CC Pioneers
The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

Collaborative Consumption Pioneers & Protagonists

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10 questions for Tim Hyer, founder of Rentcycle

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The easiest way to explain Rentcycle is …
OpenTable for the rental industry. We connect consumers with local ski rental, tool rental and party rental shops to make renting online as easy as shopping online. Rentcycle promotes reuse by making it easy for consumers to gain access to the experiences they want without the burdens of ownership.

The idea came…
while training for a triathlon. Rather than pay $600 to ship my bike cross-country, I attempted to rent a race bike at my destination. The process was so painful, I knew it had to be fixed. The week after the race, I wrote the business plan for Rentcycle!

I believe it’s the right moment for Rentcycle to take off because…
people are realizing that life is a lot less complicated, costly and cluttered without the hassles of possession. Today’s cost-conscious, green, savvy consumer prefers experiences to objects and Rentcycle provides the technology needed to easily gain temporary access to products from trusted sources.

Favorite Rentcycle success story so far…
was when a cyclist from The Netherlands successfully used Rentcycle to find and rent a race bike for a triathlon in San Francisco. More than two years prior, I had attempted the same feat online to no avail. Seeing the Rentcycle concept come full-circle was very rewarding.

rentcycle home.jpg

A failure I’ve learned from …
is the failure of inaction. I’ve had two collaborative consumption ideas prior to Rentcycle where I brainstormed product concepts, business models, even company names—only to sit back and watch someone else do something about it. I’m not making the same mistake with Rentcycle.

A unique factoid that surprises people about Rentcycle is…
the sheer diversity of things people want to rent. Did you know that the term “dumpster rental” is searched 110,000 times per month? “Boat rental” is searched 450,000 times per month. It’s fascinating to observe the trends for what people prefer to access temporarily versus own.

When I first told my friends about my idea for Rentcycle, they…
got it right away. First they said, “Wait, that doesn’t already exist?” Then they started listing out all the things they’ve rented in their daily lives, from bouncy houses to college textbooks to camping gear to expensive camera equipment to tuxedos. This opened their eyes to the opportunity for reuse through renting.

My big piece of advice to social entrepreneurs is…
to seize the moment! We have unparalleled access to technologies that didn’t exist a decade ago. The Internet and social media have presented immense opportunities to service major social problems with little or no capital. With the right passion and determination, virtually anyone can achieve social change. Carpe diem!

Another example of Collaborative Consumption I admire is …
thredUP - Being a new dad, my wife and I have turned to the service for clothes and toys as our baby’s tastes and proportions change (seems almost daily)! Another great mention is RentMaternityWear.com which my wife used pre-baby to show off the bump in style.

Archive of Collaborative Consumption Pioneers & Protagonists Interviews

Pioneer Headshot   10 Questions for Benita Matofska, founder of The People Who Share

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Marta Nowinska, founder of Swapsity

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Ryan Rzepecki, founder of SocialBicycles

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Jamie Wong, founder of Vayable

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Theo Kitchener, founder of The ShareHood

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Kelly Scales, founder of Bid & Borrow

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Campbell McKellar, Founder of Loosecubes

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Marcio Nigro, founder of Caronetas

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Jess Ratcliffe, founder of GaBoom

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Philipp Rogge, founder of frents

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Tim Hyer, founder of Rentcycle

Pioneer Headshot   10 questions for Barbara Pantuso, founder of Hey, Neighbor!

Pioneer Headshot   Ella T. Gorgla, Founder of I-ELLA

Pioneer Headshot   Cathy Tao, co-founder of Tourboarding

Pioneer Headshot   Mike Karnjanaprakorn, cofounder of Skillshare

Pioneer Headshot   Juha Koponen, Founder of Netcycler

Pioneer Headshot   Michelle Shearer, Founder of MamaBake

Pioneer Headshot   Leah Busque, Founder and CEO of TaskRabbit

Pioneer Headshot   Ron J. Williams, founder of SnapGoods

Pioneer Headshot   Stephen Rapoport, founder of Crashpadder

Pioneer Headshot   Anthony Eskinazi, founder of ParkatmyHouse

Pioneer Headshot   Drummond Gilbert, founder of goCarShare

Pioneer Headshot   David Mahfouda, Founder of Weeels

Pioneer Headshot   Andreas Randow, Founder of StudioShare.org

Pioneer Headshot   Emma Jamvold, Founder of SwapItBaby

Pioneer Headshot   Dave Llorens, CEO of One Block Off The Grid

Pioneer Headshot   Orli Cotel, co-founder of Swap for Good

Pioneer Headshot   Owen Rees-Hayward, Co-founder of Thingloop

Pioneer Headshot   Juliette Anich, Co-founder of The Clothing Exchange

Pioneer Headshot   Keara Schwartz, Founder of Share Some Sugar

Pioneer Headshot   Hans Schoenburg, co-founder of GiftFlow

Pioneer Headshot   Meriel Lenfestey, Co-founder of Ecomodo

Pioneer Headshot   Steve Sammartino, Founder of rentoid.com

Pioneer Headshot   Micki Krimmel, Founder of NeighborGoods

Pioneer Headshot   Shelby Clark, Founder of RelayRides

Pioneer Headshot   James Reinhart, Founder of thredUp

For a complete archive of CC Pioneers & Protagonists Interviews click HERE.



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