Hi again Johnny and everyone. Could we please take the individual discussions about bugs and stuff offline? Just start a PM thread wth those interested, Johnny. Thanks!
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You not only physically changed the address and title of the property to â123 Testingâ, if you said you imported the property from Airbnb, you also changed the picture of the property, because the picture you uploaded is a picture of star (X image), not a property image and our system did not and would never import a random star image, but whatever title and pictures you uploaded on Airbnb.
Secodly, if you checked âHelpâ on the site, you would see how the Import Property works and we encouraged users to create their properties from the start, using our property creation tools, which only takes one and half minutes to complete; and ask them to check what they imported, if they decided to import their properties from other sites, as Airbnb and other sites change their API every time. It just an option.
Thirdly, you can Edit any property and change anything, using the Edit tool on the property.
Lastly, if you must know, Airbnb and other property sites in the US, pay all their hosts in dollars from their accounts in the US and the Gateways they use change/convert the dollar amout into whatever currency the users chose. And they charge conversion fee for the transactions. Itâs not different from what we do.
Youâre right. I uploaded an image of a snowflake because the import didnât bring any images over, so I had to add one before the listing would save.
I read the help. It didnât.
You can indeed use the edit tool to edit anything. But I donât see how to delete the listing, But to be honest my session gets dropped and Iâm returned to home / beta login screen a lot, so I may be missing something.
Iâm fully aware of how Airbnb pay their hosts in the UK and how fees are calculated. I hadnât realised that your system is intended to be US-centric, so I have probably been wasting my time here.
I also sense that you are responding in a defensive, rather than receptive, way to the issues I have noted, and rather than antagonise you any further Iâll simply leave it there and hope that you can delete the test account & listing for me.
Good luck, itâs a difficult market that needs more players, and I hope that you can get it live before the investment capital runs out.
I am confused about some ideas about VacationHosting.com.
Itâs not about bugs and the product being ironed out.
I will be most sympathetic with efforts to solve bugs. As I very well know myself, there is a major difference between developing something that works in your âgarageâ, in the abstract, and what works in the real world. The reality is that a software product ends up much better by releasing small blocks in the wild, than releasing an entire product. This is the purpose of the private beta.
To be clear, @WyeView, my experience there is no such thing as âtoo earlyâ: if you are not ashamed of your first product, you havenât released that product fast enough. I absolutely was terribly ashamed, to the point were I was incredibly surprised when someone registered on Smartbnb in May last year (at the time, you could subscribe for 5$/month, and I made just one client 
. Now, itâs $18, and Smartbnb runs on nearly 4000 properties).
I imagine all members of this conversation are grown-ups and can take some flak.
What I am confused about is this:
- What is the one thing that you want to do better than Airbnb? So far, you are just a copycat.
- The logo is super basic, and that comes from a guy whose companyâs logo is very basic. The thing that differs is that you are a marketplace. Your value doesnât come from listings, it comes from your ability to attract bookings. No guest will book this.
- I couldnât find any address. This is very concerning. If you grow to become a marketplace, you will be in charge of securing transactions and paying hosts. There is no trust if you donât have an address.
- VacationHostings, Inc. is a company incorporated in Georgia, US. You wouldnât know about it without research, because there is no address on the website.
- There is no âgetting back to the officeâ, because there is no office. VacationHostings, Inc, is headquartered in what seems like a mall (where there is a post office).
- More worrying, from a business perspective: the domain name was registered in 2011, the company was incorporated in 2014, and the product is released just now in a private beta. As a reminder, this is what Airbnb looked like in 2011:
In 2014, Airbnb introduced the âBeloâ, their new brand sign.
What have you done in the past years?!? Why did you wait so much between registering the domain name and incorporating?
Apparently, you have not secured VC capital, you have not released a product, that you couldnât possibly perfect, you have not secured any transactions.
What could possibly convince people that you can solve your problems and iterate on that in the next 3 months?! Your strength (whether you are a solo founder or a small team) is that you can iterate FAAAAST. There are hundreds of companies there were created in 2011 that have been sold in 2017 at 100 M$ valuations.
- Who is âJohn Johnsonâ @Johnny ? There is no John in the founderâs team. Neeedless to say âJohn Johsonâ is about the most anglo-saxon name I could come up with, just behind âMike Smithâ for some reason.
These are some serious concerns, that have to do with trust. In this market just like any other, trust is everything. Sadly, it doesnât have to do with bugs, but with the very essence of the start-up, and what you want to achieve. Please do yourself a favor, and clarify.
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Why worry about when we incorporated and when we built our website. Why donât you just focus on your business.
You just like to plug your business in the discussion. Why donât you start your own thread.
If you have nothing positive, do not bother.
Weâre in private beta and people are registering to discover what we have to offer. Thatâs what beta is all about.
Smartbnb has an established reputation on this forum as a transparent, honest and valuable contributor. You havenât offered anything but snide retorts to legitimate questions and comments.
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âIf you have nothing positive, do not bother.â
Johnny, youâre getting a bit out of line here. Itâs not going to do you any favours.
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@Johnny please do not insult valuable members of our forum like @smartbnb.io. He is an established member who has given all of us much needed advice and contributions. You have just joined, to promote your, albeit relevant, website.
The moderators take insults very seriously, so please consider this your only warning.
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There are thousands of companies that registered domain names since 1995 that have not built any websites or business with them.
He just came to attack, talking about why havenât we launched our site. Isnât it when youâre ready for business that you do business? You have to plan a business before you do a business.
We never advertised that we received any funding anywhere. Why the attack?
You used my favorite quote @smartbnb.io. âIf you arenât embarrassed of your product you waited to long to launchâ. This is a discussion DH and I have regularly about our âside projectsâ.
Please everyone, donât consider this as an insult or an attack. I am a snowflake, but I can take some flak! 
You are apparently, however late, at the beginning of your journey.
It is worrying that you are so slow to come to the party, because it demonstrates a limited ability to iterate and execute. If you donât understand that, people on this thread have lost their time. You, as an entrepreneur, are losing far more, and you shouldnât. This is a major red flag for everyone in this thread.
Your business is not about the software product, it is about marketing. The greatest achievement of Airbnb is not code (WHO CARES REALLY!) it is about creating a marketplace where people share their spaces. So far, you are a copycat, with nothing that is specific to your business. Airbnb resisted to a TON of copycats.
Everyone on this thread should see this: https://youtu.be/W608u6sBFpo?t=1h1m39s
GOSH, here is my best takeaway from starting a company. People can contribute in two ways to your business. By paying (easy) or by giving advice (hard). Those giving advice have the potential to generate value for all your users. Some will be wrong, but the questions have been asking are super simple:
- Who are you, @Johnny ?
- What is your one strength?
- What is your story?
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Please, do not lecture me about domain names, websites or the internet. One of the things that you should have discovered by now is that your business will hardly be a success if you continue to show your inexperience and immaturity on a public forum.
And remember that on a public forum, you never know who you are talking to.
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Gosh, no. I came to add value to your business by dispelling some risk for the community of hosts you want to convince. You are not convincing anyone by attacking me ad hominem (which I have grown to take as a sign of weakness from a self-designed âopponentâ).
You are new to this business, and some users of this forum are far older in that market than you are. âListen to your potential usersâ is, like, the first lesson of creating a business.
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I never attacked anyone since Iâve been on this forum. Why all this all of a sudden?
I did not attack you and never commented on your business since Iâve been on this forum.
Please you are not adding any value to anything. We know and understand our industry and business. Just let us be.
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As if I could prevent you from⌠what exactly? Launching? Having revenue?
I wish you would succeed, because Airbnb as a product can be disrupted. âWhy would that be you?â is all I have been asking, and you refuse to consider this as a genuine question.
By failing to reply to who you are, what do you want to be your strength, and what is your story, and prefer to attack someone ad hominem, I just wish you could realize, however personal that is for you, this business is not going anywhere without people like me, that just beg to be convinced that you are the next Airbnb.
Thanks to @konacoconutz for reopening this thread, this was most informative.
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Because all of sudden you are using the resources of this forum to promote your business. In addition you are talking to people who are helping you for free as if they are your underlings. Phrases like âI explained to youâŚplease read itâ and âLastly, if you must knowâ is not how you should address forum members with legitimate questions. [quote=âJohnny, post:79, topic:13171â]
We know and understand our industry and business.
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But we donât know you and frankly, your answers donât show you to be someone that forum members would want to know. You are being defensive and dodgy. I hope all forum members will carefully weigh if they want to share their information with your site.
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