We scour the internet to find the most interesting news on the collaborative consumption front. Here are our picks for the week:
Sharing’s Not Just for Start-Ups
Rachel Botsman, Harvard Business Review
Marriott is just one example of an established company that’s starting to take a serious interest in the collaborative economy. Many observers associate the sector only with start-ups such as Airbnb (which lets people rent out unused rooms, apartments, or homes) and Uber (an on-demand car service). In fact the concept is being adopted by large companies and applied to intangible assets, not just cars and rooms.
In the Sharing Economy, Workers Find Both Freedom and Uncertainty
Natasha Singer, New York Times
Peer marketplaces provide ad hoc gigs with a flexible timetable to workers who do not have stable employment but what are the trade offs?
Natasha discusses the points collaborative economy employers need to consider as job providers such as basic employee benefits and protections, how the change in business models or pricing affects their contract workers, and more.
NSW minister Dominic Perrottet endorses Uber and Airbnb
Ben Grubb, The Age
A senior NSW cabinet minister has endorsed ride-sharing service Uber and home-sharing app Airbnb by saying “governments should not stand in the way” of them despite both services being under scrutiny by his government.
A Trillion Dollar Market By the People, For the People
Charles Moldow, Foundation Capital
Foundation Capital’s white paper on how marketplace lending will replace traditional banking.
Uber’s API Launch Lights The Way For Sharing Economy Apps
Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch
Convincing users to join new collaborative consumption ventures can be a tall order, but Uber’s API launch today gives us a glimpse at how others building businesses along similar lines might be able to juice usage and find a lasting place in the virtual toolboxes of smartphone owners.
PwC: Sharing economy poised to hit £9bn by 2025
BusinessGreen
The so-called sharing economy is set to grow 18-fold over the next decade, according to a new study from consultancy giant PwC that suggests the market could be worth £9bn a year by 2025.
Why Berlin’s Uber ban risks it missing a $335bn opportunity
James Titcomb, The Telegraph
Berlin has banned Uber on the grounds of passenger safety, in the latest crackdown on the popular taxi app.
The City isn’t the first place to bow to the demands of the taxi industry. Unions in France successfully lobbied for a law that requires taxi app drivers to wait 15 minutes before picking a passenger up, although this has been subsequently suspended.
