HomeAway built the world's largest vacation rental marketplace mostly by buying other people's websites. Before it, renting a beach house meant classified ads, phone calls and word of mouth. HomeAway bought up listing sites such as VRBO and gathered them in one place. Owners paid to advertise their homes, and travelers browsed for free. When it filed to go public in 2011, Airbnb was still a young startup.

An Austin Shopping Spree

Brian Sharples and Carl Shepherd started in Austin in 2005 with a roll-up plan. They raised a large amount of venture money early. They spent it on established rental sites in the United States and Europe, including VRBO. The model was simple. Owners paid a yearly subscription to list their properties, and travelers searched for free. More listings drew more travelers, and more travelers drew more owners.

Renamed for Vrbo

HomeAway priced its IPO at $27 a share in June 2011 and closed its first day well above that. Over the next few years, Airbnb grew into a serious rival. HomeAway answered by charging travelers a booking fee. In 2015 Expedia bought HomeAway for about $3.9 billion. The business later took the name of one of the oldest sites it had bought: Vrbo.

Cover: Fisherman's Cottage, Harald Oscar Sohlberg. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a fisherman's cottage by the water (a vacation home).