These kinds of things are very easy to call out in hindsight, so, I do sympathize with the investors at least a bit.
Based on a collection of screenshots I put together of Airbnb's homepage over time (using content from the Internet Archive) I wouldn't have invested either in early versions of Airbnb:
Fred Wilson got his email from PG, I believe, in January 2009 and if you look at the Airbnb homepage then - the site is no where near as promising as it is now.
Based on a collection of screenshots I put together of Airbnb's homepage over time (using content from the Internet Archive) I wouldn't have invested either in early versions of Airbnb:
http://www.startuptimelines.org/startup-timelines/airbnb/
Fred Wilson got his email from PG, I believe, in January 2009 and if you look at the Airbnb homepage then - the site is no where near as promising as it is now.