power of Pain : the birth of Airbnb

Pain not passion, really? YES!

While most Start Ups launch as a result of a Founders passion, there are a few Start Ups that have gone from Zero to Hero fast, as a result of a pain story. I recently featured YouTube's pain strategy and now it is time to put Airbnb in the spotlight. But first let's recap, what is a Pain strategy?

Fast Track to Success with the Power of Pain
The Pain strategy is based on idea that a product is not created from passion but from a position of pain. It taps into the human suffering a person has experienced and they are then inspired to create a solution to fix the pain. The product is an 'Aspirin', a must have versus a 'VItamin', a nice to have.

Thousands of Start Ups are created from passion. If you love flowers, you may set up a florist. If you love gaming, you may build an App. Passion and pain are both excellent reasons to launch new products. But is one approach more successful than another?

Airbnb's Pain Story
Founded in August 2008, Airbnb now has 1.m listings in 34,000 cities in 141 countries in 8 years. It all started when Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbin decided to rent out three air mattresses in their San Francisco loft apartment to help pay the rent. They noticed that all the hotels in town were fully booked for the design trade show; accommodation was scarce. The flat mates successfully rented out three air mattresses with breakfast for $80 each. This success provided the Founders with the momentum to explore if they were onto something.

Shortly afterwards, the Founders successfully raised $30,000 initial investment, with $7.2m following in 2010 and a further $112m in 2011. In 2011, Airbnb took its 1 millionth booking and 2012 saw the business double in 5 months to achieve its 10 millionth booking.

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 Power of Pain
Not being able to pay the rent led to a $10 billion company

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Be Inspired. Take Action. Tap into the Power of Pain Strategy.
​1. What is your Pain Story?
During your product development stages ask yourself these key questions.

• Is your product created from a position of passion or pain?
• Does your product provide a solution?
• Does it fill a gap in the market?
• It is an Aspirin or Vitamin?

2. Passionately publish your pain story everywhere
You will be surprised how many other people may have experienced the same pain as you. However YOU are the only one building and launching a product to fix the problem. So publish your human story on your website and press releases. Tell your friends, family, potential investors and before long you will have a tribe of followers passionate about your solution. 

Your new Start Up will go from ZERO TO HERO by tapping into the power of pain.

Wishing you much success,
Marina