April 12, 2022

PSA: The Roca Current referral giveaway is live! Make sure to send your unique link to friends (more info below) so that they can join our great community and you can boost your odds of winning free airplane tickets. We would make a plane joke or two, but unfortunately.... they never land.

Do you know the founding story of Airbnb? Well it all started with 2 broke roommates, 3 air mattress, and... well, read today's Wrap for the rest.

― Key Stories

Board No-More
Overview

• Twitter confirmed that Elon Musk will not be joining the company's board, a week after it said he would
• Last week it emerged that Musk, the world's richest person, is Twitter's largest shareholder
• This Monday, the company said Musk decided against joining the board. It did not say what changed, although Musk posted a number of tweets attacking Twitter over the weekend
• He asked his followers if the company should “delete the w in twitter,” and “convert Twitter SF HQ to homeless shelter since no one shows up anyway?” He has since deleted some of the tweets

The World Has Favorite Smells
Overview

• An Oxford study found that preferences for many smells are universal
• The study looked at how people across 10 different cultures reacted to 10 molecules, to see if culture shaped people's smell preferences
• The study found that across cultures, people liked the scents of molecules contained in vanilla; pineapple and mango; and roses and pine. They didn't like molecules associated with human sweat, rotten meat, and rotten vegetables
• The researchers concluded that “culture plays a very small role in determining how pleasant a smell is”

Researchers Rejuvenate Skin Cells
Overview

• Researchers at Cambridge University reprogrammed a 53-yo's skin cells to look and behave like a 23-yo's
• Scientists were initially trying to convert adult cells into stem cells through a process that adds chemicals to adult cells for 50 days
• When they tried adding the chemicals to adult skin cells for just 15 days, the cells turned into  rejuvenated skin cells. The technique can't yet be applied, though, because it increases cancer risk
• The scientists hope the technique can be improved and used to treat a variety of common diseases associated with aging

French Presidential Elections Head to Runoff
Overview

• France's presidential election runoff is set for April 24, with incumbent president Emmanuel Macron facing off against the right-wing Marine Le Pen
• 44-yo Macron is a former investment banker who launched his own party in 2016. He was elected France’s youngest-ever president in 2017
• It's Le Pen's 3rd time running for president. Her father was a controversial politician who unsuccessfully ran for president 5 times
• The runoff pits Macron's pro-EU, internationalist policies against Le Pen's nationalism and EU skepticism. Macron leads by 2% in the latest polls

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports

• ...Baby one more time: Britney Spears announced that she's expecting her third baby and her first with her new fiancé Sam Aghari
• MSNBC primetime host Rachel Maddow has returned from her hiatus and will be moving to a weekly format. Her show will air on Mondays
• The hero HBO needs: The Batman will head to HBO Max for streaming on April 18. The blockbuster has grossed $735M worldwide

• The Atlanta Braves are selling a $151 "World Champions Burger" at their ballpark with Waygu beef, lobster, and foie grais
• A hidden sword was found in a cane at a TSA security check at Logan Airport in Boston. The man claims he had no clue it was in there
• The pandemic-induced laptop sales boom appears to be over. Global laptop shipments plummeted in Q1 2022
• A hard profession: Brazil's government approved an order of 35,000 Viagra pills for its armed forces, causing a stir on social media

― Giveaway

• Each time you refer someone to The Current, you’ll earn one ticket
• If you hit 5 referrals, your ticket count doubles
• Wait until next Monday to see if you won!

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

In 2007, roommates Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were living in San Francisco. The duo needed cash and noticed that all the hotel rooms in the city were booked one weekend. They bought 3 air mattresses and rented out space in their apartment for $80 a night. Thus launched Airbnb. 

Airbnb technically stands for Air Bed and Breakfast, with “Air Bed” literally referencing blow-up mattresses. Initially, though, the “bed” part of the company was floundering, with too few guests and hosts signing up.

The founders needed a way to get users on the platform, so they looked for places with hotel shortages. They settled on the 2008 presidential conventions: With thousands of people flocking to either the Democratic or Republican conventions, they envisioned Obama or McCain supporters hosting like minded guests. 

To sweeten the deal, they created 2 candidate-themed cereals: Obama O’s (The Breakfast of Change!) and Capn’ McCains (A Maverick in Every Bite!). The duo bought the cheapest cereals they could, hand packed them into custom boxes, and sealed them with glue guns. They advertised them on their website, where for $40, a host (or anyone) could buy the cereal to serve their guests. Airbnb would donate 5% of profits to the respective campaign. 

Next to the purchase link, a description advertised the Airbnb platform: “Thousands have joined the movement to forget hotels! AB&B is a new travel site that allows you to book rooms with locals instead of hotels. Save some extra cash, make a new friend, and see the city through the eyes of a local.”    

The founders made 500 boxes of each cereal, and turned that into $30,000. The money was much needed: Investors weren’t returning their emails, and co-founder Brian Chesky accumulated $30,000 in credit card debt while trying to keep the business afloat. 

By 2009, the app had 2,500 listings and 10,000 users. Early that year, the founders secured a meeting with one of San Francisco’s top startup accelerators, Y Combinator. While the organization's founder Paul Graham wasn’t persuaded by the pitch, he was impressed when the founders told him about the cereal campaign. “If you can convince people to pay $40 for a $4 box of cereal, maybe you can get strangers to stay in other strangers’ homes,” Graham said.

Airbnb joined Y Combinator, after which it secured $600k in funding from one of the top Silicon Valley venture capital firms. From there, the company soared: Today it’s worth $113B, with 4M hosts and 150M+ users.

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

20 Questions: 6-10

― Final Thoughts