Will It Be Airbnb, Sonder — and Then Everyone Else?


Skift Take

Laurence Tosi and Allen Mask both have skin in the game when it comes to the prospects of Airbnb and Sonder. Are they downplaying Airbnb's challenges, and Sonder's breakout potential?

There will be Airbnb and Sonder — and everyone else. To hear Laurence Tosi of WestCap Group and investment partner Allen Mask of CoLab Group tell it, the emerging dynamic in the short-term rental industry won't be winner-take-all scenarios, but will see dominant players such as Airbnb and Sonder emerging in their respective sectors, and a fragmented group of weakened competitors filling in the rest of the leadership. Speaking about Airbnb at the Skift Short-Term Rental and Outdoor Summit Wednesday, Tosi, founder and managing partner of Westcap Group, said that in 2019 it became clear that Airbnb was becoming a dominant marketplace, and that competitors were weakening, and their market share was becoming fragmented. Likewise with Sonder, which plays in the quasi-hotel and short-term rental space and is slated to go pub