Joe Gebbia

“We do believe in an inside-out culture. If we hold our hosts and guests to an expectation of acceptance and belonging, it has to start within our company. Otherwise, how on earth do we have the credibility to hold them accountable if we're not doing it to ourselves?”

“Since the very beginning, we wanted to create an experience for our guests: more than just a place to sleep. We wanted to cook breakfast in the morning; we wanted to provide a subway map for our guests. Pick them up from the airport.”

“We built a basic website, and Air Bed and Breakfast was born. Three lucky guests got to stay on a $20 airbed on the hardwood floor. But they loved it. And so did we. We took them on adventures around the city.”

“There's no reason any company should be limited by its physical environment.”

“Airbnb is about the nexus of the online and offline to create the perfect customer experience.”

“What if cities embraced a culture of sharing? I see a future of shared cities that bring us community and connection instead of isolation and separation.”

“While the Cold War had us questioning our next-door neighbors, big brands emerged to capture our trust. We became consumers.”

“To be truly empathetic, we have to acknowledge that we're all human, we're all flawed, and that life can be difficult.”

“A world-changing vision often necessitates a profound simplicity in the user experience.”

“Airbnb has grown thanks to our hosts creating memorable experiences and inspiring their guests to be hosts in their hometowns.”

“We expect Seoul to be one of our most important markets not only in Asia but around the world.”

“We've invented a new marketplace. There was no easy way to rent a person's bedroom over the Internet or book a vacation rental over the Internet. There was no guidebook for us to turn to as we defined this new marketplace.”

“By helping New Yorkers turn their greatest expense - their home - into an asset, Airbnb is a vehicle that artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators can use to earn extra money to pursue their passion.”

“My role is to think about what the future could be for Airbnb - and that includes crafting an effortless and easy-to-use service on any platform, whether mobile, tablet, or Web.”

“In art school, you learn that design is much more than the look and feel of something - it's the whole experience.”

“People assume that the smarter your home, the better your life, but in reality, technology so often gets in the way of leading a good life.”

“Design can overcome our most deeply rooted stranger-danger bias.”

“We hire people who are smarter than us.”

“We encourage employees to ship new features on day one, which immediately encourages them to come up with something creative and different.”

“In the post-war United States, you had this race to the suburbs. Cities shrank, the suburbs got bigger - and the notion of community changed drastically. You went from all being very close together to all being spaced apart and slightly suspicious of one another.”