Reinvent
20.01.2014, 17:13:31From Business to Community:
“Today the sharing economy — the peer-to-peer exchange of goods and services — is being called next big trend in social commerce, and represents what some analysts say is a potential $110 billion market. Internet technology and access to information allow us to share our belongings with others more easily than ever before and wring value out of stuff we already own. That, coupled with many people’s desire to lead greener, less consumptive lives, is driving this trend.”
http://www.business2community.com/trends-news/know-collaborative-economy-110b-market-0745600#y22oW2QYtL16GGLD.30 
Robin Chase
25.07.2013, 19:15:03Nice photo +ConradWagner! I'm sorry I couldn't see you too on the other side of the camera.
Rick Richardson
25.07.2013, 12:39:28Melinda thank you for your comments. Your perception of the situation is right on target.
Doug Holt
25.07.2013, 12:16:45Zipcar's sweet spot, as Robin knows, is for urban living. It doesn't work in the suburbs. In cities, the most desirable solution for enviro and congestion and urban planning is mass transit. Zipcar competes with mass transit and encourages us to consider it as the option instead of working collectively to build mass transit. The statistic Robin is giving is really misleading (it is also based upon 2005 study) since it is based only on people who give up autos for zipcar. Most people who join zipcar today aren't giving up their cars to do so.
Melinda Guinn
25.07.2013, 12:03:52Maybe material and energy consumption is not the problem? If we do our work ethically, and human activity takes into account cradle to grave impact (and we clean up our processes), we should be able to create and collaborate and use and continue indefinitely without fear or worry about resource waste or reckless contamination. We have choices. Making compassionate business, engineering, research, political and investment decisions has economic merit because it ensures a sustainable future. I agree that an ecological, caring, empowering, participating, collaborative world view is what drives the innovations that will succeed in our future. :) That is exciting to me. I completely agree that the purpose of incorporation is to bring people, ideas and resources together to benefit the stakeholders it serves (the community). We are in our society, refining what it means to serve the community and recognizing that benefit is more than financial benefits for investors and owners... but that the benefits should include supporting well being of all stakeholders and community members. This is not a battle of human selfishness vs. generosity... it's about an evolution in the ways people think and interact. The change will occur not because everyone will come to agreement, but because change is inevitable. I completely agree that what is driving the new market is a craving for value, meaning and quality... Change is a complex process, and I agree that the good life is being redefined and has been evolving for decades.
Heather Bessette
25.07.2013, 12:01:36Yes-
+Salesforce offers great discounts for B Corporations as well.
Minnie Fong
25.07.2013, 11:47:23I am very interested in hearing the experts' thoughts on doing this in the food space - like sharing / selling excess food to neighbors instead of throwing it out. Is this something that they think is viable and has potential?
Doug Holt
25.07.2013, 11:45:11Similarly, AirBnB, while a great service, may well be a net negative for environment. If you think of the service as lowering the total cost of economic travel, it is combined with the low cost airlines to deliver a great cheap vacation to another cool city usually requiring air travel. It may well increase demand for air travel which is one of the worst sources of greenhouse gas. I don't believe in these overriding claims for share/collaborative economy as being a great green strategy. Some may be, some clearly aren't. We need to do lifecycle studies to look at each footprint rather than sell this one-size fits all solution.
Melinda Guinn
25.07.2013, 11:41:10I love the shared platform idea that comes out of the desire to maximize the use and life of what we go to the trouble to create and obtain. This is a pretty neat place along those lines, as it maximizes the use of expensive tools and machines - creating a platform that allows individuals to use them in the creation of their own unique products. Tech Shop
http://www.techshop.ws/ Also, along the lines of toy sharing, there is a great group in Pittsburgh - a toy lending library.
http://www.pghtoys.org/ 
Gint Rudis
25.07.2013, 11:40:57See Nassim Taleb on "Neomania"
Doug Holt
25.07.2013, 11:37:23I don't think that what Robin is saying is true. I am studying Zipcar now (for the company). And its clear that Zipcar encourages as many people to add auto to a mass transit/bike/walk portfolio as it does motiivate people to downsize to fractional car share. Net-net, not a good example from an environmental pov (though a great service and has other collective benefits).
Kai Carver
25.07.2013, 11:32:11hi Robin :)
Heather Richardson
25.07.2013, 11:20:46Air B&B was amazing post-Hurricane Sandy. They came up with free rooms in NYC for people who lost their homes.
Erik van Ommeren
25.07.2013, 11:19:56So is 'big' equal to 'good'?
Heather Bessette
25.07.2013, 11:13:46Is Zipcar facing any challenges since being purchased by Avis?
Reinvent
25.07.2013, 11:01:26And we're live!
Denise Brosseau
24.07.2013, 11:05:35sounds fascinating but I am on an airplane tomorrow.
Shannon Lucas
23.07.2013, 18:06:56@kevin I agree that it would be nice to have someone smiling!
Shannon Lucas
23.07.2013, 18:05:46This is a great format and a great topic. Thanks for pulling this together.
Evo Heyning
12.07.2013, 12:26:28I'd love to see a happy woman! I'm also curious how Robin was able to fund Zipcar if they're not going to be profitable for 12 years.
kevin jones
12.07.2013, 12:22:04need the picture to not be somebody frowning.
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