A Hidden Monopoly in Plain Sight

Breaking down a wonderful business that we're happy to own for the long run.

What started as two designers renting out air mattresses during a design conference has turned into a verb. Almost twenty years later, that scrappy experiment has cemented itself as one of the most important companies in travel.

It’s rare to find a consumer internet business that scales this cleanly. The business isn’t a forgotten net-net trading below cash, nor is it a fallen angel with overblown negative sentiment. This is something much rarer. A compounding machine, reinvesting capital at high rates of return, run by a founder-CEO who still sees it as his life’s work. In other words, a wonderful business.