Airbnb's genius was moving into cities and recognizing that millennials would want to go and maybe spend a vacation or visit some friends in an urban center.
Uber is redefining the transportation industry now; Airbnb is doing it to the hotel industry. You can expect that to happen in every single industry.
There's a misconception that Lyft is just a better version of the taxi. You know, I think that's just scratching the surface of what we're doing.
The sharing economy is out of the bag - and it's not going to go back in.
Early investors in Uber and Airbnb, though they remain private companies, have valued them at stratospheric multiples based largely on the notion that Uber will transform and dominate local transportation and Airbnb will revolutionize the hotel industry.
Arizona should be to the Sharing Economy what Texas is to Oil and what Silicon Valley used to be to the tech industry.
Certainly some hosts on Airbnb are opening up their spare bedrooms to meet new people; and some drivers use Uber to carpool with strangers for the companionship. But the most productive members of each community are professional operators, making available their homes or cars as a way to earn or supplement a living.
RelayRides and WhipCar, AirBnB, Roomorama and One Fine Stay are all stellar examples of how new, access-based offers entice and provoke insurance companies and banks to re-think risk, value, customers and deal terms.
