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Pioneers & Protagonists

Micki Krimmel, Founder of NeighborGoods

NeighborGoods aims to…
help members save money and resources while strengthening local communities by sharing stuff with their neighbors.

The idea came from …
a time when I spent $200 on a backpack for a trip, knowing I would use it just once. I thought, wouldn’t it be better to borrow one? I then took inventory of all the stuff I owned and realized the same was true for most of it - I had spent a bunch of money to own things I only needed occasionally.

I believe it is the right moment for NeighborGoods to take-off because…
people are increasingly frustrated with our unsustainable consumer culture and looking for ways to live better.

The easiest way to explain NeighborGoods is…
as an inventory system for your neighborhood so you can borrow and lend stuff with your friends instead of buying new products all the time.

The biggest misperception about NeighborGoods is…
that sharing is risky. We already have social rules in place to govern this activity. NeighborGoods just makes it easier.

Best moment so far…
was when a friend of mine asked to borrow the very same backpack that inspired the launch of NeighborGoods to take it to Haiti for earthquake relief.

The biggest challenge so far…
has been getting to scale quickly. We need inventory to be useful to people and we need people to build inventory!

Another example of Collaborative Consumption I admire is…
Freecycle. If you want to share stuff you don’t need back, Freecycle is a great way to help a neighbor and keep stuff out of landfills.

If I could tell readers one thing…
the power to build a more sustainable and fulfilling economy is in our hands. Start in your local neighborhood.

Archive of Pioneers & Protagonists Interviews

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

  10 questions for Marta Nowinska, founder of Swapsity

  10 questions for Ryan Rzepecki, founder of SocialBicycles

  10 questions for Jamie Wong, founder of Vayable

  10 questions for Theo Kitchener, founder of The ShareHood

  10 questions for Kelly Scales, founder of Bid & Borrow

  10 questions for Campbell McKellar, Founder of Loosecubes

  10 questions for Marcio Nigro, founder of Caronetas

  10 questions for Jess Ratcliffe, founder of GaBoom

  10 questions for Philipp Rogge, founder of frents

  10 questions for Tim Hyer, founder of Rentcycle

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

  Ella T. Gorgla, Founder of I-ELLA

  Cathy Tao, co-founder of Tourboarding

  Mike Karnjanaprakorn, cofounder of Skillshare

  Juha Koponen, Founder of Netcycler

  Michelle Shearer, Founder of MamaBake

  Leah Busque, Founder and CEO of TaskRabbit

  Ron J. Williams, founder of SnapGoods

  Stephen Rapoport, founder of Crashpadder

  Anthony Eskinazi, founder of ParkatmyHouse

  Drummond Gilbert, founder of goCarShare

  David Mahfouda, Founder of Weeels

  Andreas Randow, Founder of StudioShare.org

  Emma Jamvold, Founder of SwapItBaby

  Dave Llorens, CEO of One Block Off The Grid

  Orli Cotel, co-founder of Swap for Good

  Owen Rees-Hayward, Co-founder of Thingloop

  Juliette Anich, Co-founder of The Clothing Exchange

  Keara Schwartz, Founder of Share Some Sugar

  Hans Schoenburg, co-founder of GiftFlow

  Meriel Lenfestey, Co-founder of Ecomodo

  Steve Sammartino, Founder of rentoid.com

  Micki Krimmel, Founder of NeighborGoods

  Shelby Clark, Founder of RelayRides

  James Reinhart, Founder of thredUp

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