From aspirational travel to ridesharing to the more serious issues of peer rental insurance, we have collected this week’s best stories on the sharing economy.
How Airbnb Evolved to Focus on Social Rather Than Search
Cliff Kuang – FastCo Design
“You have to search, but what if you don’t know where you want to go?” This question led Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and his team to evolve the company from being purely about targeted accommodation search to focusing on the aspiration of travel, and the collaborative fun of planning a dream holiday, via their new WishList feature.
The “mega-trend” that swallowed Silicon Valley
Jennifer Alsever – Fortune Magazine
With more than $500M investment and a growing number of Fortune 500 partnerships in the space, the increasing popularity of Collaborative Consumption is undeniable. Check out the slideshow of 11 companies planning to make it big in the sharing economy.
Grey Areas in Peer Rentals Insurance Begin to Clarify
Cat Johnson – Shareable Magazine
With the stakes increasing as peer-to-peer carsharing companies like RelayRides and Getaround mature and scale, the uncertainty around insurance provisions is starting to be dealt with head on, with a number of insurance companies taking the lead to rewrite the rules for the industry in the face of the growing peer-to-peer trend.
Five Tips for Collaborative Consumption Start-ups
Jessica Gardner – BRW Magazine
At a recent gathering of Australian Collaborative Consumption start-ups, Rachel shared some of the key lessons she has learned from working with leading companies in the space around the world. Her five top tips are highlighted in this article.
Ride-sharing services grow popular in Europe
Eric Pfenner – New York Times
One of the fastest growing verticals around the world, we tipped 2012 would be a big year for ridesharing. Competition in the space is heating up in Europe, with a number of the bigger players also eyeing off international expansion.
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