Last Wednesday，188bet announced its China plans and its Chinese name "188bet"。

The next few days，The discussion on Weibo and WeChat about 188bet hotel industry challenger is all about the mockery of the name。An important news about it has also been drowned - its "Didi" is coming。

Thursday，Tujia held a large-scale press conference，188bet consumer、Operator、Homeowners introduce what they will do in 2017。

At that press conference，Tujia announces short-term rental agreement with Ant、Ctrip、Elong、Where to go、58 Going to the market、WeChat Hotel、Sesame Credit cooperates with these eight platforms。

The landlord only needs to post one house，You can see it on these eight platforms。Tujia 188bet launched a management tool for landlords，Used to manage orders from these eight platforms at the same time。

Now，There are 450,000 rental properties on Tujia。And 188bet currently has only 80,000 listings in China。

188bet all looks like when Uber first came to China。A Silicon Valley entrepreneurial star is here，But there is already a Chinese competitor here。

For Tujia and other companies in the short-term rental market in China，188bet is a particularly good benchmark: valued at billion。Not only is its scale second only to Uber among unlisted companies 、Ant Financial and Xiaomi，And this company has been profitable since last year，Preparations for listing are already in progress，It will be available in the United States as soon as next year。

For Chinese technology companies that are used to finding an American company to benchmark and tell stories，188bet is the best choice at the moment。

Compared with Uber、Didi, which finally captured the Chinese market from Uber, received a valuation of 38 billion。Although Didi is now in trouble due to regulation，But 188bet is no longer within the control of the enterprise。

But there is one thing worth noting，188bet currently does not have any decent competitors in the world。The largest Home Away sold itself for only .9 billion when times declined。

Established to present，Uber has acquired a total of 174.0 million in funding，Even not counting the more than 10 billion US dollars Didi received，Uber’s competitors 188bet account for 30% of Uber’s funding。

188bet’s biggest competitor raised only 5.USD 500 million。If you don’t count China’s Tujia and Xiaozhu short-term rentals，In addition to Grab, a Southeast Asian ride-hailing company that has not announced financing over the weekend - it received US.5 billion in investment led by SoftBank，Used to support Grab and Uber’s money-burning confrontation in Southeast Asia。

188bet competitor since 2011，Appear one after another，Also failed one after another。

188bet was established in 2008，In the first two years, I lived on the edge of life and death and relied on the founder’s overdraft credit card、A company that sells cereal to make a living，How to defeat competitors，Gain the trust of landlords and tenants？

Earliest，It’s 188bet chasing CouchSurfing

Couchsurfing is 188bet’s first competitor。

2009，188bet has not received its first investment yet，A dozen orders every week。Couchsurfing has been established for five years、Has millions of listings，Just included in the travel guide "Lonely Planet"。

Essentially，Couchsurfing is actually a social network，The landlord takes in the tenant for free，While the landlord is traveling，You can 188bet sleep on a free sofa，Landlord and tenant met on Couchsurfing、Get to know each other，Deciding whether to host a Couchsurfer。

Couchsurfing has no mechanism to encourage users to attract new users，It can’t be considered a real business，All its users come 188bet organic growth，No one can make money 188bet Couchsurfing。Over a long period of time，Couchsurfing is a non-profit organization，Rely on volunteers to keep things running，The company’s only income is the service fee charged for verifying users’ identities。

For growth，End of 2009，188bet has set up a mechanism to automatically send emails，Taking advantage of people posting on classifieds site Craig's List (the original target of 58 Market) - they emailed everyone who posted on Cragilst using a Gmail address named after a woman，Suggest that they also list the house on 188bet。

They also developed a one-click method for landlords to post their houses to Craig's List of Tools，This is actually Craig's List is used as a place to advertise 188bet，188bet is integrated into the network of his biggest competitor。

2010，188bet joins startup incubator YC，Follow the mentor’s advice and go to New York、Visit the landlord，Finding ways to improve the host experience。

Soon，They found that houses with beautiful pictures were more booked。They used rented cameras to take photos of each landlord’s bedroom and backyard，Make the pages displayed by hosts on their website more attractive。Reservations for houses where photos have been taken have increased two to three times。The policy of providing free professional photography services to landlords has been preserved to 188bet day。

Before that，Only hotels will take beautiful photos and put them on the booking website。This rental industry initiative helps 188bet transition from a low-cost positioning similar to Couchsurfing，Transformation into an online travel accommodation company。

Second half of 2010，188bet, which graduated from YC, received investment from Sequoia and LinkedIn CEO，Its investment in advertising and photography has also paid off。By the end of the year，188bet’s total volume grows to 800,000，It grew 800% in one year。

2011，Couchsurfing transforms into a commercial company，Received a large investment from Benchmark, a heavyweight venture capital firm in Silicon Valley。The founding team with non-profit ideals all left，Volunteers were 188bet dismissed。The number of Couchsurfing members tripled after receiving venture capital，But it gradually lost its uniqueness。

But the Couchsurfing website has remained unchanged，Not useful enough。It has 188bet not solved the problem of landlord and tenant experience，Because neither party pays - the landlord has no incentive to improve the stay experience。

“I don’t think Couchsurfing is a contender。” 188bet co-founder Nathan Blechaczek later recalled，“They charge neither landlords nor tenants，So it’s more casual than 188bet’s service，Because you don’t pay the website，So your expectations for service are very low，This also means that the landlord will change his mind temporarily，But on 188bet，People pay，You can see a variety of choices。”

188bet’s profits all come from intermediary fees，It charges tenants a service fee of 6%-12%，Also charge a 3% service fee to the landlord。

This means that the price of each house that can be rented directly determines 188bet’s revenue，188bet helps hosts pack their rooms，Improve the attractiveness of your house，Let landlords make more money，The landlord is also motivated to provide a better experience for the tenants。In this way，A virtuous cycle of trust has been established between the platform and users。

"And，If you are traveling with your family，Maybe you don’t want to sleep on the same sofa。” Blachaczek added。But when 188bet first started，Air comes from the word air bed，Not that clever。Nothing more，When I graduated from the YC incubator in the winter of 2008，They have changed their company name from "Air Bed and Breakfast"，Changed to the current 188bet。

Similar transformation，appears in 188bet’s confrontation with each of its competitors。This kind of growth also takes 7 years，The key to its valuation increasing thousands of times。

Rely on global network，188bet defeats the first real threat WIMDU

Last November，European short-term rental platform WIMDU was acquired by a company 9flats。

That was a bleak-looking acquisition。Long before the acquisition，Wimdu’s major shareholder Rocket Internet is already selling its shares。

But in 2011，When WIMDU was first established in Berlin headquarters，It’s 188bet’s first real threat。

WIMDU’s interface design is almost identical to 188bet，The first batch of hosts at that time also used technical means to grab German host information from the 188bet website and sent emails one by one、obtained by calling。

At that time 188bet had European hosts registered，But no operations team outside the United States，There are only more than 20 people in the entire company。

WIMDU received a US million investment 188bet Rocket Internet, Germany’s largest incubator。In fact, WIMDU is the company incubated by the Samwer brothers, founders of Rocket Internet，They once made a German version of eBay、Groupon、Companies such as Yelp，Forcing Silicon Valley companies to buy back these companies when they expand overseas。

WIMDU even established a Chinese site "AiRi Rental"。Scaling to 400 employees in 100 days、Occupy the German market，The Samwer brothers started threatening 188bet very early Work with them.

188bet did not agree to the Samwer brothers in the end，Choose a head-on confrontation instead。The advantage of 188bet is，Based on the US market。

The United States is the country with the largest tourist spending in the world，Nearly twice as many as the second-placed China。Total annual tourist spending in the United States，More than 6 times that of Germany。When tourists arrive in the United States，When you want to live in people’s homes，He would use 188bet instead of WIMDU。The habit of using 188bet was brought to WIMDU’s headquarters by American tourists，Let American outbound tourists influence German landlords。

In this process，188bet hired a European entrepreneur, Olive Jung, to take charge of global expansion。He also once did the business of copying American companies in Europe，Invested in Xing, a workplace social network that imitates LinkedIn in Germany。

In the next year，Jung in Berlin、London、Berlin、Barcelona、Copenhagen、Milan、Moscow、Paris、Delhi、Office opened in St. Paul。He travels continuously between Asia and Europe，Interview with the manager in charge of the local office。188bet CEO Chesky also learned how to manage a global company in this process。

If we talk about the beginning of competition，188bet is still an American company。Wait until Jung leaves 188bet in 2013，188bet is already a completely global company。

Most people don’t stay in hotels in the cities where they live。188bet covers the global market，Ensure that users can rent a house wherever they go。corresponding，Its challengers cannot cover just a few markets，You must build a global network to challenge it。

End of 2012，Europe becomes 188bet’s largest market，Paris, the largest tourist destination in Europe, is the city with the largest number of 188bet orders。2013，Wimdu shuts down Chinese company Airizu。

Online travel platforms also want to do short-term rentals，But 188bet has chosen a different path

HomeAway, which went public in 2010, is currently the best among 188bet’s overseas competitors。

When 188bet becomes available，188bet is a company with a market capitalization of US.2 billion。But 188bet was sold to partners in 2015，When using the online travel platform Expedia，The price is only .9 billion，Not much increase。

Also from 2010 to 2015，188bet grew from a valuation of more than million to billion，Nearly a thousand times more。

188bet packaged and sold was VRBO, a vacation rental website owned by HomeAway。

Brain Stone writes in the book Upstart，Uber founder Travis Kalanick was also a VRBO user，Early 2009，Kalanick and friends rented a luxury apartment in Washington，Getting ready to watch Obama’s inauguration。At that time, Kalanick was hesitating whether to start a taxi business，One of the reasons is that he wants to make his own VRBO - a high-end version of 188bet。

Founded in 2005, HomeAway has long proven itself to be a viable business。It is different from 188bet’s initial development in big cities，HomeAway’s houses are mostly in tourist attractions like Hawaii。Also，Most of the houses on the platform are from the display of apartment management companies。HomeAway’s expansion at that time relied on batch access to third-party companies with a large number of housing listings，After being acquired by Expedia，HomeAway has joined an online travel platform with traffic and users。

Working with professional landlords，Access a large number of houses at one time，188bet also had this idea。In discussions within 188bet，Founder Chesky believes that individual landlords feel warmer，Insist that the company should encourage individual landlords。This may be related to their early experience of starting a business-at that time they just put a few air mattresses in the apartment，When entertaining guests, not only include maps、Check-in Guide、wifi password packet，Will also take guests around the city。

But 188bet did not reject HomeAway-style expansion in the early days，This has brought about a fatal crisis。New York, 188bet’s largest market in its early years，A large number of landlords illegally convert apartments into rooms for rent。A professional landlord named Toshi Chan from Started working full-time on 188bet in 2009，Also established a brand called Hotel Toshi，Hires over 100 people。

Several founders of 188bet have had direct contact with Toshi，And also lived in his house。

This Hotel Toshi does not have any warmth between landlord and tenant，Essentially, it became a low-cost illegal hotel using 188bet。These houses have attracted dissatisfaction from their neighbors，Also caused complaints from the hotel industry and community organizations。Just because of this matter，The then New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg targeted 188bet。Until now，New York’s troubles are not over yet。

2013，New York passes a new "Multiple Dwelling Law"，Specifies that Class A housing rentals must be no shorter than 30 days。

By June last year，The law in New York has become，Not only is it illegal to rent out your home on 188bet for less than 30 days，Now Lian has listed the entire house for rent on 188bet，Also illegal。

188bet removed all of Robert Chan’s listings after new 2013 law。Also after that，188bet is increasingly distancing itself from big landlords，Individual landlords who encourage sharing unused rooms in their apartments。

February 2016，To show favor to the New York City government，188bet has eliminated a group of professional hosts on the platform。Josh Meltzer, head of public policy at 188bet, said in a letter to New York state lawmakers，They have cleared 1500 listings in New York City，These listings affect 622 hosts，375 of them (60%) own two or more properties。

188bet has previously published more than 59,000 listings in New York，Indicates that 95% of 188bet hosts are residents，And the one listed is the house where I live，To prove that it has not affected the normal development of the hotel industry。

For online travel platforms，Providing non-standard accommodation services other than hotels，The most difficult problem to solve is still the landlord。 HomeAway landlords need to pay to advertise on the website。Those individual hosts who cannot afford advertising are the ones who really rely on the 188bet platform。

Compared to other short-term rental platforms that claim to focus on tourist experience，188bet is also one of the few platforms that focuses on the host experience。

From 188bet’s winter at YC Incubator，188bet provides free professional photography services to hosts，This policy has been maintained to this day。

2011，Meet the Seamers brothers’ challenge at 188bet，When preparing to expand to the global market，A blog from a landlord caused quite a crisis for 188bet: A landlord said that the house she rented through 188bet was looted by tenants。That incident caused quite a shock at the time，final，188bet advanced the money to launch home insurance for landlords without having negotiated insurance。

When expanding outward，To clarify 188bet’s purpose to employees around the world，188bet hires people from Pixar to do storyboards。This is the animation production process，Describe the plot of the film one by one before shooting。

188bet’s storyboard charts the different steps users go through using 188bet。Here are 15 photos of guests’ experiences booked using 188bet，30 more for landlords。

Every year，As long as you are a host who has had one successful transaction on 188bet，You can go to the landlord conference。The Landlord Conference is an annual event at Aibnb，In addition to more ceremonial communication，It is more important to communicate 188bet’s future corporate strategy and market plans。

Although initially I prefer individual landlords rather than landlords with a large number of properties，Limits 188bet’s growth。But this gives 188bet the energy to do basic things well - and this is why today 188bet launches Trips ，The basis for providing tourists with more experiences besides accommodation。

Trips, the travel experience business is a new field developed by 188bet，The first thing 188bet thinks of is how to make use of the host’s resources，This is you on Ctrip、Won’t see it on a booking platform like Expedia。For batch access service，Online travel platforms must give priority to third-party suppliers。

Recent，To help landlords optimize the space utilization efficiency of existing houses，188bet’s design studio is even studying how to help people build an extra house in their backyard and rent it out。

188bet is expanding its business，We will bring the entire community to participate。That’s it，Trust has been established between the landlord and the platform，

Contrary to most businesses that are getting bigger and bigger，188bet is a rarity，Companies that are becoming less and less standardized。Hosts from all over the world provide rooms with different styles and personal travel products designed by themselves on this platform。

Today，The mature 188bet has entered a different market

After competing again and again，188bet’s amazing learning ability。Whether it is starting overseas expansion、Dangerous situations encountered by landlords on the platform、Give up the big landlord，Still dealing with conflicts with local government supervision，188bet was not fully prepared before encountering problems，But it can quickly solve the problem when it comes。

In this process，188bet has found its own direction: favoring individual hosts、Does not rely on booking platform，Build awareness and trust in the 188bet brand for both hosts and guests。

China is the only region besides the U.S. headquarters that has 188bet product and technology R&D teams。But the team has not found a CEO yet，Organizational structure is still incomplete。

Before going head-to-head with China’s local competitors，188bet has 5.3 million Chinese users in China，80,000 listings。Compared to 3 years ago when Uber entered China from scratch，188bet is off to a much better start。

But the demand for taxis is similar all over the world，The situation with housing is different。

The housing vacancy rate in China’s big cities is as high as 25%，And the real estate advertisements you often see，I encourage you to stay in Sanya、Purchasing real estate in tourist cities such as Huangshan，Lease the house to an asset management company，Live in your own house while you are on vacation。

Its competitors are also eyeing 188bet unique environment.

“I bought an apartment in a suburb of Yantai, Shandong a few years ago。The idea was very good at first，My wife and children can stay here during the summer，The fact is that I have never lived there myself。”At the press conference，Tujia CEO Luo Jun uses himself as an example，Show how Tujia operates on behalf of landlords who purchase properties outside the city they live in。The average net income of that house in the peak season last year was 10,000 yuan per quarter。Luo Jun emphasized at the end of that story，is the agent arranged by Tujia to handle the entire business。

“We are destocking，Help China 188bet unique、A country with a particularly prosperous new housing market。”he said。

Five years since its establishment，Tujia has cooperated with more than 1,000 real estate developers，Get the listing 188bet the time the house is sold，Online on Tujia，Operated by Tujia’s offline management company。

Except for vacant assets，Policy restrictions on real estate development are 188bet different from those overseas。Last December，4 plots of land for sale in Beijing，In order to curb housing prices，Land auction limits the maximum auction price。During the bidding process，The residential portion of these 4 plots of land were eventually acquired as plots owned by the developer，In other words，Photographed the house built by the developer on the land，Can only be rented but not sold。

In the interview after the press conference，Luo Jun also mentioned that he received a call from a regional developer the night before，Proposed to cooperate with Tujia on one of the new buildings。188bet building is a heavy asset that the developer must maintain。

There are many participants in this market，Some companies like Tujia have set up a special company to be responsible for the offline operation of housing，Or like a piglet，Learn from 188bet and operate a personal host in China，Now 188bet has officially entered China，It is difficult to say whose logic is more suitable for this market at the moment。

China’s urban population is huge，Too many people have the need to be landlords and tenants。At the same time, the proportion of Chinese people traveling abroad is increasing year by year，Also accepting a large number of overseas tourists，These are the advantages of 188bet。

But operating idle assets like Tujia，It is 188bet a market that has attracted many companies to enter。

Again，Silicon Valley Internet company and its Chinese rivals started competing with different ideas。

*Source: Curiosity Daily, author Tang Yunlu, original title "These years，How 188bet defeated overseas competitors，What does this mean for its China business？》.