Brian Chesky, chief executive of Airbnb, likes to tell the story of his early struggles to fund his home-sharing start-up. Many venture capitalists refused to meet with him, he said in an email. Some walked out in the middle of meetings.
That changed after venture firms such as Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund decided to gamble on Airbnb’s potential to shake up the vacation rentals business.
