Airbnb spawned an ecosystem of startups that sweat the details for the owners

Over the past decade, Airbnb Inc has transformed the travel sector by persuading millions of people to open up their homes to complete strangers.

David Krauss had parlayed his Dallas condo into a successful Airbnb listing until one fateful weekend in 2014. Then, a couple of guests threw a party so loud it elicited more than a dozen noise complaints from neighbors, a police report and an angry letter from an attorney.

His reputation in the building was so sullied he decided it was best to sell the unit – at a US$30,000 (RM124,000) loss. But Krauss, a former independent real estate developer, wasn’t finished with Airbnb.