obviously, you can't invest in airbnb, it's not publicly traded. think the fact that investors are hungry for a piece of this fast-growing start-up is a very big deal. we've got a puzzle over it. and airbnb is the latest example. consider the $19 billion that facebook paid for whatsapp. first of all, i don't want to totally dismiss this as a case of investors paying through the nose for anything touching on the mobile and cloud theme. this is not, i repeat, not the dot com era come again. why? because airbnb is a real company with an incredibly compelling successful business model, one that draws in roughly 11 million guests in more than 34,000 cities. the stock may be too expensive, but there's no denying this company has a real business. here's how it works. you get to list your home on their website and when someone else pays you to stay there, air bus takes a cut of this transaction. revolutioniing the lodging business. they're helping people rent, borrow or share spaces that ordinarily wouldn't be on the market. although, heaven help you if yo

he put money in airbnb. now they need deeper pockets.ital,going to tpg the other big capital firms. >> i guess with a lot of these disruptors, regulation is still a problem. it hasn't been properly put in fore, who pays insurance? >> it is very safe in terms of insurance. airbnb has put that in place themselves. the regulatory concern is about the council. is york is saying, it against our rules for you to rent an apartment for less than 30 days with a tenant not there. paris is getting concerned, berlin is getting concerned. how much is this the hotel's lobbying? not the business clientele, you and i are not going on business trips using airbnb even though i'm may look at it in the future. it is mainly those holiday makers who want something more bespoke or far cheaper. this is the area it is disrupting. this is perhaps why governments and councils are wanting maybe a little bit of money. they want some taxation on this. notanies like airbnb are trying to answer the sort of responses. >> a lot of countries still have a tax for hotels. t

this company has spread like wildfire. 34,000 cities, you can use airbnb.l is that you can rent out an entire apartment, e-house. even just a room or a bad. -- a bed. much cheaper than a hotel. it has been disrupting mainly the cheaper end of the hotel market or indeed the more bespoke and. you can get some interesting properties and rooms. business users aren't really going to airbnb but if you are going on holiday, you look at it. that is why the valuation has gone through the roof. a year and a half ago it was valued at $2.5 billion. now, $10 billion. , the deepoking at tpg pockets of venture capital firms. it is one of the most valuable privately held companies. backingook at who was it, you should have had alarm bells. , they know how to pick a good one. also, founders fund. one of theer thiel first outside backers of facebook. >> investors are pretty excited about this business. there are regulatory worries. >> there are. many cities, new york, berlin, paris are trying to fight back. either they want a bit of skin in the game, added of money that is b

it's airbnb. i was just saying, i think 32 years old.an mine. after three years his company might be worth more than mine after 27 years. >> he's not wrong. carlisle has close to $2 billion in assets, not even a $2 billion market cap. the disparity between these two companies is large but what does it mean for a company like airbnb when you're fund-raising round includes tpg, fidelity, t. rowe price. >> it meends the end, i'm going public soon. that happens every single time. is that the dumb money or the smart money or just the late money? >> it's late. it's hard for me to say it looks hard at this point. we talked about it this week. running into regulatory hurdles. airbnb is running into it and it is going to continue to run into much the same thing. betting on airbnb at this valuation especially is betting they're going to be able to leap over those and probably disrupt the hotel industry at a level that would be really impressive if they pull it off. >> david rubenstein not only does he not know about airbnb but i give him a free pa

in the past five years, over five million -- left million people used airbnb.hey have hundreds of thousands of listings in 160 countries. when we look at them having political problems and specific laws about short-term rin tall in new york state. melissa: what is barrier to entry? what stops anyone from doing this? they're connecting people look forge cheap place to stay where people with extra bedroom or couch to, there is no barrier someone else doing night they have done it on intuitive platform. they have such a large scope. that will be itself a barrier to entry. so many people already use the service. in 160 different countries. they have 600,000 different listings. they have problems with lawmakers in couple of key markets. i don't think that is big of a problem the scope of their operations are enormous. >> you could say all of these things like groupon went on high valuation and there are 80 trillion sites. travel internet area is competitive, travelocity, and home away already public area with money to spend. melissa: right. >> the problem here thoug

right now airbnb, lots of investors seem to want to buy in in financing this business. is it a threat to the established hotel industry? not at this point i wouldn't have thought so but it's worth keeping an eye on. look at google. yahoo!. who knew? back to you. >> another case, the guys around us, i think they're 30, jeff. all right. it geoff cutmore, thank you. >>> what a day from march madness. we'll show you the round of 64. it may be -- this is another story, not sports. the most incredible moment in "wheel of fortune" history. the impossible solution to this problem. do you guys know what this is? can you tell what this is, this puzzle? it's crazy. that story and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. what is that? ♪ ♪ >>> the athletes did not applaud the president when he walked into the east room. it was clear most of them didn't want to hear what he had to say. but in an emotional appeal, mr. carter stressed that despite his admiration for them, he was determined to keep the national interest paramount. my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has

and you can even make money renting your backyard to campers through real estate rental site airbnb.es, not included. even if you're not making s'mores, you can still make money. remember the sakofs family renting out their car on weekends? that's $3,000 in extra money every year. if they keep it up, they will socked away $50,000 by the time their son heads off to college. but remember, diane, different cities have different rules. you have to check there first. >> right. you have to check there first. that's really smart. thank you so much, rebecca. and "real money" will be back tomorrow night. we're going to show you how to make money off your family recipes. no kidding. >>> when we come back, tonight, do you remember those corvettes swallowed by the sinkhole? we have news, tonight. see what happens when they tried to start the engines in our "instant index." >>> our "instant index" begins with a kind of comeback for some americans and for microsoft co-founder bill gates. tonight, gates is back on top of the annual forbes list as the richest man in the world. unseating mexico's car

launched airpnp, play on the airbnb.. a former comedian turned self-described entrepreneur told me in the men's room the rest is history. >> it just became such a word of mouth story it was out of our control. and people -- i mean, if you look at it now, we have more people in europe than even new orleans with no marketing. this was an experiment. so the experiment was what if you make a company that is so funny that it markets itself. >> so here i am leaving san jose airport. and i actually have to go to the bathroom. all right. the business model needs a little tweaking. i tested airpnp in san jose, one listing with no phone number but i showed up at the apartment, noktd on the door. heard the dogs barking. no one was home. i really needed a bathroom at that point so i went where i always go, starbucks. while many of the listings in europe are the real deal often people listing their bathrooms in the u.s. are just joking. still, lauren dean says he's making a little money. they're hoping to build apps and two well-know

it is really dealing one-to-one, like airbnb.ho has a piece of art that wants to sell it. >> you can hear more in the spring issue of bloomberg pursuits, our luxury dedicated vehicle. here is what you cannot buy at amazon art. cars that have made us jealous from james bond films throughout the year. check them out. >> it is not an easy life for a bond car. shot, rammed, driven off cliffs. the series has managed to make the cars almost as famous as the actors that drive them. here in london's museum, they have collected the a-list. villain's jags, chauffeur-driven cars, and one heavily damaged aston martin, minus the door. the value of the items runs in the millions. the aston from "goldfinger" sold for $4 million in 2010. the museum ceo has his favorite. the submersible lotus from "the spy who loved me." >> for people in my generation, it was so iconic, a car that drives into the ocean. suddenly the wheels disappearing and the fins coming out. it was a defining moment in cinema. >> the bond series pioneered auto placement in movi

it started with zip car and airbnb and uber.nt, you're like, oh, my gosh and is not a one off thing that a giant economic change. bitcoin, that idea will hit to the point. at least i hope it does. i want to see this happen. i think at the end of the day if you can protect people's assets securely, almost every other security problem goes away. i am much less worried about my data if you cannot mess with my access. >> we will be back with more of a after this quick break. a tragic death. a cheating scandal. the greatest comeback in history in the america's cup. we'll go to the inside story. ♪ >> welcome back to "bloomberg west." i am emily chang. oracle's ceo spent hundreds of millions of dollars to win the america's cup for the second time. it was hosted right here in san francisco. it was marred in controversy with a terrible, fatal accident and a cheating scandal and a low participation rate. only 14. >> the biggest comeback. a thrilling race. >> i went to the last race. i got a great video. >> down 8-1 to win. how did larry d

the fund has helped fund big names, you know them all, facebook, twitter, airbnb.p and quirky. thank you for being here. congratulations. >> thank you for having me. >> you'll be here for the whole hour. i have a lot to talk to you about in a moment. while we have some of your proteges. >> we consider ourselves proteges. >> give us the story of -- these guys show up on your door step. we have viewers who are prurz, wa entrepreneurs, want to be entrepreneurs. how does this all happen? >> i think that, you know, with both jane and ben, the two things we looked for in entrepreneurs are kind of a great idea and a great deal of courage and both of them displayed that throughout their careers and also something we like to call founder market fit. was this person born and filled their whole life trying to build this company. they almost like can't exist without quirky and julep. i think in both cases, they found us. >> this sounds crazy when you say something like that. if i didn't know ben's story i would think you're blowing smoke. he's 25. to live his whole life to do

. >>> meantime, reportedly set to join, airbnb is expected to be value adjust $2.5 billion two years ago, air bnb's sharp rise is being seen as an endorsement for the shared economy business model. >>> from air bnb to air pnp, it's an app that helps you rent out a toilet for a few dollars. the company started out as a joke, but has since gone viral, taking the sharing economy to a whole new level. gene wells takes the app for a spin. >> has the sharing economy gone too far? sheer a business that gives peer to peer new meaning. >> it was an experiment. the experiment was what if you make a company that's so funny that it markets itself. >> inside a men's room, travis laurendeen discusses his announcement, airpnp, a website that let's people rent out their toilets. >> last mardi gras, it was a joke. someone was like i have to pee. i was like i'm going to make airpnp. they were like, that's a good idea. >> so he decided with a business partner to lauren airpnp. the rest is viral history. >> it just became such a word-of-mouth story, it was out of our control. for some reason, it became

through rental site airbnb. s'mores not included.can make a lot of money. the saecops family can make $3,000 a year. by the time their son graduates from college, they can sock away about $50,000. keep in mind, however, not every city treats this the same so check the rules first. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> some interesting ideas. some a little whackier than others, but some make sense. the parking spot, i love that. >> you can rent out just about anything. a backyashgsd a barbecue. you can even rent a friend. there is a website called rentafriend.com. if you need a wing man. whatever it is. >>> it is the day after "the bachelor" and that can only mean one thing, our resident expert, senior "bachelor" analyst will join us. >>> and she was named sexiest woman alive last year. she will have another title soon-mommy. "the skinny" up next. in 1988, our dear friend paul newman had a vision. a place where kids with serious illnesses could just.be kids. [bruce] so he founded a camp. and the joy of playing, laughing, and simply b