Stuff-Sharing: Where's the Traction?

a conversation with

Tim Hyer

Founder and CEO, Getable

Micki Krimmel

Founder and CEO, NeighborGoods

Kip Harkness

Assistant City Manager, City of San Jose

Christopher Smith

Co-Founder and CEO, NorCal Rental Group

As Rachel Botsman famously pointed out at TEDx Sydney, when you go to drill a hole in a piece of wood, what you really need is the hole -- not the drill. Infrequently used items like tools, sports equipment, and small appliances seem like prime candidates for sharing. However, online marketplaces for peer-to-peer goods-sharing have struggled to gain traction, even as carsharing and real property rentals have taken off. 

Meanwhile, the traditional bricks-and-mortar rental industry continues to successfully offer goods-rental on a B2C basis, as it has for over 50 years -- but the majority of its operators have yet to take advantage of web technology. 

Can web entrepreneurs develop products that reduce risk and friction enough to make peer-to-peer goods-sharing work? Can Silicon Valley offer traditional rental companies a path into the age of internet commerce?

Our panel of tech entrepreneurs, traditional business owners, and local policymakers will explore the challenges and opportunities facing shared goods marketplaces and how these may develop on both B2C and P2P platforms as the sharing economy matures.

Format:  Reception with light food and drink followed by moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A. 

Collaborative Chats is an ongoing speaker series for the collaborative consumption movement. Events occur monthly in San Francisco.

Thank You to our June Sponsors: