Joe Gebbia is the co-founder of Airbnb. An entrepreneur from an early age, he is obsessed with igniting new ideas. Most people don’t know that Joe began his life as an artist eventually double majoring in graphic design and industrial design. While studying in the Northeast, Gebbia complimented his creative pursuits and studies at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with business coursework at Brown University and MIT. Influenced by the work of Jean Prouve, Charles and Ray Eames, and the Bauhaus movement, Gebbia has long been immersed in the art of designing for the human experience.
After moving to San Francisco from Providence, Rhode Island, Gebbia worked as a designer for Chronicle Books where he experienced first-hand how a design-led business worked, department by department. His favorite spot is at the intersection of business and design.
In 2008, Airbnb started out of the necessity to pay rent wIth his co-founders, Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk in 2008. What started as three airbeds, a pop-tart breakfast, welcoming hosts and an insider’s guide to the city, is now a global phenomenon of hospitality, human connectivity and economic stimulation. Today Airbnb has spread to nearly 5 million listings in more than 191 countries changing how people trust each other.
Currently, he leads Samara, Airbnb’s future orientated product development team. With an eye for simplicity and an appreciation for the environment, he leads the team in creating products that are designed to be re-consummed from the very beginning. The results are Backyard – a cutting edge look into how we might live, consume and share.
Joe has spoken globally about both entrepreneurship and design, and received numerous distinctions such as the Inc 30 under 30, and speaking at TED, Wired and the Clinton Global Initiative. Airbnb was selected as one of the ‘Top 50 Innovative Companies’ by Fast Company and ‘Company of the Year’ by Inc. Joe loves to find opportunities to give back on the local and global level and has joined the Giving Pledge to commit more than half of his wealth to philanthropy. He’s already started by joining the TED Audacious project, setting up an endowed scholarship at his alma mater RISD, where he now sits on the Board of Trustees, and many more. One of his favorite projects has been refurbishing a basketball court with Kevin Durant.
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 joe dot gebbia at airbnb.com
TED (Vancouver, Feb 2016)
Inc. Magazine GrowCo (Nashville, April 2015)
Clinton Global Initiative (New York City, Sept 2014)
KPCB @ Fuseproject (San Francisco, June 2014)
Giga OM RoadMap (San Francisco, Nov 2013)
Feast Conference (New York City, Oct 2103)
Brooklyn Beta (New York City, Oct 2013)
Fast Company Innovation By Design (New York City, Oct 2013)
Smart Cloud Show (Seoul, July 2013)
Dwell on Design (Los Angeles, June 2013)
LeWeb (London, June 2013)
Financial Times (London, June 2013)
Wired NextFest (Milan, June 2013)
99% Conference (NYC, May 2013)
First Round Capital Design Speaker Series (San Francisco, May 2013)
AIGA Designer + Founders (San Francisco, May 2013)
Alternative Design Careers @ Harvard GSD (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
Icon Magazine (Jan 2017)
NPR (Oct 2016)
Inc Magazine (June 2015)
Financial Times (April 2015)
Inc Magazine (Nov 2014)
GQ (July 2013)
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
Company of the Year, Inc Magazine (2014)
AIGA 'Justified' Jury (2014)
40-under-40, Fortune Magazine (2013)
Top 50 innovative companies, FastCompany (2013)
FastCompany Innovation by Design Jury (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, Inc Magazine (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)