Joe Gebbia is the cofounder of Airbnb, which grew from an experiment in his San Francisco living room into a multibillion dollar global company that transformed the hospitality industry. And his new startup, Samara, is reimagining how homeowners utilize their backyards by offering stateoftheart Accessory Dwelling Units.
In this episode, Gebbia explains the unlikely genesis of Airbnb, the challenges in unlocking the sharing economy, and how Samara could address many of America's housing issues.We learn about Gebbia's most famous high school prank and how he channels his creative, entrepreneurial energy into reshaping how people live, travel, and engage with the world around them. We also discuss Gebbia's inspiring philanthropic work, which has touched millions of lives, and hear why he changed his perspective on nuclear energy and now believes it’s one of the most important technologies for the future of the planet.
00:00 Episode intro
01:17 Joe's new startup Samara
07:25 Joe's epic high school prank
16:22 Unlikely origin of Airbnb
20:37 The sharing economy
30:08 Ocean Cleanup project
33:49 Optimism for the future