Lucy Gao, Canadian Global Curator, visited various companies in three U.S. cities as part of a Sharing Economy tour sponsored by The Washington Foreign Press Center,visiting New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco. This is part 1 of a 3-part series showcasing companies she visited in each city, featuring familiar incumbents and new startups to look out for.
Part 1: New York City
New York City is the East-coast hub for the sharing economy, given its strong tech ecosystem and fertile ground for startups and investors. It’s also where Arun Sundararajan is based. A Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and an academic thought leader in this space, he is helping to progress this movement, which he states “represents a new kind of capitalist system, where traditional ownership and interacting with big brands is shifting to access and peer to peer systems.” See below for 7 companies headquartered in New York City that cater to this societal transformation.
What is it? Citi Bike is New York City’s bike sharing system. 600 bikes can be rented and returned from any of the 332 docking stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Some insights: Since Citi Bike launched 16 months ago, there have been 13.2 million trips taken. On a warm, sunny day, there are about 35-40K rides.
Why it’s relevant: According to Dani Simons, Director of Marketing and External Affairs, more cyclists = more awareness to cars = more safety. The city has 900 miles of bike lanes and the number of people riding bikes is estimated to triple from 2007 to 2017. Per capita risk of bike accidents has already decreased 72% since 2001.
http://www.bkmag.com/tag/citi-bike/
What is it? TrustCloud brings trust and safety to marketplaces. It uses a multi-layered method to measure trustworthiness, from email confirmations to behavior across social networks to measuring ratings from peer to peer marketplaces.
Some insights: TrustScores range from 1 to 1000. The two co-founders have scores of 857 and 808.
Why it’s relevant: According to Arun, “companies build brands to inform us that the risks of transacting with them are low. Now we’ll need reputation systems as we move into peer to peer platforms.” TrustCloud’s ability to aggregate a user’s reputation across various websites allows the user to leverage their activity for future transactions.
What is it? Pronounced “curb,” Krrb is redefining the classifieds, allowing users to thrift, scavenge, rummage and discover local treasures around the world.
Some insights: Krrb is present in 166 cities in 114 countries. In addition to its own site, it also has the Krrb Classifieds Network, which powers classifieds on websites like Apartment Therapy, Chicago Magazine and Cheap Art.
Why it’s relevant: Krrb is all about being neighborly and focuses on building community through running local events. It’s not an e-commerce site and not wholesale like Etsy, but focuses on redistributing previously owned and repurposed items. 15% of users are small, independent businesses who can leverage their unique local brand. To this point, Vanessa Londono, Member Services and Editorial Manager remarked, “Brooklyn has become a brand.”
http://fontsinuse.com/uses/2312/krrb
What is it? Applico partners with clients to identify, build and scale platform businesses through connected and mobile technologies.
Some insights: Notable clients include HP, Disney and Google. Applico also offers free courses online on Platform Innovation: Platform Innovation 101 and Intro Platform Economics.
Why it’s relevant: Founder and CEO Alex Moazed spoke of a tectonic shift in how businesses operate. “Platforms will be the predominant business model of the 21st century.”
What is it? With a tagline that reads “Find your people,” Meetup is a platform that helps groups of people with shared interests form offline clubs in communities around the world.
Some insights: Meetup boasts 20 million members and 175K meetup groups in 178 countries. Just recently in early October, the company celebrated their millionth member in New York, so now 1 in 8 New Yorkers are on Meetup, quite a feat.
Why it’s relevant: Meetup is very values-driven, focusing on using the internet to get people off the internet. It’s also committed to not advertising to its users. Tristan Louis, General Manager of Community Payments was adamant about not “selling out” their users, and stated that “advertising and communities is not a good mix.”
http://blog.meetup.com/
What is it? Igobono is an online social marketplace where members can buy, sell, and donate goods and services, using a social currency called “bonos” instead of money.
Some insights: Igobono is active in all 50 states. This author received 60 bonus bonos for signing up; users can do various tasks to get more bonos: complete their profile, post an offer, invite friends, sell goods and services, etc.
Why it’s relevant: Igobono Co-Founders Max Volsky and Michael Dolan see social networking evolving into social economies, which can bridge the gap between a user’s underutilized assets and needs in their network.
What is it? EatWith is a global community that allows users to dine in homes around the world. The platform allows guests to share meals with tourists and locals and enjoy delicious homemade food.
Some insights: EatWith operates in 90 cities in 32 countries, with over 500 hosts. There is also $1M insurance protection for hosts.
Why it’s relevant: When travelling, having the opportunity to eat in someone’s home provides an authentic and local experience, which can end up being the highlight of a trip. But not only travelers can experience this, as EatWith’s users are a mix of tourists and locals in any given city. It helps foster relationships and connections with people all over the world.
http://www.eatwith.com/brand/how-it-works
Next up: Las Vegas
