“Sympathy relies on a common experience. If you're clumsy, you might have sympathy for others who tend to bump into things. Empathy, on the other hand, is the ability to understand another person's feelings even if you've never experienced them yourself.”

American designer and entrepreneur

Joe Gebbia is an American designer and entrepreneur, known as a co-founder of Airbnb. In 2025, he joined the Department of Government Efficiency, and he was later appointed by President Donald Trump as the first Chief Design Officer to lead the National Design Studio. He built his reputation through Airbnb, the company he helped found, and later moved into public service and design leadership. The available facts place him at the intersection of technology, product design, and government work.