Excuse me, may I rent your car?
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0:02 - 0:05Twelve years ago, I founded Zipcar.
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0:05 - 0:08Zipcar buys cars and parks them
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0:08 - 0:11throughout dense metropolitan areas
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0:11 - 0:14for people to use, by the hour and by the day,
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0:14 - 0:16instead of owning their own cars.
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0:16 - 0:20Each Zipcar replaces 15 personal cars,
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0:20 - 0:23and each driver drives about 80 percent less
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0:23 - 0:26because they're now paying the full cost,
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0:26 - 0:28all at once, in real time.
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0:28 - 0:32But what Zipcar really did was make sharing the norm.
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0:32 - 0:37Now, a decade later, it's really time to push the envelope a little bit,
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0:37 - 0:39and so a couple years ago I moved to Paris
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0:39 - 0:41with my husband and youngest child,
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0:41 - 0:45and we launched Buzzcar a year ago.
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0:45 - 0:48Buzzcar lets people rent out their own cars
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0:48 - 0:49to their friends and neighbors.
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0:49 - 0:55Instead of investing in a car, we invest in a community.
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0:55 - 0:57We bring the power of a corporation
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0:57 - 1:00to individuals who add their cars to the network.
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1:00 - 1:04Some people call this peer-to-peer.
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1:04 - 1:07This does express the humanity of what's going on,
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1:07 - 1:10and the personal relationships,
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1:10 - 1:12but that is also like saying that it's the same thing
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1:12 - 1:15as a yard sale or a bake sale or babysitting.
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1:15 - 1:16That's peer-to-peer.
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1:16 - 1:21It's like saying yard sales are the same thing as eBay,
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1:21 - 1:29or craft fairs are the same thing as Etsy.
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1:29 - 1:31But what's really happening is that we've got the power
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1:31 - 1:33of a free and open Internet,
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1:33 - 1:37and on top of that we're putting a platform for participation,
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1:37 - 1:40and the peers are now in partnership with the company,
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1:40 - 1:44creating shared value on shared values,
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1:44 - 1:48and each strengthening the other, and doing what the other can't do.
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1:48 - 1:52I call this Peers, Inc.
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1:52 - 1:54The incorporated side, the company,
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1:54 - 1:57is doing things that it does really well.
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1:57 - 2:01What does it do really well? It creates economies of scale,
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2:01 - 2:04significant and long-term resource investment,
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2:04 - 2:07the expertise of many different kinds of people
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2:07 - 2:10and different kinds of minds, and for individuals,
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2:10 - 2:13consumers, it's bringing the standards, rules and recourse
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2:13 - 2:16that we really want as consumers,
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2:16 - 2:19and this is kind of bound up in a brand promise,
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2:19 - 2:24and the companies are providing this on a platform for participation.
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2:24 - 2:26Peers are giving and doing things
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2:26 - 2:29that are incredibly expensive for companies to do.
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2:29 - 2:33What do they bring? They bring this fabulous diversity,
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2:33 - 2:36expensive for companies. And what does that deliver?
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2:36 - 2:38It delivers localization and customization,
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2:38 - 2:42specialization, and all of this aspect about social networks
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2:42 - 2:45and how companies are yearning and eager to get inside there?
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2:45 - 2:49It's natural for me. Me and my friends, I can connect to them easily.
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2:49 - 2:52And it also delivers really fabulous innovation,
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2:52 - 2:54and I'll talk about that later.
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2:54 - 2:57So we have the peers that are providing the services and the product,
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2:57 - 3:02and the company that's doing the stuff that companies do.
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3:02 - 3:06The two of these are delivering the best of both worlds.
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3:06 - 3:08Some of my favorite examples:
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3:08 - 3:12in transportation, Carpooling.com. Ten years old,
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3:12 - 3:13three and a half million people have joined up,
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3:13 - 3:16and a million rides are shared every day.
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3:16 - 3:19It's a phenomenal thing. It's the equivalent
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3:19 - 3:22of 2,500 TGV trains,
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3:22 - 3:26and just think, they didn't have to lay a track or buy a car.
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3:26 - 3:29This is all happening with excess capacity.
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3:29 - 3:32And it's not just with transportation, my love,
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3:32 - 3:36but of course in other realms. Here's Fiverr.com.
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3:36 - 3:38I met these founders just weeks after they had launched,
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3:38 - 3:43and now, in two years, what would you do for five dollars?
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3:43 - 3:47Seven hundred and fifty thousand gigs are now posted after two years,
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3:47 - 3:50what people would do for five dollars.
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3:50 - 3:54And not just easy things that anyone can do.
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3:54 - 3:58This Peers, Inc. concept is in a very difficult and complex realm.
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3:58 - 4:03TopCoder has 400,000 engineers who are delivering
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4:03 - 4:06complex design and engineering services.
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4:06 - 4:09When I talked to their CEO, he had this great line.
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4:09 - 4:14He said, "We have a community that owns its own company."
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4:14 - 4:16And then my all-time favorite, Etsy.
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4:16 - 4:19Etsy is providing goods that people make themselves
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4:19 - 4:21and they're selling it in a marketplace.
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4:21 - 4:24It just celebrated its seventh anniversary,
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4:24 - 4:27and after seven years, last year it delivered
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4:27 - 4:32530 million dollars' worth of sales to all those individuals
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4:32 - 4:36who have been making those objects.
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4:36 - 4:38I know you guys out there who are businesspeople,
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4:38 - 4:41are thinking, "Oh my God, I want to build one of those.
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4:41 - 4:42I see this incredible speed and scale.
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4:42 - 4:45You mean all I have to do is build a platform and all these people are going
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4:45 - 4:48to put their stuff on top and I sit back and roll it in?"
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4:48 - 4:53Building these platforms for participation are so nontrivial to do.
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4:53 - 4:57I think of the difference of Google Video versus YouTube.
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4:57 - 5:00Who would have thought that two young guys and a start-up
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5:00 - 5:02would beat out Google Video? Why?
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5:02 - 5:04I actually have no idea why. I didn't talk to them.
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5:04 - 5:07But I'm thinking, you know, they probably had
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5:07 - 5:09the "share" button a little bit brighter and to the right,
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5:09 - 5:12and so it was easier and more convenient for the two sides
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5:12 - 5:15that are always participating on these networks.
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5:15 - 5:19So I actually know a lot about building a peer platform now,
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5:19 - 5:21and a Peers, Inc. company, because I've spent
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5:21 - 5:24the last two years doing that in Paris.
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5:24 - 5:28So let me take you back how it's so incredibly different
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5:28 - 5:31building Buzzcar than it was building Zipcar,
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5:31 - 5:33because now every single thing we do has these two
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5:33 - 5:35different bodies that I have to be thinking about:
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5:35 - 5:38the owners who are going to provide the cars
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5:38 - 5:41and the drivers who are going to rent them.
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5:41 - 5:44Every single decision, I have to think about what is right for both sides.
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5:44 - 5:47There are many, many examples and I'll give you one
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5:47 - 5:50that is not my favorite example: insurance.
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5:50 - 5:55It took me a year and a half to get the insurance just right.
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5:55 - 5:58Hours and hours of sitting with insurers and many companies
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5:58 - 6:01and their thoughts about risk and how this is totally innovative,
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6:01 - 6:03they'd never thought of it before.
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6:03 - 6:06Way too much money, I just can't even go there, with lawyers,
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6:06 - 6:09trying to figure out how this is different, who's responsible to whom,
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6:09 - 6:13and the result was that we were able to provide owners
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6:13 - 6:17protection for their own driving records and their own history.
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6:17 - 6:19The cars are completely insured during the rental,
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6:19 - 6:23and it gives drivers what they need, and what do they need?
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6:23 - 6:25They need a low deductible,
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6:25 - 6:27and 24-hour roadside assistance.
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6:27 - 6:30So this was a trick to get these two sides.
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6:30 - 6:34So now I want to take you to the moment of --
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6:34 - 6:38When you're an entrepreneur, and you've started a new company,
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6:38 - 6:41there's the, here's all the stuff we do beforehand,
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6:41 - 6:45and then the service launches. What happens?
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6:45 - 6:49So all those months of work, they come into play.
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6:49 - 6:53Last June 1, we launched. It was an exciting moment.
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6:53 - 6:57And all the owners are adding their cars. It's really exciting.
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6:57 - 6:59All the drivers are becoming members. It's excellent.
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6:59 - 7:04The reservations start coming in, and here,
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7:04 - 7:07owners who were getting text messages and emails
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7:07 - 7:10that said, "Hey, Joe wants to rent your car for the weekend.
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7:10 - 7:14You can earn 60 euros. Isn't that great? Yes or no?"
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7:14 - 7:18No reply. Like, a huge proportion of them
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7:18 - 7:22couldn't be bothered after they had just started, they just signed up, to reply.
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7:22 - 7:26So I thought, "Duh, Robin, this is the difference between
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7:26 - 7:29industrial production and peer production."
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7:29 - 7:32Industrial production, the whole point of industrial production
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7:32 - 7:35is to provide a standardized, exact service model
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7:35 - 7:37that is consistent every single time,
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7:37 - 7:40and I'm really thankful that my smartphone is made
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7:40 - 7:42using industrial production.
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7:42 - 7:45And Zipcar provides a very nice, consistent service
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7:45 - 7:46that works fabulously.
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7:46 - 7:49But what does peer production do? Peer production
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7:49 - 7:53is this completely different way of doing things,
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7:53 - 7:58and you have a big quality range, and so eBay, cleverly,
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7:58 - 8:01the first peer production, Peer, Inc. company, I'd say,
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8:01 - 8:06they figured out early on, we need to have ratings
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8:06 - 8:09and commentaries and all that yucky side stuff.
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8:09 - 8:12We can flag that and we can put it to the side, and people
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8:12 - 8:17who are buyers and consumers don't have to deal with it.
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8:17 - 8:22So going back, this is my look of excitement and joy,
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8:22 - 8:24because all this stuff that I'd also been hoping for
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8:24 - 8:26actually really did happen, and what's that?
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8:26 - 8:29That is the diversity of what's going on.
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8:29 - 8:32You have these different fabulous owners
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8:32 - 8:35and their different cars, different prices,
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8:35 - 8:37different locations. (Laughter)
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8:37 - 8:42They dress differently, and they look different,
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8:42 - 8:48and, really, I love these photos every time I look at them.
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8:48 - 8:51Cool guys, excited guys,
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8:51 - 8:56and here is Selma, who -- I love this driver.
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8:56 - 8:58And after a year, we have 1,000 cars
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8:58 - 9:02that are parked across France and 6,000 people
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9:02 - 9:04who are members and eager to drive them.
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9:04 - 9:08This would not be possible to do that in economic fashion
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9:08 - 9:11for a traditional company.
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9:11 - 9:13Back to this spectrum.
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9:13 - 9:16So what's happening is, we had the yuck side,
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9:16 - 9:18but we actually had this real wow side.
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9:18 - 9:21And I can tell you two great stories.
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9:21 - 9:24A driver was telling me that they went to rent a car
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9:24 - 9:27to go up the coast of France and the owner gave it to them,
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9:27 - 9:29and said, "You know what, here's where the cliffs are,
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9:29 - 9:32and here's all the beaches, and this is my best beach,
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9:32 - 9:35and this is where the best fish restaurant is."
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9:35 - 9:37And the peers also become,
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9:37 - 9:40peers and owners create relationships,
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9:40 - 9:42and so at the last minute people can --
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9:42 - 9:45a driver can say, "Hey, you know what, I really need the car,
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9:45 - 9:46is it available?" And that person will say,
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9:46 - 9:49"Sure, my wife's at home. Go pick up the keys. Go do it."
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9:49 - 9:53So you can have these really nice things that can't happen,
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9:53 - 9:56and it's a kind of "Wow!" and I want to say "Wow!"
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9:56 - 9:59type of thing that's happening here, because individuals,
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9:59 - 10:02if you're a company, what happens is you might have
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10:02 - 10:0410 people who are in charge of innovation,
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10:04 - 10:06or 100 people who are in charge of innovation.
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10:06 - 10:09What happens in Peer, Inc. companies is that you have
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10:09 - 10:12tens and hundreds and thousands and even millions
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10:12 - 10:15of people who are creating experiments on this model,
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10:15 - 10:18and so out of all that influence and that effort,
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10:18 - 10:22you are having this exceptional amount of innovation
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10:22 - 10:25that is coming out.
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10:25 - 10:28So one of the reasons, if we come back to why did I
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10:28 - 10:31call it Buzzcar? I wanted to remind all of us
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10:31 - 10:34about the power of the hive,
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10:34 - 10:37and its incredible facility to create this platform
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10:37 - 10:41that individuals want to participate and innovate on.
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10:41 - 10:44And for me, when I think about our future,
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10:44 - 10:47and all of those problems that seem incredibly large,
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10:47 - 10:50the scale is impossible, the urgency is there,
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10:50 - 10:54Peers, Inc. provides the speed and scale
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10:54 - 10:58and the innovation and the creativity that is going to answer these problems.
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10:58 - 11:03All we have to do is create a fabulous platform for participation -- nontrivial.
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11:03 - 11:06So I continue to think that
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11:06 - 11:09transportation is the center of the hard universe.
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11:09 - 11:12All problems come back to transportation for me.
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11:12 - 11:16But there are all these other areas that are these profound,
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11:16 - 11:19big problems that I know that we can work on,
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11:19 - 11:22and people are working on them in many different sectors,
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11:22 - 11:24but there's this really fabulous group of things
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11:24 - 11:29with the power of this Peers, Inc. model.
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11:29 - 11:35So over the last decade, we've been reveling in
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11:35 - 11:39the power of the Internet and how it's empowered individuals,
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11:39 - 11:41and for me, what Peers, Inc. does
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11:41 - 11:45is it takes it up a notch. We're now bringing the power
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11:45 - 11:48of the company and the corporation
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11:48 - 11:51and supercharging individuals.
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11:51 - 11:55So for me, it's a collaboration.
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11:55 - 11:59Together, we can. (Applause)
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11:59 - 12:01Thank you. (Applause)
- Title:
- Excuse me, may I rent your car?
- Speaker:
- Robin Chase
- Description:
-
A decade ago, Robin Chase founded Zipcar in the US, now the largest car-sharing company in the world. Now she's exploring the next level of car-sharing: Buzzcar, a French startup that lets people rent their own cars to others. The details are fascinating (how does insurance work, exactly?), and the larger vision (she calls it Peers, Inc.) points to a new definition of ownership and entrepreneurship.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:24
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for Excuse me, may I rent your car? | ||
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