University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Peers Inc
Book

Peers Inc

How People and Platforms Are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism

Robin Chase
Public Affairs, 2015
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Visionary

Recommendation

Robin Chase, the co-founder of the trailblazing car-sharing company Zipcar, proves uniquely qualified to describe the collaborative – as well as powerful and disruptive – business model she calls “Peers Inc.” It’s revolutionizing commerce by matching “excess capacity” with a “platform for participation” and a diverse user spectrum. The “Inc” is the organization with the resources to develop a platform; “peers” are the individuals who use that platform as a springboard for innovation. Chase’s ambitious work covers a lot of ground, and readers might struggle to keep up, but she challenges people to create platforms and contribute their talents. getAbstract recommends her lively corporate saga and reasoned, visionary insights to entrepreneurs, economists, business professors and students, investors and social activists.

Summary

The Birth of Zipcar

One morning in 1999, Robin Chase’s friend Antje described watching someone hop into a shared car in Berlin. Antje wondered if the shared-car concept would work in her New England city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chase grasped the idea’s potential because she was its target market. Her husband drove their car to his office, where it sat in a parking lot. The couple didn’t want the hassle and expense of owning a second car. Chase co-founded Zipcar believing that renting a car should be as easy as withdrawing money from an ATM. Users could rent cars as needed, and their availability would be cheaper and more convenient than owning a car.

Initially, investors were wary of the sharing-based business model. They didn’t agree with the three building blocks pivotal to making Zipcar work: first, that people would be willing to share cars; second, that the technology enabling the service would not be too expensive or complex; and third, that users would respect the rules. Zipcar’s initial investment dollars went to developing and perfecting Internet and wireless technology that cut transaction costs to almost zero – in contrast with expenses of $8 to $12...

About the Author

Co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar Robin Chase has started three more businesses. Chase is one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

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