Stories & Beer: The State of the Sharing Economy

The “sharing economy” describes a type of business built on the sharing of resources – allowing customers to access goods when needed. Think AirBnb or Zipcar. While sharing goods has always been a common practice among friends, family and neighbors, in recent years, the concept of sharing has moved from a community practice into a profitable business model.  But is "sharing" really the right word to describe these new companies?

Now that many sharing economy companies are maturing, is sustainability still at the core of their philosophy? Is “sharing economy” still the right term to describe these companies, and have their benefits been truly triple bottom line?

TriplePundit hosted a conversation on the sharing economy with folks from AirBnB, Lyft and Yerdle on October 22nd at the Impact Hub in San Francisco! We had a great evening of discussion and answered many questions from the audience.

WATCH A RECAP OF OUR CONVERSATION RIGHT HERE:

Schedule

• 6:30 – 7:00 – beers and networking


• 7:00 – 8:00 – fireside chat and Q&A


• 8:00 – 8:30 – networking

TriplePundit's Founder, Nick Aster, led the discussion with Molly Turner, Rachel Barge and Emily Castor.

Molly Turner

Molly Turner is the Head of Civic Partnerhips at Airbnb, where she built and manages the company’s public-private partnerships program, Shared City. She partners with the Airbnb local community and their civic leaders on a variety of projects focused on sustainability, economic development, resiliency and hospitality. She also manages Airbnb’s policy research examining the business model’s various impacts on urban economics, environment and community.

 

 

Rachel Barge

Rachel Barge leads Growth for yerdle, the sharing economy startup founded by executives from Sierra Club and Walmart. Yerdle’s mission is to make it as easy to get something re-used as it is to buy it new. They’ve built an app-based marketplace where every item costs zero dollars: members give and receive thousands of goods every day, from camping tents to cameras to clothing. Previously, she was a Partner at Greenstart, a seed-stage venture firm and design studio, where she invested in 22 startups in the cleanweb and sharing economy space. Rachel is a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy, a Morris K Udall Scholar, and Brower Youth Award winner. She holds a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies and Forestry from UC Berkeley.

 

Emily Castor

As a member of the Lyft team since launch, Emily built Lyft’s community of drivers and passengers from the ground up. In her role as Director of Community Relations, she mobilizes Lyft’s grassroots supporters and manages outreach and accessibility initiatives nationally. She also serves as the Chair of the Sharing Economy Advisory Network for the National League of Cities.  Before working in tech, Emily was a transportation policy aide on Capitol Hill, a campaign staffer, and a municipal financial advisor. She believes in the power of the sharing economy to make cities more sustainable and bring communities closer together.