GZV #22: Gen Z view on Airbnb and Streamers playing w/fans
Startups. Trends. Markets. All from a Gen Z view.
Welcome to all our new subscribers! Every subscriber I gain may seem little, but to me that just means another brain is consuming my writing and having their own thoughts. If you ever want to have a discussion about my ideas, just shoot me an email. I am always happy to talk.
Please share so I can keep producing weekly.
Find me on Twitter and Clubhouse: @tdozzi
Enjoy!
🎄🎁🎄🎁: As a holiday gift I am featuring a startup that was in GZV Sourced (my premium paid-tier newsletter) last week as a sort of preview. Be sure to subscribe below. Enjoy!
Let me introduce you to… COMBO.
Problem:
Fans are distant from their favorite streamers and creators, few have been able to get an actual 1v1 interaction.
Solution/Product:
“The best way to play with your most loyal viewers on Twitch.”
What’s good about it?
Twitch streaming is growing more and more everyday, and gen z is one of the main fanbases streamers look to attract.
Creating an interaction with fans only builds trust and loyalty, COMBO makes this easier than ever.
This platform keeps track of your most loyal viewers, giving you the opportunity to return to the most deserving fans.
Gen Z View: The marketing is easy, all you have to do is get the creators on board and the product will run. So with that said, Product needs to = 🥇.
Gen Z loves connecting with their creators, so something like playing a game with them will be an amazing experience.
Video games and streaming are becoming big in Gen Z, some of my friends have been following streamers for over a year now, they would probably pay a reasonable price to be able to play with them.
💸💸💸 Fundraising? 💸💸💸
YES. Email: tucker@joincombo.com
Investment Ideas
You know if I were to do a 2020 in review the biggest trends would be Esports / video games and influencers. This startup essential combines both of these trends. Famous streamers playing video games with fans. This sector is exploding day by day and I believe it will grow even more in the next 5 years as gaming becomes more main stream.
The Bullish View of Airbnb From Gen Z
Last week, Airbnb IPO’d and shot up to around $150/share. As of writing this article, $ABNB now sits at around $124/share. This drop is pretty expected as there was a lot of demand up front for this IPO. After being in the stock market for a little over 6 years now I thought I’d share my Gen Z view on the IPO.
How does Gen Z view Airbnb and the logic of staying in a strangers house?
I actually asked my friends if they ever had a weird perception of airbnb because the premise was staying in a strangers house. This is how they answered:
“No, but mostly because it was already popular by the time I knew it existed”
“I just think of it as someone wanting their house to be rented so it’s not that weird”
I think most of Gen Z can agree with these points.
So AirBnb is pretty popular among college kids?
Yes, it is actually very popular. During my spring break freshman year, we booked with Airbnb. My spring break sophomore year? Booked with AirBnb. Spring Break Junior year? Oh, wait my school cancelled it. Anyways, it is the preferred way to book vacations among college kids. During this Covid-19 fall at Elon, I can’t count on my hands how many people took weekend long vacations with an Airbnb.
It just makes sense.
At the end of the day, why would we get a small hotel room for four people for $75/night per person when we can get an entire house for $40-80 per person? The logic behind it for Gen Z just makes so much sense it’s hard to book anywhere else.
What can Airbnb do innovate and expand?
I see a few ways Airbnb can expand their business. The beautiful thing about this company is they kind of created their own little sector to work in. This means they can be innovation and the rules will almost follow their lead. Here are my ideas:
Subscription level
Currently access to Airbnb is free, and for the most part it should stay that way. I feel though, that their may be a market for an exclusive subscription tier, almost like an Amex Black Card. This tier would provide access to some of the best in-class bookings on the platform that wouldn’t be available to others.
On top of this, they could add experiences (which I know some hosts already do) that will add to the overall experience of the guests.
Buy houses / Furnishing Partnerships
I know, I know. Why the hell would Airbnb start to buy houses? That’s outlandish. Just hear me out. Maybe Airbnb can experiment by buying like 30 houses in popular destinations. In these Airbnb houses you could run exclusive offers or special parties. The main point would be to run experiments on how you could improve the overall product
This can also open up the possibility of adding stuff like furnishing partnerships. Everything in the house can have a code or product description, so if you like the product, you can buy it yourself. That will allow for more revenue to come through product placement by everything from a pots and pans company to a rug company.
These are just a few ideas I’ve had over the past few weeks that have come to mind. Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts are!
Feel free to email or text with any questions or comments about the newsletter, Gen Z, or startups.
thomas@genzvoice.com