🏠 Airbnb’s expansion plans

Sometimes looking for a therapist is so frustrating, you need a therapist just to talk about that.

In the US, patients face financial barriers, confusing insurance systems, too few providers, and long wait times.

Tech startups have tried to make it easier, receiving $7.8B in funding over the last two years, per Business Insider.

In 2020, the American Psychological Association reported there were as many as 20k mental health apps — online talk therapy, meditation, journaling, etc. But few are FDA approved, and hurdles remain:

• Many don’t accept insurance, remaining unaffordable for some patients.
• Some cost-cutting efforts come at the expense of care (e.g., shorter visits).
• Cerebral drew attention from the DOJ over allegations that it was overprescribing drugs, like Adderall.

Additionally, the costs for a startup to acquire a patient for D2C care has skyrocketed from ~$150 in 2018 to $500-$1k today, thanks to competitors flooding the market and Apple’s privacy updates.

What’s next?

Startups are changing their strategies, relying on referrals over expensive digital ads and targeting employers, who pay a fee for employee access, over individual patients.

Example: Talk therapy app Ginger merged with meditation app Headspace last summer. CEO Russell Glass told BI the company is now targeting enterprises, not individuals.

Others, like Alma, are working with therapists to help them accept insurance. Many providers don’t, citing lower pay and more paperwork than with out-of-pocket clients, but as of August, Alma had 8k professionals on its platform.

Airbnb may have 6m+ listings, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine kicking back and relaxing in a cozy cabin.

CEO Brian Chesky told TechCrunch that one of his goals is to avoid “a supply-constrained era.” To ensure that doesn’t happen, Airbnb’s working to make it easier to become a host.

• This week, the company launched “Airbnb-friendly apartments” in the US — a platform highlighting apartments that renters are allowed to put on Airbnb.
• While Airbnb doesn’t take a cut of their rent, the property owners “take a revenue share of between 20-25% of a host’s booking amount.”

So, while the program could help renters earn some extra cash, it’s also possible that property owners could be incentivized to charge more for rent in the first place — because the renters can just “make it back.”

Related throwback: Remember the time Zack visited the world’s most booked Airbnb?

… Recs to pair with a festive winter margarita. In case you missed ’em, here was our week’s best…

• Story: Zack explored one of life’s most puzzling questions: Can you get sued for using a meme? He also took a deep dive into meme economics.
• Podcast: The puns were out of bounds on our latest “Shark Tank” rewatch pod about a fancy chicken coop, a mother-daughter duo, and a dating app that needs a date with a distribution plan.
• Chart: Did Netflix make the right move with Glass Onion? It appears not.
• Video: Catch this “Hustlenomics” episode on why most gas stations don’t make money selling gas.
• Blog: Is blockchain the new frontier for health care? Explore top startups and use cases in the space.
• Interview: My First Million spoke with Bryan Johnson about selling his company to PayPal for $800m, and his work to reduce his biological age.