WEBVTT 00:00:01.657 --> 00:00:05.419 Twelve years ago, I founded Zipcar. 00:00:05.419 --> 00:00:08.265 Zipcar buys cars and parks them 00:00:08.265 --> 00:00:10.841 throughout dense metropolitan areas 00:00:10.841 --> 00:00:13.969 for people to use, by the hour and by the day, 00:00:13.969 --> 00:00:16.258 instead of owning their own cars. 00:00:16.258 --> 00:00:20.142 Each Zipcar replaces 15 personal cars, 00:00:20.142 --> 00:00:23.246 and each driver drives about 80 percent less 00:00:23.246 --> 00:00:25.606 because they're now paying the full cost, 00:00:25.606 --> 00:00:28.182 all at once, in real time. 00:00:28.182 --> 00:00:32.427 But what Zipcar really did was make sharing the norm. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:32.427 --> 00:00:36.678 Now, a decade later, it's really time to push the envelope a little bit, 00:00:36.678 --> 00:00:38.663 and so a couple years ago I moved to Paris 00:00:38.663 --> 00:00:41.342 with my husband and youngest child, 00:00:41.342 --> 00:00:44.562 and we launched Buzzcar a year ago. 00:00:44.562 --> 00:00:47.819 Buzzcar lets people rent out their own cars 00:00:47.819 --> 00:00:49.486 to their friends and neighbors. 00:00:49.486 --> 00:00:54.742 Instead of investing in a car, we invest in a community. 00:00:54.742 --> 00:00:57.069 We bring the power of a corporation 00:00:57.069 --> 00:01:00.182 to individuals who add their cars to the network. 00:01:00.182 --> 00:01:03.870 Some people call this peer-to-peer. 00:01:03.870 --> 00:01:07.158 This does express the humanity of what's going on, 00:01:07.158 --> 00:01:09.595 and the personal relationships, 00:01:09.595 --> 00:01:12.291 but that is also like saying that it's the same thing 00:01:12.291 --> 00:01:15.144 as a yard sale or a bake sale or babysitting. 00:01:15.144 --> 00:01:16.369 That's peer-to-peer. 00:01:16.369 --> 00:01:21.256 It's like saying yard sales are the same thing as eBay, 00:01:21.256 --> 00:01:28.828 or craft fairs are the same thing as Etsy. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:28.828 --> 00:01:31.190 But what's really happening is that we've got the power 00:01:31.190 --> 00:01:33.395 of a free and open Internet, 00:01:33.395 --> 00:01:36.600 and on top of that we're putting a platform for participation, 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:40.287 and the peers are now in partnership with the company, 00:01:40.287 --> 00:01:43.504 creating shared value on shared values, 00:01:43.504 --> 00:01:48.473 and each strengthening the other, and doing what the other can't do. 00:01:48.473 --> 00:01:51.515 I call this Peers, Inc. 00:01:51.515 --> 00:01:54.076 The incorporated side, the company, 00:01:54.076 --> 00:01:56.893 is doing things that it does really well. 00:01:56.893 --> 00:02:00.662 What does it do really well? It creates economies of scale, 00:02:00.662 --> 00:02:04.405 significant and long-term resource investment, 00:02:04.405 --> 00:02:07.210 the expertise of many different kinds of people 00:02:07.210 --> 00:02:10.198 and different kinds of minds, and for individuals, 00:02:10.198 --> 00:02:13.462 consumers, it's bringing the standards, rules and recourse 00:02:13.462 --> 00:02:15.782 that we really want as consumers, 00:02:15.782 --> 00:02:18.725 and this is kind of bound up in a brand promise, 00:02:18.725 --> 00:02:23.765 and the companies are providing this on a platform for participation. 00:02:23.765 --> 00:02:26.102 Peers are giving and doing things 00:02:26.102 --> 00:02:29.109 that are incredibly expensive for companies to do. 00:02:29.109 --> 00:02:32.933 What do they bring? They bring this fabulous diversity, 00:02:32.933 --> 00:02:35.590 expensive for companies. And what does that deliver? 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:38.351 It delivers localization and customization, 00:02:38.351 --> 00:02:41.758 specialization, and all of this aspect about social networks 00:02:41.758 --> 00:02:44.606 and how companies are yearning and eager to get inside there? 00:02:44.606 --> 00:02:48.702 It's natural for me. Me and my friends, I can connect to them easily. 00:02:48.702 --> 00:02:52.265 And it also delivers really fabulous innovation, 00:02:52.265 --> 00:02:53.681 and I'll talk about that later. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:53.681 --> 00:02:57.097 So we have the peers that are providing the services and the product, 00:02:57.097 --> 00:03:01.677 and the company that's doing the stuff that companies do. 00:03:01.677 --> 00:03:06.041 The two of these are delivering the best of both worlds. 00:03:06.041 --> 00:03:08.029 Some of my favorite examples: 00:03:08.029 --> 00:03:11.982 in transportation, Carpooling.com. Ten years old, 00:03:11.982 --> 00:03:13.385 three and a half million people have joined up, 00:03:13.385 --> 00:03:15.943 and a million rides are shared every day. 00:03:15.943 --> 00:03:19.175 It's a phenomenal thing. It's the equivalent 00:03:19.175 --> 00:03:22.262 of 2,500 TGV trains, 00:03:22.262 --> 00:03:26.238 and just think, they didn't have to lay a track or buy a car. 00:03:26.238 --> 00:03:28.982 This is all happening with excess capacity. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:28.982 --> 00:03:32.469 And it's not just with transportation, my love, 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:35.622 but of course in other realms. Here's Fiverr.com. 00:03:35.622 --> 00:03:38.433 I met these founders just weeks after they had launched, 00:03:38.433 --> 00:03:42.889 and now, in two years, what would you do for five dollars? 00:03:42.889 --> 00:03:47.157 Seven hundred and fifty thousand gigs are now posted after two years, 00:03:47.157 --> 00:03:49.982 what people would do for five dollars. 00:03:49.982 --> 00:03:53.668 And not just easy things that anyone can do. 00:03:53.668 --> 00:03:58.444 This Peers, Inc. concept is in a very difficult and complex realm. 00:03:58.444 --> 00:04:02.640 TopCoder has 400,000 engineers who are delivering 00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:06.440 complex design and engineering services. 00:04:06.440 --> 00:04:08.993 When I talked to their CEO, he had this great line. 00:04:08.993 --> 00:04:13.783 He said, "We have a community that owns its own company." 00:04:13.783 --> 00:04:16.055 And then my all-time favorite, Etsy. 00:04:16.055 --> 00:04:19.326 Etsy is providing goods that people make themselves 00:04:19.326 --> 00:04:20.992 and they're selling it in a marketplace. 00:04:20.992 --> 00:04:24.407 It just celebrated its seventh anniversary, 00:04:24.407 --> 00:04:26.975 and after seven years, last year it delivered 00:04:26.975 --> 00:04:32.467 530 million dollars' worth of sales to all those individuals 00:04:32.467 --> 00:04:35.623 who have been making those objects. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:35.623 --> 00:04:38.382 I know you guys out there who are businesspeople, 00:04:38.382 --> 00:04:40.798 are thinking, "Oh my God, I want to build one of those. 00:04:40.798 --> 00:04:42.475 I see this incredible speed and scale. 00:04:42.475 --> 00:04:44.984 You mean all I have to do is build a platform and all these people are going 00:04:44.984 --> 00:04:47.752 to put their stuff on top and I sit back and roll it in?" 00:04:47.752 --> 00:04:52.803 Building these platforms for participation are so nontrivial to do. 00:04:52.803 --> 00:04:56.816 I think of the difference of Google Video versus YouTube. 00:04:56.816 --> 00:05:00.005 Who would have thought that two young guys and a start-up 00:05:00.005 --> 00:05:02.188 would beat out Google Video? Why? 00:05:02.188 --> 00:05:04.280 I actually have no idea why. I didn't talk to them. 00:05:04.280 --> 00:05:06.912 But I'm thinking, you know, they probably had 00:05:06.912 --> 00:05:08.891 the "share" button a little bit brighter and to the right, 00:05:08.891 --> 00:05:11.885 and so it was easier and more convenient for the two sides 00:05:11.885 --> 00:05:14.965 that are always participating on these networks. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:14.965 --> 00:05:19.164 So I actually know a lot about building a peer platform now, 00:05:19.164 --> 00:05:21.025 and a Peers, Inc. company, because I've spent 00:05:21.025 --> 00:05:24.424 the last two years doing that in Paris. 00:05:24.424 --> 00:05:27.845 So let me take you back how it's so incredibly different 00:05:27.845 --> 00:05:30.720 building Buzzcar than it was building Zipcar, 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:33.000 because now every single thing we do has these two 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.427 different bodies that I have to be thinking about: 00:05:35.427 --> 00:05:38.291 the owners who are going to provide the cars 00:05:38.291 --> 00:05:40.738 and the drivers who are going to rent them. 00:05:40.738 --> 00:05:44.210 Every single decision, I have to think about what is right for both sides. 00:05:44.210 --> 00:05:46.674 There are many, many examples and I'll give you one 00:05:46.674 --> 00:05:49.996 that is not my favorite example: insurance. 00:05:49.996 --> 00:05:54.525 It took me a year and a half to get the insurance just right. 00:05:54.525 --> 00:05:57.514 Hours and hours of sitting with insurers and many companies 00:05:57.514 --> 00:06:01.260 and their thoughts about risk and how this is totally innovative, 00:06:01.260 --> 00:06:03.091 they'd never thought of it before. 00:06:03.091 --> 00:06:06.458 Way too much money, I just can't even go there, with lawyers, 00:06:06.458 --> 00:06:09.242 trying to figure out how this is different, who's responsible to whom, 00:06:09.242 --> 00:06:12.830 and the result was that we were able to provide owners 00:06:12.830 --> 00:06:17.122 protection for their own driving records and their own history. 00:06:17.122 --> 00:06:18.938 The cars are completely insured during the rental, 00:06:18.938 --> 00:06:22.602 and it gives drivers what they need, and what do they need? 00:06:22.602 --> 00:06:25.107 They need a low deductible, 00:06:25.107 --> 00:06:27.355 and 24-hour roadside assistance. 00:06:27.355 --> 00:06:30.239 So this was a trick to get these two sides. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:30.239 --> 00:06:34.487 So now I want to take you to the moment of -- 00:06:34.487 --> 00:06:38.455 When you're an entrepreneur, and you've started a new company, 00:06:38.455 --> 00:06:40.849 there's the, here's all the stuff we do beforehand, 00:06:40.849 --> 00:06:44.775 and then the service launches. What happens? 00:06:44.775 --> 00:06:49.175 So all those months of work, they come into play. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:49.175 --> 00:06:53.373 Last June 1, we launched. It was an exciting moment. 00:06:53.373 --> 00:06:56.983 And all the owners are adding their cars. It's really exciting. 00:06:56.983 --> 00:06:59.409 All the drivers are becoming members. It's excellent. 00:06:59.409 --> 00:07:03.855 The reservations start coming in, and here, 00:07:03.855 --> 00:07:06.922 owners who were getting text messages and emails 00:07:06.922 --> 00:07:10.015 that said, "Hey, Joe wants to rent your car for the weekend. 00:07:10.015 --> 00:07:14.419 You can earn 60 euros. Isn't that great? Yes or no?" 00:07:14.419 --> 00:07:17.916 No reply. Like, a huge proportion of them 00:07:17.916 --> 00:07:21.926 couldn't be bothered after they had just started, they just signed up, to reply. 00:07:21.926 --> 00:07:25.554 So I thought, "Duh, Robin, this is the difference between 00:07:25.554 --> 00:07:28.697 industrial production and peer production." 00:07:28.697 --> 00:07:31.809 Industrial production, the whole point of industrial production 00:07:31.809 --> 00:07:35.283 is to provide a standardized, exact service model 00:07:35.283 --> 00:07:37.495 that is consistent every single time, 00:07:37.495 --> 00:07:40.496 and I'm really thankful that my smartphone is made 00:07:40.496 --> 00:07:41.869 using industrial production. 00:07:41.869 --> 00:07:44.607 And Zipcar provides a very nice, consistent service 00:07:44.607 --> 00:07:46.191 that works fabulously. 00:07:46.191 --> 00:07:49.333 But what does peer production do? Peer production 00:07:49.333 --> 00:07:52.626 is this completely different way of doing things, 00:07:52.626 --> 00:07:57.698 and you have a big quality range, and so eBay, cleverly, 00:07:57.698 --> 00:08:01.019 the first peer production, Peer, Inc. company, I'd say, 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:05.617 they figured out early on, we need to have ratings 00:08:05.617 --> 00:08:09.001 and commentaries and all that yucky side stuff. 00:08:09.001 --> 00:08:12.249 We can flag that and we can put it to the side, and people 00:08:12.249 --> 00:08:16.564 who are buyers and consumers don't have to deal with it. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:16.564 --> 00:08:21.622 So going back, this is my look of excitement and joy, 00:08:21.622 --> 00:08:24.056 because all this stuff that I'd also been hoping for 00:08:24.056 --> 00:08:26.083 actually really did happen, and what's that? 00:08:26.083 --> 00:08:28.896 That is the diversity of what's going on. 00:08:28.896 --> 00:08:31.528 You have these different fabulous owners 00:08:31.528 --> 00:08:34.958 and their different cars, different prices, 00:08:34.958 --> 00:08:37.096 different locations. (Laughter) 00:08:37.096 --> 00:08:42.243 They dress differently, and they look different, 00:08:42.243 --> 00:08:47.963 and, really, I love these photos every time I look at them. 00:08:47.963 --> 00:08:51.073 Cool guys, excited guys, 00:08:51.073 --> 00:08:55.852 and here is Selma, who -- I love this driver. 00:08:55.852 --> 00:08:58.472 And after a year, we have 1,000 cars 00:08:58.472 --> 00:09:01.872 that are parked across France and 6,000 people 00:09:01.872 --> 00:09:04.240 who are members and eager to drive them. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:08.409 This would not be possible to do that in economic fashion 00:09:08.409 --> 00:09:10.770 for a traditional company. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:10.770 --> 00:09:12.912 Back to this spectrum. 00:09:12.912 --> 00:09:15.628 So what's happening is, we had the yuck side, 00:09:15.628 --> 00:09:17.852 but we actually had this real wow side. 00:09:17.852 --> 00:09:20.592 And I can tell you two great stories. 00:09:20.592 --> 00:09:23.559 A driver was telling me that they went to rent a car 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:27.294 to go up the coast of France and the owner gave it to them, 00:09:27.294 --> 00:09:29.286 and said, "You know what, here's where the cliffs are, 00:09:29.286 --> 00:09:31.806 and here's all the beaches, and this is my best beach, 00:09:31.806 --> 00:09:34.606 and this is where the best fish restaurant is." 00:09:34.606 --> 00:09:37.442 And the peers also become, 00:09:37.442 --> 00:09:39.703 peers and owners create relationships, 00:09:39.703 --> 00:09:41.974 and so at the last minute people can -- 00:09:41.974 --> 00:09:44.631 a driver can say, "Hey, you know what, I really need the car, 00:09:44.631 --> 00:09:46.121 is it available?" And that person will say, 00:09:46.121 --> 00:09:49.232 "Sure, my wife's at home. Go pick up the keys. Go do it." 00:09:49.232 --> 00:09:52.631 So you can have these really nice things that can't happen, 00:09:52.631 --> 00:09:56.463 and it's a kind of "Wow!" and I want to say "Wow!" 00:09:56.463 --> 00:09:58.943 type of thing that's happening here, because individuals, 00:09:58.943 --> 00:10:01.814 if you're a company, what happens is you might have 00:10:01.814 --> 00:10:03.564 10 people who are in charge of innovation, 00:10:03.564 --> 00:10:05.522 or 100 people who are in charge of innovation. 00:10:05.522 --> 00:10:09.026 What happens in Peer, Inc. companies is that you have 00:10:09.026 --> 00:10:12.098 tens and hundreds and thousands and even millions 00:10:12.098 --> 00:10:15.201 of people who are creating experiments on this model, 00:10:15.201 --> 00:10:17.786 and so out of all that influence and that effort, 00:10:17.786 --> 00:10:22.177 you are having this exceptional amount of innovation 00:10:22.177 --> 00:10:24.596 that is coming out. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:24.596 --> 00:10:27.964 So one of the reasons, if we come back to why did I 00:10:27.964 --> 00:10:30.805 call it Buzzcar? I wanted to remind all of us 00:10:30.805 --> 00:10:33.681 about the power of the hive, 00:10:33.681 --> 00:10:36.617 and its incredible facility to create this platform 00:10:36.617 --> 00:10:40.638 that individuals want to participate and innovate on. 00:10:40.638 --> 00:10:44.058 And for me, when I think about our future, 00:10:44.058 --> 00:10:47.386 and all of those problems that seem incredibly large, 00:10:47.386 --> 00:10:50.472 the scale is impossible, the urgency is there, 00:10:50.472 --> 00:10:53.506 Peers, Inc. provides the speed and scale 00:10:53.506 --> 00:10:58.092 and the innovation and the creativity that is going to answer these problems. 00:10:58.092 --> 00:11:03.409 All we have to do is create a fabulous platform for participation -- nontrivial. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:03.409 --> 00:11:06.186 So I continue to think that 00:11:06.186 --> 00:11:09.441 transportation is the center of the hard universe. 00:11:09.441 --> 00:11:11.765 All problems come back to transportation for me. 00:11:11.765 --> 00:11:15.612 But there are all these other areas that are these profound, 00:11:15.612 --> 00:11:18.977 big problems that I know that we can work on, 00:11:18.977 --> 00:11:21.753 and people are working on them in many different sectors, 00:11:21.753 --> 00:11:24.298 but there's this really fabulous group of things 00:11:24.298 --> 00:11:28.784 with the power of this Peers, Inc. model. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:28.784 --> 00:11:35.269 So over the last decade, we've been reveling in 00:11:35.269 --> 00:11:38.772 the power of the Internet and how it's empowered individuals, 00:11:38.772 --> 00:11:41.368 and for me, what Peers, Inc. does 00:11:41.368 --> 00:11:45.204 is it takes it up a notch. We're now bringing the power 00:11:45.204 --> 00:11:48.200 of the company and the corporation 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:51.065 and supercharging individuals. 00:11:51.065 --> 00:11:54.610 So for me, it's a collaboration. 00:11:54.610 --> 00:11:58.895 Together, we can. (Applause) 00:11:58.895 --> 00:12:01.480 Thank you. (Applause)