Case studies

How iconic internet companies shipped their first homepage

Before they were platforms, they were single, scrappy webpages with a story: spare airbeds, a text-for-a-car concierge, a bookstore catalog, and a Harvard directory. Study these launches to see the bar for an MVP worth funding.

Send us your first page See our build process

Recreated 2008 AirBed and Breakfast landing page with $80/night hero section.

The original page promised Wi-Fi, cereal breakfast, and three floor spots in a San Francisco apartment.

2008 Launch

AirBed & Breakfast

Airbnb: Rented out three air mattresses during a sold-out conference weekend.

Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nate Blecharczyk hacked together a WordPress landing page, hosted friends on airbeds, and took photos on a borrowed camera. The only goal was to cover rent during a design conference.

They enforced scarcity (“only 3 spots”), charged $80 per guest through a PayPal button, and emailed every design blogger they knew. Within 72 hours, the prototype delivered cash and a story people wanted to repeat.

First Ship

WordPress template + Craigslist cross-posting
Handwritten confirmation emails + PayPal buttons
House rules PDF to make it feel trustworthy

Breakthrough Signal

$240 booked in one weekend with strangers
60+ emails captured to validate future cities
Local press coverage that labeled them “Airbnb”

Solve one weekend-sized painMake scarcity obviousStory beats featuresEmail waitlists still work

Recreated 2010 UberCab teaser with SMS call-to-action.

The pitch: text UBER to a shortcode and an on-demand black car appears within minutes.

2010 Launch

UberCab

Uber: Summoned black cars over SMS before the iOS app even hit the App Store.

Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick built a private beta that texted nearby limo drivers on behalf of 100 friends. The first landing page bragged about “SF insiders only” and flat fares between SOMA and Union Square.

All dispatching happened manually from a laptop dashboard while the founders rode along to interview riders. Once winter storms spiked demand, they opened the waitlist and started migrating bookings into the native app that would become Uber.

First Ship

SMS autoresponder connected to a Google Sheet
iPhone-only beta link shared via TestFlight email
Hand-picked limo partners paid per completed ride

Breakthrough Signal

Weekend snowstorm produced nonstop bookings
Riders screenshot their receipts and shared on Twitter
Drivers referred other chauffeurs begging for work

Start with a single cityManual ops create speedScarcity = desirabilityPrice transparency beats polish

Recreated 1995 Amazon.com Books homepage with search box and browse CTA.

The original Amazon page looked like a grad-school project but repeated “largest selection” everywhere.

1995 Launch

Amazon.com Books

Amazon: A plain HTML bookstore that bragged about inventory, not UI.

Jeff Bezos coded the first version from a rented home in Seattle. The site led with stats—one million titles, deep discounts, ships anywhere—and a single search box. Catalog data was stitched together from wholesalers via nightly batch jobs.

Every order notification pinged a bell in the office. Inventory was drop-shipped, so Amazon could promise “Earth’s biggest bookstore” without owning physical stock. The discipline was in automation, not pixels.

First Ship

Static HTML + CGI scripts on Windows NT
Catalog seeded with Jeff’s top sci-fi picks
Manual emails confirming every order

Breakthrough Signal

First month: 20+ states ordered with zero marketing
Word-of-mouth from Usenet book clubs
Customers bragged about selection size, not price

Lead with an unfair advantage statUse automation where UX is weakOwn the niche before expandingInstrument every order

Recreated 2004 thefacebook landing page focused on .edu login.

The page was a simple registration wall with copy about seeing everyone in your dorm.

2004 Launch

thefacebook

Facebook: A Harvard-only directory that required a .edu email to log in.

Mark Zuckerberg built the first version over a weekend in Kirkland House. The layout mimicked a student directory: profile photos, basic stats, and a “status” sentence starter. Exclusivity was the feature.

After 1,200 students signed up in ten days, they opened the app to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale. Growth was run list-by-list with ambassadors collecting .edu addresses in AIM chats.

First Ship

PHP + MySQL hosted on a single server
Only Harvard email addresses allowed
Profile photos uploaded at 100×100 pixels

Breakthrough Signal

70% of Harvard undergrads joined in two weeks
200 daily feedback emails requesting new schools
Status feature became the habit loop

Gate access to increase desireShip the directory before the feedManual onboarding is a featureTiny photos can still create identity

Your turn

Start with a single, opinionated page. We'll help you pressure-test it like these legends.

Send us the napkin sketch, Typeform, or notion doc. Our team reverse-engineers the first version, pairs it with the right pod, and ships it with the same scrappy energy as Airbnb, Uber, Amazon, and Facebook.

Pitch the Foundry See how we build

Case studies

How iconic internet companies shipped their first homepage

Send us your first page See our build process

The original page promised Wi-Fi, cereal breakfast, and three floor spots in a San Francisco apartment.

2008 Launch

AirBed & Breakfast

Airbnb: Rented out three air mattresses during a sold-out conference weekend.

First Ship

WordPress template + Craigslist cross-posting
Handwritten confirmation emails + PayPal buttons
House rules PDF to make it feel trustworthy

Breakthrough Signal

$240 booked in one weekend with strangers
60+ emails captured to validate future cities
Local press coverage that labeled them “Airbnb”

Solve one weekend-sized painMake scarcity obviousStory beats featuresEmail waitlists still work

The pitch: text UBER to a shortcode and an on-demand black car appears within minutes.

2010 Launch

UberCab

Uber: Summoned black cars over SMS before the iOS app even hit the App Store.

First Ship

SMS autoresponder connected to a Google Sheet
iPhone-only beta link shared via TestFlight email
Hand-picked limo partners paid per completed ride

Breakthrough Signal

Weekend snowstorm produced nonstop bookings
Riders screenshot their receipts and shared on Twitter
Drivers referred other chauffeurs begging for work

Start with a single cityManual ops create speedScarcity = desirabilityPrice transparency beats polish

The original Amazon page looked like a grad-school project but repeated “largest selection” everywhere.

1995 Launch

Amazon.com Books

Amazon: A plain HTML bookstore that bragged about inventory, not UI.

First Ship

Static HTML + CGI scripts on Windows NT
Catalog seeded with Jeff’s top sci-fi picks
Manual emails confirming every order

Breakthrough Signal

First month: 20+ states ordered with zero marketing
Word-of-mouth from Usenet book clubs
Customers bragged about selection size, not price

Lead with an unfair advantage statUse automation where UX is weakOwn the niche before expandingInstrument every order

The page was a simple registration wall with copy about seeing everyone in your dorm.

2004 Launch

thefacebook

Facebook: A Harvard-only directory that required a .edu email to log in.

After 1,200 students signed up in ten days, they opened the app to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale. Growth was run list-by-list with ambassadors collecting .edu addresses in AIM chats.

First Ship

PHP + MySQL hosted on a single server
Only Harvard email addresses allowed
Profile photos uploaded at 100×100 pixels

Breakthrough Signal

70% of Harvard undergrads joined in two weeks
200 daily feedback emails requesting new schools
Status feature became the habit loop

Gate access to increase desireShip the directory before the feedManual onboarding is a featureTiny photos can still create identity

Your turn

Start with a single, opinionated page. We'll help you pressure-test it like these legends.

Pitch the Foundry See how we build

How iconic internet companies shipped their first homepage

Airbnb: Rented out three air mattresses during a sold-out conference weekend.

Uber: Summoned black cars over SMS before the iOS app even hit the App Store.

Amazon: A plain HTML bookstore that bragged about inventory, not UI.

Facebook: A Harvard-only directory that required a .edu email to log in.

Start with a single, opinionated page. We'll help you pressure-test it like these legends.

Preparing your IDEA with Idea Launchpad

How iconic internet companies shipped their first homepage

Airbnb: Rented out three air mattresses during a sold-out conference weekend.

Uber: Summoned black cars over SMS before the iOS app even hit the App Store.

Amazon: A plain HTML bookstore that bragged about inventory, not UI.

Facebook: A Harvard-only directory that required a .edu email to log in.

Start with a single, opinionated page. We'll help you pressure-test it like these legends.