#DesignIndaba2017: Airbnb's Joe Gebbia booked as first speaker

A designer at heart, having studied at the acclaimed Rhode Island School of Design or RISD, Gebbia is an experienced global speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship and design with a clear passion for art and the impact of human-centric problem-solving.

As entrepreneurship is top of mind for most South Africans, his Design Indaba session is set to be super inspirational as the Airbnb peer-to-peer home rental startup is an excellent example of just how far entrepreneurial spirit can take you, especially with an idea that may seem outlandish at first. Trusting strangers to stay in your home? Gebbia showed the way as Airbnb's ground-breaking service began in his own San Francisco apartment. It has since spread to 2,000,000 listings in over 191 countries.

His innovative way of going about business hasn’t stopped with that success, as Gebbia has since launched an innovation and design studio within Airbnb called Samara. Comprising an interdisciplinary team of designers and engineers, the studio is set to enhance services in new areas of the Airbnb community based on the concept of sharing and trust.

It's unmissable! Design Indaba Festival runs from 1 to 3 March 2017 and a little birdie tells us there are still some early bird tickets available, visit the Design Indaba Festival page to grab some tickets before they're sold out!

If that's not enough, you can click here for Gebbia's Design Indaba profile, visit his personal website and follow him on Twitter for more.