1. AIRBNB
For making the most of its hosts. By this summer, Airbnb will usurp the InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton Worldwide as the world's largest hotel chain--without owning a single hotel. The startup, which allows users to rent out their spare rooms or vacant homes to strangers, surpassed 10 million stays on its platform last year, doubled its listings to 550,000 (in 192 countries), and, according to a source familiar with the company's business, tripled revenue to an estimated $250 million. Befitting its growing might, last fall CEO Brian Chesky poached boutique-hotel pioneer Chip Conley to be its head of global hospitality. Already, Conley has created a baseline nine standards of care for Airbnb hosts to follow as part of a bigger revamp of its mobile tools. Up next, the company is doing a massive rethink on every aspect of the trip experience. "Our goal," Chesky says, "is to teach a million people hospitality."
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