Joe Gebbia is a designtrepreneur whose work is broad and eclectic, crossing over disciplines such as industrial design, print, and web-based experiences. As the co-founder of Airbnb, Joe leads the product team to create useful, useable, delightful, and on brand experiences. This cross–disciplinary team of designers, engineers, producers, researchers and analysts work toward a common vision of simplifying complexity to make a service that is 'mom–friendly'.
Joe's lifelong fascination for art and design led him to the Rhode Island School of Design where he honed his conceptual skills, garnering dual degrees in product design and graphic design. His creative pursuits were complimented via business coursework at Brown University and MIT, preparing him for the 2005 launch of his first patented product, CritBuns. The uniquely shaped seat cushion combines a form, function, and language inspired during an uncomfortable art critique, or 'crit', while at RISD.
The curvaceous foam object led him to question the role of materials in design, and the idea of 'intellectual ecology' - how to do good through design while still providing a platform for function and commentary. The manifestation of this concept takes the form of 'Ecolect' - a database allowing other designers to discover and find inspiration in alternative materials.
Continuing the thread of resourcefulness, he co-founded Airbnb in 2008. Airbnb is a place where what's inspiring about every person, and every home, in every country, can be shared. People share extra rooms, entire houses, castles, treehouses, boats, and even igloos. What began in his San Francisco apartment has spread to 30,000 cities in over 192 countries, creating a new economy for hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Education
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (2000 - 2005)
BFA Industrial Design
BFA Graphic Design
Brown University, Providence, RI (2001 - 2005)
Liberal Arts Studies
MIT Sloan School of Business, Boston, MA (2004)
Joint Course 'Product Design and Development'
Speaking Engagements – contact press@airbnb.com
99% Conference (NYC, May 2013)
Alternative Design Careers (Cambridge, Feb 2013)
DLD Conference (Munich, Jan 2013)
Commonwealth Club (San Francisco, Jan 2013)
FastCompany Innovation Uncensored (San Francisco, Nov 2012)
GigaOm 'Design in the Connected Age' (San Francisco, Nov 2012)
PSFK Conference (San Francisco, Oct 2012)
RISD Entrepreneur Mindshare (Providence, Oct 2012)
The Next Web, Keynote (Amsterdam, April 2012)
SXSW (Austin, March 2012)
Pecha Kucha (Tokyo, Dec 2011)
Y-Combinator (NYC, Oct 2011)
PSFK Conference (San Francisco, Oct 2011)
Inman Real Estate Connect (San Francisco, July 2011)
GigaOm GreenNet (San Francisco, April 2011)
PSFK Conference (New York, April 2011)
Pecha Kucha (San Francisco, March 2011)
Rhode Island School of Design, Freshman class (Providence, 2010)
Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, April 2010)
Student Day 2010 Hosted by IIDA & ASID (Portland, Feb 2010)
Bootstrapping Before Professional Money, Propel ICT (August 2009)
NeoCon Student Keynote (Chicago, June 2009)
Pecha Kucha (San Francisco, Nov 2007)
Rhode Island School of Design, ID Dept (Providence, Oct 2007)
Pecha Kucha (San Francisco, Oct 2007)
IDSA MidEast Conference "Big Brands, Big Ideas" (Cincinnati, April 2007)
Pecha Kucha (San Francisco, Feb 2007)
Press
Fortune (April 2011)
Inc Magazine (March 2011)
Forbes (Nov 2010)
Inc Magazine (July 2010)
NY Times (July 2010)
Cooper Hewitt (July 2010)
Core77 (Feb 2010)
NY Times (October 2009)
Valet Mag (October 2009)
Business Week (March 2009)
Core77 (December 2008)
Daniel Pink (October 2008)
Wall Street Journal (August 2008)
RISD Blog (June 2008)
Entrepreneur (June 2008)
USA Today (April 2008)
Dexigner (April 2008)
Designboom (April 2008)
IDSA Interview: Who's Next (March 2008)
Providence Business News (October 2007)
Innovation Magazine (January 2007)
Visao Magazine (January 2007)
ID Magazine (December 2006)
Sports Illustrated (January 2005)
Associated Press (January 2001)
Awards & Honors
Top 50 innovative companies, FastCompany (2013)
Trustee, Rhode Island School of Design Board of Directors (2012–present)
Top 50 innovative companies, FastCompany (2012)
Airbnb named best Mobile App, SXSW Interactive Awards (2011)
Airbnb nominated for 'Best Design', Crunchies (2011)
30-under-30 (2010)
Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial (2010)
Business Week: Top 20 Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs (2009)
Selected to Y-Combinator seed fund (2009)
Selected to Designboom NYC Exhibit (2009)
RISD Alumni Council Executive Committee (2005 - 2010)
Selected to Designboom Sydney Exhibit (2008)
Selected to Designboom Tokyo Exhibit (2007)
Selected to Designboom NYC Exhibit (2007)
CritBuns named "Best of 2006", ID Magazine (2006)
Selected to Chronicle Books ID Fellowship (2006)
Steven T. Mendelson Community Service Award, RISD (2005)
Thomas A. Edison Award for Innovation, RISD Industrial Design Dept (2005)
RISD Varisty Basketball Team, Founder & Co-captain (2000 - 2005)
Student Leadership Scholarship, RISD (2003)
Student Body President, RISD (2002 - 2003)
Country count: 23
South Korea, India, Singapore, Cyprus, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Australia, Monaco, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Sweden, Austria.
Up next:
China, Iceland, Antartica, Russia, Brazil, Vietnam, Fiji, Tanzania.