Joe Gebbia, AirBNB: The Power of Story

What’s is the first step to solving a problem? Isolating exactly what it is. Joe Gebbia–founder of Airbnb andCritBuns—told the PSFK CONFERENCE SAN FRANCISCO, that it is through the process of finding creative solutions to everyday problems that products are invented. But after that process is over, how do you share your invention and inspiration with your potential consumer? How can you enable your concept to take on a life of its own? Joe Gebbia’s shares his journey from the initial problem (no way to pay his rent) to the successful solution (a local service that provides an alternative to staying in a hotel) to help describe how through creative storytelling you can not only hook an audience, but give your product a voice of its own so that it can go out and market itself.

Some highlights from the talk:

• The first step is curiosity – get your audience hooked and interacting with the product or idea
• You must have and own a story. The story is everything.
• Once the story goes beyond your community, it must be re-localized in the culture and dialogue of other communities in order to have global success.
• Tips and the progression of distribution, and how to let the product or idea do the work for you.
• How to get the story into the media without spending a lot – or any – money.