82
FEBRUARY 2013
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
L E T ’ S G E T T O G E T H E R
Having started in marketplaces like eBay and Craigslist, collaborative consumption is entering
into pretty much every area of life, from personal loans to travel, and reinventing the way we do business.
Here, four companies that have led the way.
IDEA:
In fall 2011, two Dutch brothers and an
Austrian friend saw their mushroom
foraging trip thwarted by the fact that
they had no idea which species were
edible. After striking out on Google, they
spotted an opportunity to connect
travelers with in-the-know locals to do fun
things, and the website Gidsy was born.
EXECUTION:
Gidsy hooks users up with “experience
hosts,” specialists who offer anything
from piano lessons to nature walks
to kite-flying sessions. It’s the commercial
equivalent of getting a contact from
a friend (assuming you have thousands
of unusually well-connected friends
all over the world).
RESULTS:
After debuting in Berlin and
New York, the company quickly
branched into San Francisco,
Amsterdam and London. Backers now
include Sunstone Capital,
Amazon CTOWerner Vogels
and actor Ashton Kutcher.
IDEA:
In 2000, Robin Chase used her MIT
business training to co-found the
car-sharing scheme Zipcar. Using its
online reservation system and
wireless access cards, members can
pick up a variety of vehicles at
myriad locations.
EXECUTION:
Persuading people to share cars
once would have seemed as far-fetched
as being able to unlock a car with a
phone. Zipcar overcame naysayers
by augmenting the obvious lures—
economy and convenience—with
technology that’s simple and sexy.
RESULTS:
Zipcar is the largest car-sharing
business in the world, with around
700,000
members and 11,000 vehicles
in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Since
leaving Zipcar in 2005, Chase has gone
on to launch Buzzcar, a car-sharing
service in France, and GoLoco, an online
ride-sharing community.
IDEA:
Founded in 2008 by former
IBM software engineer Leah Busque
after she ran out of dog food one
night, TaskRabbit connects users with
short-term personal assistants who will
do anything from filing a tax form to
assembling Ikea furniture to waiting in
line for theater tickets.
EXECUTION:
The slogan “Life is busy. We can help”
resonated with stressed American
moms, the demographic that TaskRabbit
first targeted. Now the client base has
broadened and basic chores are giving
way to more esoteric assignments, like
orchestrating pranks on office colleagues.
RESULTS:
Having stormed nine U.S. cities—
and amassed $40 million in venture
funding—TaskRabbit has rolled out
an on-demand courier service,
Deliver Now, and raised another
$13 million to further its plans
for global domination.
IDEA:
This San Francisco–based website,
which enables people to rent out their
spare rooms hotel-style, launched
shortly before the 2008 Democratic
National Convention in Denver, where
it helped alleviate a bed crunch. Airbnb
now operates in 192 countries, providing
anything from a room for a night
to a castle for a week.
EXECUTION:
Inexpensive options for travelers,
much-needed income for hosts—
what’s not to like? And Airbnb takes
safety seriously: As part of its
services, it offers a $50,000 liability
guarantee, email and phone verification
systems, video profiles and a 24-hour
customer-support hotline.
RESULTS:
Having racked up more than
10
million guest nights and
some 200,000 property listings,
Airbnb has raised over $120 million
in investment capital and is
looking at another, bigger round—
to the tune of $2 billion–plus.
