FastForward Visits Airbnb

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Published: Friday, 05 January 2018 09:28

ON LOCATION - December, 2017

FastForward Visits Airbnb

Airbnb began in 2008 when struggling college grads Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia turned their San Francisco loft into a bed and breakfast by buying a few air mattresses and advertising the place online. They called their mini-hotel AirBed and Breakfast. Although the idea at first was just to “make a few bucks,” they snagged three international customers right away as the Industrial Design Conference came to town and hotel rooms were at a premium. With another partner, Nathan Blecharczyk, the team created a website offering short-term rentals, and with that the Airbnb concept was born. Next, they raised money for their new venture by developing two special-edition breakfast cereals, Obama O’s and Cap’n McCains, to cash in on the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. This brainstorm alone netted the company over $30,000, and before long the Y Combinator startup-support firm was offering the fledgling company training and funding ideas. By 2009 Airbnb was listing homes, boats, tipis, private islands, and more for short-term rental, and today Airbnb is a $25 billion company with properties in 65,000 cities and 191 countries.

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High-Octane Fun at Simraceway

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Published: Thursday, 23 February 2017 13:55

FastForward Visits Simraceway

By Ben Auerbach, Ethan Herron, Kent Middle; Christian Hee, Mark Day School; Oscar Labovich, San Rafael High; Jane Merkle, Marin Waldorf; Rachel Richman, Marin Academy; Zoe Shulman, Alaina Wehrly, Urban; Kylie Sebastian, Mark Day School; Jack Nieker, Tam High; Jack Watson, Hall Middle; and Regan Widergren, Saint Isabella

A loud cacophony of popping, whirling engines greeted us as we approached the famous Simraceway Performance Karting Center, nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of Sonoma County, California. A part of the larger Sonoma Raceway, which hosts a variety of heart-pounding races each year, the Performance Center is focused around the sport of Go-Karting, a in which racers driving small karts accelerate and drift around the various curves of the track in a form of racing that’s exhilarating to watch, but even more so to do for a living. On a scorching summer day, we were given a chance not only to learn about the joys of this sport, but to also take the karts for a spin ourselves. Eager to get in the driver’s seat, we arrived in the parking lot and made our way to the visitor’s center, where our interview soon began.

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