Launch of the TriplePundit Sharing Economy Series

It gives us great pleasure to announce the launch of The Rise of the Sharing Economy, our first crowdfunded article series and something we hope will create a tremendous impact well beyond our core readers.

We’re very thankful to everyone who kicked in and shared the campaign page – especially corporate sponsors like Wheelz, HUB Bay Area, Skeo, Saatchi & Saatchi S, uSwapia, Munchery, ISOS Group, EcoSupply, TrustCloud, Collaborative Consumption, hylo, and Profit Through Ethics.

Remind me what this is all about...

To understand what we're writing about, here's a rundown of the sharing economy concept: Let’s say you need a pickup truck to move some furniture. Your neighbor lends you his truck, and you pay him for the time. Now, extend that model to anything and use web-based social networking to connect with the entire world – not just your neighborhood. That’s the sharing economy. We've written for years about this concept - sometimes called the access economy, or even "collaborative consumption."

In a sharing economy, anyone can run a small business on the side, and you can have easy access to hundreds of things you never had before – without the financial, environmental, and time cost of ownership.  Most significantly, a sharing economy can help build local economies, strengthen communities and reduce the consumption of resources.

What to expect:

The purpose of this series is to help mainstream the sharing economy as a conversational topic. More specifically, we'll explore the various business models that make up the sharing economy. Not just explanatory stuff, but all of the following and more:

• Regulatory and legal issues


• Real measurement of the sharing economy's economic and environmental impacts


• Role of large companies in the sharing economy


• Startup profiles


• The "sharing economy" meme - is this really the best name for the subject?


• Marketing the sharing economy

Can I still get involved?

Yes, on a case-by-case basis, we'll consider additional guest posts as well as topic suggestions. Companies looking to partner with us on distribution, advertising, or other ideas are also welcome to get in touch.