He is an industrial designer by training (I read the title and said to myself "of course - he's an industrial designer"). Physical products are what industrial designers generally do. Foam cutting and printing machines are a common tool of the trade.
There are, however, few organizations which strongly value industrial design enough to employ a serious team of them. Young industrial design graduates have a very hard time finding work in the field.
Yup second this. RISD ID graduates tend to end up in Interface Design just as much (if not more than) Graphic Design majors. The ID curriculum actually does a much better job at introducing the students to a lot of the concepts that UX Designers champion. Industrial Design tends to be much more research driven, so it translates well.
Graphic Design tends to be much more about story-telling, metaphor, visual qualities, etc. — which are all important in Interface Design as well, just different. Joe Gebbia's double-major in ID and GD makes a lot of sense for a startup designer.
The real problem is that we're all thrown on the same heap by outsiders and that they tend to underestimate the added value of having a team with these diverse backgrounds.
(Bias: IxD student - in a master programme where everyone has a different bachelor)
There are, however, few organizations which strongly value industrial design enough to employ a serious team of them. Young industrial design graduates have a very hard time finding work in the field.