt the public?

Feb 5, 2018
Fewer companies are going public than did 20 years ago. How does that change the fortunes of all Americans?
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Startups see untapped potential in apartment buildings

Aug 25, 2017
High-rise apartment buildings are a target for the growing home-sharing economy.
Construction workers work beside new apartment buildings in downtown Los Angeles, California on April 5, 2017.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

If you kick a white supremacist group off one service, another will be waiting for them

Aug 16, 2017
Parallel services are welcoming white supremacist groups that have been shunned by the mainstream media.
White nationalist Richard Spencer (center) and his supporters clash with Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park after the "Unite the Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Airbnb closes accounts linked to white supremacy rally

Aug 11, 2017
The company said it goes against its terms of service.
Carl Court/Getty Images

A Houston woman makes a split decision for home sharing

Feb 20, 2017
Her townhome is designed with two units to host short- or long-term paying guests.
Lydia Afeman’s townhouse in Houston is flexible on the inside, to allow for short or long-term paying guests. 
Florian Martin

Uber and Airbnb in the age of Trump

Jan 31, 2017
In his new book, Brad Stone writes about Silicon Valley startups that are changing the world.
A man poses holding a smartphone showing the App for ride-sharing cab service Uber in London on October 28, 2016. 

 
DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Disrupting the hotel industry and urban economies

Jan 26, 2017
Leigh Gallagher dives into the story of Airbnb in her new book, looking at how a business idea turned into a multibillion-dollar company.
Co-founders of Airbnb Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk speak at a Q&A at the Los Angeles Theatre during Airbnb Open LA on Nov. 19, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Mike Windle/Getty Images for Airbnb

Short-term rentals are reshaping real estate market in some cities

Sep 20, 2016
Some critics say popularity of Airbnb and other short-term rentals is discouraging investment in affordable housing.
The McMillin Court in Nashville, Tennessee, is now home to 16 short-term rental units that are booked through websites like Airbnb and VRBO. It had been apartments. The conversion has housing advocates worried about losing more affordable units. 
Tony Gonzalez