Fractionalized Airbnb: An Interview With Chris and Alia, Founders of the DAObnb NFT Collection

The Web3, art, and business operations of Chris and Alia span multiple projects. They are the owners of Birdhouse Tattoo in Portland, Oregon, the founders of Primate Social Society, and the founders and executives at DAObnb. They are also funding a non-profit that aims to bring student artists into the Web3 space to eliminate the idea of “the starving artist.” Their motto is, “life’s too short not to build greatness.”

Because of the ambition of the project, I thought it would be good to get my eyes on it and ask Chris and Alia a few questions. We spoke about how the project works, why Chris and Alia decided to do it, what to expect in the future, and how to get involved.

How does DAObnb work? What are the NFTs used for, and why use NFTs instead of cryptocurrency? Will there eventually be a cryptocurrency as well?

Chris: We use rental arbitrage, which means we rent properties under a corporate lease and then rent them out via short-term rental sites like Airbnb. The NFTs give holders access to exclusive benefits inside our network of properties such as free nights on a yearly basis.

We’re not using cryptocurrency because crypto is a fungible token; it’s too volatile. When we give rewards directly related to an NFT, it doesn’t matter what the price is because you get something out of it. If your crypto coin is worth a dollar, but the room costs $150 and your coins go down in value you’d have to spend more to purchase the room.

Who acquires the properties? Who runs them? If this is a DAO, could those individuals possibly change over time?

Chris: The acquisitions team will acquire and manage the properties. These people could change over time, but more than likely the team will grow as the acquisition management grows the team.

Are you working towards a true DAO or is the NFT simply a governance token? How does voting work; do multiple NFTs give more votes per individual?

Alia: The NFT is just a governance token at this point. Yes, multiple NFTs give more votes.

How are the profits from the rental units allocated?

Chris: Each unit expects to earn $1,000-$2,000 per month. 50% of the profit will be distributed between holders, and 50% reinvested back into the project to acquire more units. In my conversation with the founders, they said they’re devoting the rest of 2022 to launching and acquiring 500+ units. Doing some simple math here, with 500 units producing $1,000 per month in profit, that’s $500,000 per month in total profit or $6,000,000 per year.

Will this be a minting window or an NFT sale? How are the profits from the NFT sales allocated? The royalties?

Alia: Yes, we’re starting pre-sale on 2/22/22 at 2:22 pm Pacific. The presale will only be open for 48 hours. After that, we’ll open sales to everyone from February 24th to March 1st. 

What is the legal status of a venture like this? Explain to the NFT holders why they should feel comfortable with their long-term investment.

Chris: This is a great question that everyone needs to understand a little better. As NFTs move away from JPEG art and into real-world utility, there will be more NFTs that are selling services. We need to reframe the way we look at NFTs as a whole. You wouldn’t consider your car or your toaster as an investment to go up in value. It could go up in value, but you don’t buy it with the hope that it will. 

Just the same, we are rewarding our holders with a service and a product. We aren’t offering these NFTs as an investment, we’re offering lifetime membership cards to our community. This doesn’t mean they may not go up in value, but we’re not offering them with the intention that they will. 

What benefit is there to the founders to create a project like this? Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to simply buy and rent the properties and keep all of the profits?

Chris: The reason people ask this question is the reason we’re doing this project. Because so much of the world is run by greedy corporations who raise prices despite record profits and claim “inflation,” we believe Web3 holds the key to a better future for all of us. So, why do it all ourselves? Because community is everything.

Honestly, this sounds like it could turn into something great. Where should users go to join the whitelist?

Alia: Glad to do it! To get on the presale list, all you have to do is join our Discord or follow us on Twitter.

Thanks, Chris and Alia. I’ll be sure to put the link below. Good Luck!
Join the project’s Discord or follow them on Twitter.