Collaborative Consumption Summit
They say great minds think alike. If this is true, I experienced nothing short of greatness at last night’s Collaborative Consumption Summit in Boston. Hosted at Bentley University, the event was attended by like-minded individuals who, like me, are part of a movement from ownership to usership; from individual buying to shared access; from independent consumption to collaborative consumption. Collaborative consumption explores the explosion of sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting and swapping, which are reinventing not only what we consume, but how we consume. As I’ve written in previous blogs, the motivations behind renting are less about owning things and more about accessing the things you need, when you need them. There’s a quote that says, “you don’t need everything you own and you don’t own everything you need.” Turns out, I’m not the only one who subscribes to this belief. For two hours in Boston, this was the collective mindset—hence, the motivation behind the Collaborative Consumption Summit.
Organized by Bentley alum, Jeff Bennett, the event brought together thought leaders from different areas of collaborative consumption to share perspectives. Jeff himself is CEO of Swap.com and represented the swapping point-of-view. Jeff moderated a panel which included (fellow MassChallenge finalist) Shelby Clark, CEO of car-sharing service, RelayRides; Aleece Germano, Founder of The S.W.A.P. Team; and myself to represent the renting angle. The panel was also joined by a very distinguished guest, Rachel Botsman, author of the new book, What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. Rachel, along with her co-author Roo Rogers, has spearheaded this movement and is touring the globe, singing the praises of communal systems. Armed with countless examples of companies who are leading the way for sharing, her story is powerful. Her delivery is spot-on. And she knows how to make an impact.
The evening opened with a riveting presentation about the movement toward collaborative consumption and how it is changing the world. Rachel threw out some great statistics, including one that’s near and dear to my heart—did you know the average power drill is used for 12 minutes in its lifetime? 12 minutes! Yet over 60% of the U.S. population owns a power drill! Rachel went on to explain that it's not even the drill that we need—it’s the hole the drill makes that we need. Our use of products is less about the product itself and more about the experience that product delivers. In her book, Rachel describes the changing relationship between physical products, individual ownership and self-identity. “We don’t want the CD; we want the music it plays. We don’t want the answering machine; we want the message it saves. We don’t want the DVD; we want the movie it carries. In other words, we don’t want the stuff but the needs or experiences it fulfills.”
Moving into the panel, the conversation continued, covering everything from the importance of reputation and trust in collaborative models to the inherent challenges of collaborative consumption. Each of the panelists shared direct experiences and metrics from their own companies and took questions from the audience. In a particularly compelling dialogue, the panel debated the role of community in executing a collaborative model. Each panelist touted the pivotal role community plays in their success. RelayRides shared stories of how each car that participates in RelayRides has a personalized note from the owner and that the cars are often given personal names, like “Shelby’s car” so that renters feel part of a community, rather than a faceless transaction. The S.W.A.P. Team talked about how their organized swap meets rally immeasurable support from donors and lead to donations that positively impact local communities. Swap.com referenced how swapping is one of the most natural forms of exchange that goes back to swapping sandwiches in grade school and that these same values are built into the virtual community that exists on Swap.com. I spoke about brand and the importance of building a community around a brand. In Rentcycle’s case, it is less about Rentcycle the company and more about the values Rentcycle stands for. We strive to build a community around renting that promotes the positive benefits renting derives. From cost savings to space savings to environmental impact, the renting community (like other collaborative consumption communities) is built around empowering individuals. At the end of the day, we are all trying to change consumers’ mindsets, and it takes a village.
The night capped off with a motivational speech by John Harthorne, Founder of MassChallenge. MassChallenge is the world’s largest startup competition that provides tools to promising, high-impact startups. Rentcycle is fortunate to be included as a finalist in the competition and has enjoyed its participation in the Boston accelerator. John spoke confidently about innovation and how “now is the time” to start something. Citing several indicators that correlate periods of recession with times of great transformation and growth, John applauded the collaborative consumption movement and the innovative companies who are driving the way to create new forms of consumption—and hopefully new jobs and economic viability. History shows recessions typically mark the beginning of 30 years of prosperity. Organizations like MassChallenge welcome entrepreneurs to help define what the next 30 years will look like.
John ended the night by saying, “Let’s make it a great 30 years!” I believe that we’re entering a new era of consumption and that the next 30 years is going to be more about experience than possession. As Rachel Botsman says, “it's time to make sharing cool again.”
