July 12，Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky writes on Medium，Recalling the experience of many investors rejecting Airbnb in 2008，And posted the email that the investor rejected him at that time。

Paige Craig was one of the first investors to contact the Airbnb team，There is even a chance to invest in Airbnb angel round，In the end, this opportunity slipped away，But he finally didn’t miss a good project like Lyft。So why did Paige Craig miss the Airbnb angel round？You will know after reading。

August 12, 2008，This is the date I became aware of Airbnb；In six weeks，I decided to give them their first angel investment。But at the last moment (read that right，Literally "the last moment")，I gave up。

Fortunately, the sad story helped me hone an investment methodology for start-ups。In the past seven years，I have successfully invested in many very early-stage companies that are growing extremely well，Example: Wish、Lyft、zenpayroll、Postmates、AngelList、Plated、Styleseat、Klout etc.，There are naturally many failed investments。Among them，The story of missing Airbnb taught me the most valuable lesson in my investment career。

Brain Chesky (founder of Airbnb) recently wrote an article titled "7 rejections"，And posted 7 investor rejection letters received around 2008，And I am very lucky，Not among them。In fact since August 2008，I am one of the few investors who push the investment forward and are willing to sign the term sheet。

I learn something new with every investment and interaction with founders，I will insist on reviewing my investment behavior every time，Re-examine my judgment and improve 188bet sports betting app download my investment theory。At the tactical level，I overturn and reconstruct my own investment strategy system almost every week，Summary of your own gains and losses；At the execution level，I re-evaluate my investments every few months、Sort out the joint investment network and transaction structure；At the strategic level，I rethink my views on being an entrepreneur every year、Market and other guidelines。

Today，I want to share the tactical mistakes I made and the important lessons I learned from my Airbnb angel round investment。

188bet sports betting app download

I want to start at the beginning – how I discovered Airbnb。

To this day，My methodology is still very inspiring for thinking about future business solutions and identifying the right founders。When I was in 07、When I started to engage in angel investing in 2008，The way I find projects is actually very simple，Can only be found on Google，And now through AngelList、ProductHunt、Betalist and the accumulated network of contacts help find high-quality projects。

I have always believed in the field of sharing economy，Especially in the service industry, there are a lot of opportunities。In early 2007，I once conceived a project called "The Largest Virtual Hotel"。I kind of forgot my motivation for thinking about this，But everyone around me knows that I like Pegasus Starry Sky，Always thinking about what products to bring to mankind，And if it still feels feasible after our research and brainstorming，Then we will look for suitable entrepreneurs to operate the business。Normally，It is very difficult to find a team that agrees with your ideas，I can never find the right person，But it is even more foolish to push for working with people who are not compatible with you。

In August 2008，I accidentally entered a hotel called "Airbedandbreakfast.com” website，I immediately registered an account and found the contact information of the entrepreneurs through the "Contact Us" portal。I was working in Washington, D.C.，It only took me less than 48 hours to communicate with them through a brief 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino email and desk research，I can’t wait to fly to old ageJinshan；At a place called "Brainwash"，I met the Airbnb team。

Diligent team

I am still very lucky，Although the overall operation data of their website dropped by nearly 50% in September，But I don’t care too much about these data problems (see the picture below)。The issue I care about most is my understanding of this team，And their team’s values、My vision and fighting spirit left a very deep impression on me，I can deeply feel their determination to break the boat，These "small data" are not enough to prove whether their team is admirable or not。

They experimented in their own messy homes，Use the information brought during the 2008 Democratic National ConventionOpportunities to increase tourism volume，Successfully approached the media。I also highly recommend the Republican National Committee and Daniel Hoffer (co-founder of Couchsurfing)，And gave many suggestions for modifications to their website。They can make modifications in time every time，And whenever we comment on product features、User Acquisition、When brainstorming on budget and strategic issues，They are always very thoughtful。

Hard negotiations

Starting from August 26th，We enter a four-week valuation workshop。I won’t go into too many details here，Only the two most critical points:

First，I spent a lot of time thinking about the budget their business needs from the first meeting，Then realized their $100,000 fundraising plan was too low。Based on their trading frequency and how fast they burn money，We reached a transaction agreement of US$250,000，To ensure the interests of the founder，The valuation of this project will become higher。

Second，I did something stupid: I spent three weeks haggling with them over whether Airbnb should be valued at $2 million or $2.5 million。In a few weeks on September 26th，I asked Todd Rumberger to give the relevant legal documents to their lawyer in Fenwick。

However, within these few weeks，I didn’t expect that all other investors had withdrawn from this negotiation，188bet app download Did not come together with us，I became the only participant in the seed round，But I finally chose to move forward with this project。

Finally out

At the end of September，We unanimously agreed to the terms，And I flew to San Francisco for a closing reception。The cocktail party that day was great，The food is very good，We agreed to officially complete the investment the next day。

But the next day， Todd Rumberger called me，Told me he didn't hear back from Brian。I didn’t pay much attention to this matter at the time，I feel like the deal is a done deal，So I sent him a message asking him what happened。

I received his reply on the same day，He told me a “good news” in a text message: YC Incubator changed its mind，Hope to participate in investment in this round。I was thinking this is really great，YC is a very good co-investor，I feel very comforted，After all, all previous investors have withdrawn。

But there is a second part of the text message that I didn’t expect: only YC will participate in this round of financing。

This is really a reply worthy of a few curse words to me，Being busy for 6 weeks，As a result, I didn’t invest a penny。

Of course，Airbnb has developed very successfully today，I also sincerely feel for Brain、Joe and Nate are happy - the world has become hospitable because of the sharing economy，Airbnb is an awesome product that has changed the market and created a whole new industry。

Now looking back at the more than 100 entrepreneurial projects I have invested in in the past，I realize that it was entirely my own fault that I lost an investment opportunity with such a huge return，I don’t blame them at all。Because when I got the first mover advantage，I should lock this project in as soon as possible。At that time, I was just a newbie in the venture capital circle，I had no idea that Y Combinator and other competitors were also eyeing this deal。Now that I think of it, the most correct way is to chase them and sign this deal，Before final signature，No deal is finally "closed"。

Postscript

Losing an investment opportunity like Airbnb is really heartbreaking，I will always 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino keep this huge lesson in mind。After this failure，I realized that I needed to step out of this shadow and establish a unique knowledge system and a personal brand as an investor。

When I discovered Airbnb，I am just a nobody in the venture capital circle，In the following year, I participated in and even hosted various meetings for investors and entrepreneurs across the United States，Conduct technical exchanges with more people，Especially one-to-one communication。This year，I read many books eagerly，After，I made my next investment。

Also，Airbnb also told me that I must be fast when investing。Over the past few years I have learned how to close deals quickly and avoid getting distracted by trivial matters。It’s good to help entrepreneurs like Brain make budgets，Because we must ensure that this investment can support the entrepreneur until he reaches the next turning point。But it would be foolish to spend three weeks focusing on unimportant details，From now on, I have never done such a wasteful thing with entrepreneurs。

Think about this “missed opportunity” from a positive perspective，I like the Airbnb project and see potential that other investors don’t see，I take this incident as a lesson。What I tell myself every day is - focus on the founder，Don’t care too much about cold numbers。

First，In the early days of the project，“Small data” lacking analysis and guidance value will mislead investment。The data itself is not very meaningful，The most important value is to help entrepreneurs understand and discover themselves。Investors should focus on understanding why entrepreneurs set up such companies，Don’t get hung up on complicated spreadsheets and numbers。

Second，If you believe in this entrepreneur，Then don’t shake your belief when other investors withdraw。This kind of thing will cause a direct or indirect demonstration effect among investors，But don’t let this kind of thing affect your judgment。As long as I trust this project，I will continue to invest even if all other investors withdraw，Don’t be afraid 188bet app download when you find an entrepreneurial team that suits you。

Of course，The final loss of Airbnb as an investment project was something that made me sad，But it made me a sharper investor，The lessons brought by these things have given me a clearer investment idea when looking for and supporting high-quality startups。

The worst，I can also enjoy the wonderful experience brought by Airbnb when traveling，This is worth it。