Joe Gebbia — Co-Founder of Airbnb
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“Anything I come across that feels impossible, I probably need to take a second look.”
– Joe Gebbia
Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) is a designer, entrepreneur, and global explorer. He is the co-founder and CPO of Airbnb, which has changed the way the world travels and how people connect in more than 190 countries.
In this wide-ranging and hilarious interview, Joe shares the decisions, hardship, failures, and successes that prepared him for Airbnb.
Enjoy!
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Joe Gebbia -- Co-Founder of Airbnb
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Want to hear another episode with a fascinating leader? Listen to my conversation with Ray Dalio. We discuss how Ray thinks about investment decisions, the three books he would give to every graduating high school or college senior, how he might assess cryptocurrency, and much, much more (stream below or right-click here to download):
#264: Ray Dalio, The Steve Jobs of Investinghttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/12871ab9-f085-4f1e-83db-7b088c4a2d92.mp3Download
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
Connect with Joe Gebbia:
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Airbnb
CritBuns
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Date with Destiny
IMG Academy Bollettieri Tennis
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
Atlanta College of Art
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
26 Of The Most Epic Senior Pranks Of All Time, BuzzFeed
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 by Pink Floyd
School’s Out by Alice Cooper
High School Stories: Scandals, Pranks, and Controversies
Gerrit Rietveld at MoMA
Clark University
The Story of Scrotie, the College Sports Mascot Who Was a Dick and Balls, The Ball Report
Critbuns Keeping My Ass In Check by Lisa Katayama, Wired
designboom
How the Ubiquitous Foam Finger Reveals the True Nature of American Entrepreneurship by Jeff Spross, The Week
Virtual Tour of Rhode Island’s Central Landfill
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken and Amory Lovins
GreenBox and Product NutritionLabel, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Chronicle Books
Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds by Hugh Hefner
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
PechaKucha
SXSW Conference
Brian Chesky: I Lived on Cap’n McCain’s and Obama O’s Got AirbnB out of Debt by Michael Carney, Pando
All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works — and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin
Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Field of Dreams
Show Notes
How did Joe’s first business venture get him into trouble? [02:09]
How did Joe wind up being raised in the rural deep south? [04:47]
What sparked Joe’s entrepreneurial curiosity? [05:30]
What did Joe’s parents teach him about connecting with others and going above and beyond to be of service? [07:00]
How Joe’s parents learned to support his interests the hard way. [11:55]
Joe talks about some of his other early entrepreneurial exploits. [14:07]
From a high school perspective, what did Joe want to be when he grew up? [16:44]
On getting into the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Was it the environment or the medium that helped him excel? [18:05]
How Joe rose to the challenge of outdoing a legendary senior prank at his high school. [20:32]
Why has Joe seen Michael Jordan naked? [45:19]
What source does Joe credit for his intuition to go beyond expectations? [1:08:29]
How founding a basketball team at RISD was like running a startup. [1:15:38]
We’ve talked about balls. Let’s talk about buns — CritBuns. [1:22:50]
A rejection equation: SW2 + WC = MO (Some will love it, some won’t + who cares? = move mn) AKA “Keep going until you find the people who do love your idea.” [1:33:56]
The goal Joe set for CritBuns that would represent the pinnacle of achievement — and how he reached it. [1:38:52]
What happened when Joe took CritBuns to Japan? [1:47:03]
On pitching to Billy Mays. [1:51:35]
What was the turning point that made Joe pivot away from building a CritBuns empire? [1:53:20]
On starting a digital service during the revenue-light Web 2.0 years. [2:02:03]
How a rent crisis prompted the birth of Airbnb. [2:05:49]
Mixed reactions to the initial Airbnb concept, an unsuccessful SXSW launch, and the company’s evolution into something bigger. [2:18:27]
A more successful relaunch during the Obama vs. McCain campaign. [2:23:31]
Closing thoughts on reframing rejection into an invitation, and the small adjustments that can turn a failing idea into a successful one. [2:30:14]
People Mentioned
Joe Gebbia, Sr.
Eileen Gebbia
Tony Robbins
Jim Loehr
Lorenzo Beltrame
Nick Bollettieri
Andre Agassi
Thelonious Monk
Dave Brubeck
Kim Gebbia Chappell
Mark Isenhour
Michael Jordan
Chris Tucker
Marcus Camby
Lenny Wilkens
Dikembe Mutombo
Steve Smith
Scottie Pippen
Steve Kerr
Dennis Rodman
Phil Jackson
Gareth Jones
Henry Moore
Frank Lloyd Wright
Gerrit Rietveld
Rosanne Somerson
Alexis Ohanian
Gerald Fauss
Billy Mays
Charles and Ray Eames
Brian Chesky
Amol Surve
Nathan Blecharczyk
Barack Obama
John McCain
Errol Barnett
Seth Godin
Elon Musk
