COURSE PROJECT / ENGM 201 PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
AirAPT: Simplifying Housing for International Students. No U.S. credit, no rental history, no way to visit. Then sign a year-long lease.
AirAPT / Simplifying Housing for International Students
- Team
- Aayush Gujrathi, Shalini Dasararaju, Shankar Dhakshinamoorthi, Joe Gehl
- Timeline
- Jan to Mar 2026
- Stack and methods
- PRFAQ, Pitch deck, Agile plan, RICE prioritization sheet
We owned the project end to end as a team.
- 4-piece MVP trust loop
- 5 pilot universities planned
- 50 landlords per campus
- $13B to $20B addressable GMV (team estimate)
Trust loop prototype
Interactive / try itThe problem
International students must secure housing before arriving, without credit history, local rental history, or the chance to visit. They often default to the same buildings year after year even when better options exist.
Research
A survey of international graduate students across universities surfaced three priorities: trust is critical, safety beats price, and lease flexibility matters.
What we did
- Chose Airbnb as the platform: existing trust infrastructure, host network, and Monthly Stays booking flow.
- Brainstormed multiple solutions and used RICE to pick University Cohort Housing Channels.
- Wrote an Amazon-style PRFAQ and scoped an MVP.
- Planned a beta from April to July 2026 and GA from August 2026 with a go/no-go gate.
- Built a go-to-market plan: international student office partnerships at five schools including Dartmouth, outreach to existing Airbnb hosts near campuses, and returning-student invites for network effects.
Decisions worth asking about
RICE over enthusiasm.
Several ideas competed; RICE made University Cohort Housing Channels the clear highest-impact bet.
The minimum viable trust loop.
Verification, cohort channels, peer reviews, and landlord targeting ship together because removing any one breaks the product. Peer bookmarks and automated alerts wait for Phase 2.
Build on Airbnb, not a new app.
Existing verification, host network, and Monthly Stays infrastructure cut cold-start risk.
“I spent three months going back and forth with landlords before I found my apartment. Half the listings were nothing like the photos. If I could have read reviews from other students at Columbia, I would have signed a lease in two weeks.”
“Finding housing is difficult and stressful for all students, and international students in particular. I believe that AirAPT shows promise in streamlining the process for all students so more energy can be spent on what college should be about: learning.”