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Pioneers & Protagonists

Owen Rees-Hayward, Co-founder of Thingloop

Thingloop aims to…
enhance community life, save people money and reduce our impact on the environment, by helping people to borrow everyday objects they might otherwise buy.

The idea came …
from observing people in church with a genuine desire to share but struggling do to it due to practical reasons. It was one of those moments when you realise, ‘Hey, technology can solve some of these issues’.

I believe it is the right moment for Thingloop to take off because…
people are becoming more aware of the negative environmental impact of our Western consumerist lifestyle, and that coupled with the recession and ongoing economic challenges is making people re-evaluate what they purchase.

The easiest way to explain Thingloop is…
as though you and all your friends, neighbours, work colleagues and family store all your stuff in one giant house. Your tool shed has everything you could ever need, your book shelf has thousands of books on it, etc.

The biggest misperception about Thingloop is…
that everyone can see all the stuff you’ve got and that they are going to come round and rob you. They can’t! We’re really big on privacy and have a very flexible sharing system allowing you to specify exactly who sees what items.

The best moment so far…
getting feedback and hearing great stories from users like Esther who managed to borrow an entire wedding outfit on Thingloop! … plus discovering that my friends had 30 PS3 games, over 500 DVDs and a whole bunch of power tools that I can borrow. Awesome!

The biggest challenge to overcome is…
encouraging people to think differently about their possessions, and helping them see that increasing their sharing and borrowing could improve their lives and those of the people around them.

Another example of Collaborative Consumption I admire…
Freecycle, which we use as a family all the time. It’s really cool that you can help people out by giving them stuff you were going to throw away anyway.

I believe the future of sharing is…
going to increase significantly as we come to terms with an increasing world population, scarcity of resources, etc, something’s got to give!

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.