What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

by Rachel Botsman, Roo Rogers Narrated by Kevin Foley

Overview

The recent changes in our economic landscape have only exposed and intensified a phenomenon: an explosion in sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping. From enormous marketplaces such as eBay and Craigslist to emerging sectors such as peer-to-peer lending (Zopa), "swap trading" (Swaptree), and car sharing (Zipcar), Collaborative Consumption is disrupting outdated modes of business and reinventing not only what we consume but how we consume.



While ranging enormously in scale and purpose, these companies and organizations are redefining how goods and services are exchanged, valued, and created-in areas as diverse as finance and travel, agriculture and technology, and education and retail. Traveling among global entrepreneurs and revolutionaries and exploring rising ventures as well as established companies adapting to these opportunities, authors Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers outline in bold and imaginative ways how Collaborative Consumption may very well change the world.



Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration will enjoy this smart, timely book.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Business consultant Botsman and entrepreneur Rogers track the rise of a fascinating new consumer behavior they call "collaborative consumption." Driven by growing dissatisfaction with their role as robotic consumers manipulated by marketing, people are turning more and more to models of consumption that emphasize usefulness over ownership, community over selfishness, and sustainability over novelty. A number of new businesses have emerged to serve this new market, exploiting the ability of the Internet to create networks of shared interests and trust and to simplify the logistics of collective use. Businesses such as bike-sharing service BIXI; toy library BabyPlays; solar power service SolarCity; and the Clothing Exchange, a clothing swap service, help users enjoy products or services without the expense, maintenance hassle, and social isolation of individual ownership. Part cultural critique and part practical guide to the fledgling collaborative consumption market, the book provides a wealth of information for consumers looking to redefine their relationships with both the things they use and the communities they live in. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

Part cultural critique and part practical guide to the fledgling collaborative consumption market, the book provides a wealth of information for consumers looking to redefine their relationships with both the things they use and the communities they live in.” — —Publishers Weekly

“Collaborative consumption is an ideal signalling device for an economy based on electronic brands and ever-changing fashions.” — —The Economist

“This is an inspiring book about innovating entrepreneurs in an economy where people are seeking ways to connect with each other- through business.” — —Delta Sky

“The latest buzzword and trend is defining how we do business in the new millennium” — —Vogue Australia

“[T]he authors have laid out the social and economic logic for collaborative consumption with such religious fervour and zeal that one can’t help but become converted to this new world order.” — —Edwards Magazine Bookclub

“The authors give hundreds of examples of how people are finding new ways to share and exchange value…[T]he book is packed with some pretty interesting statistics…If you’re unaware of what’s happening in the peer-to-peer exchange space, this book will quickly bring you up to speed.” — —Emergent by Design

“What can the next wave of collaborative marketplaces look like? Botsman and Rogers answer this question in a highly readable and persuasive way. Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration should consider reading this book.” — —Tony Hsieh, author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

“People are normally trustworthy and generous, and the Internet brings the good out far more than the bad. We’re seeing an explosion of modest businesses where people help each other out via the Net, and What’s Mine is Yours tells you what’s going on, and inspires more of the same.” — —Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist

“Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers have offered a convincing, charming and in every sense collaborative account of how the new networks that have disrupted our lives are also likely to alter them, and entirely for our good.” — —Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon and Through the Children's Gate

“Amidst a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, What’s Mine Is Yours offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out. Anyone interested in the emerging economics and culture of collaboration will want to read this profoundly hopeful book.” — —Steven Johnson, author of The Invention of Air and The Ghost Map

“[F]ull of impressive examples of entrepreneurs establishing new markets. Ultimately, the authors’ optimism is infectious.” — —The Australian

Emergent by Design

The authors give hundreds of examples of how people are finding new ways to share and exchange value…[T]he book is packed with some pretty interesting statistics…If you’re unaware of what’s happening in the peer-to-peer exchange space, this book will quickly bring you up to speed.

Steven Johnson

Amidst a thousand tirades against the excesses and waste of consumer society, What’s Mine Is Yours offers us something genuinely new and invigorating: a way out. Anyone interested in the emerging economics and culture of collaboration will want to read this profoundly hopeful book.

Tony Hsieh

What can the next wave of collaborative marketplaces look like? Botsman and Rogers answer this question in a highly readable and persuasive way. Anyone interested in the business opportunities and social power of collaboration should consider reading this book.

The Economist

Collaborative consumption is an ideal signalling device for an economy based on electronic brands and ever-changing fashions.

Adam Gopnik

Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers have offered a convincing, charming and in every sense collaborative account of how the new networks that have disrupted our lives are also likely to alter them, and entirely for our good.

Craig Newmark

People are normally trustworthy and generous, and the Internet brings the good out far more than the bad. We’re seeing an explosion of modest businesses where people help each other out via the Net, and What’s Mine is Yours tells you what’s going on, and inspires more of the same.

Delta Sky

This is an inspiring book about innovating entrepreneurs in an economy where people are seeking ways to connect with each other- through business.

Vogue Australia

The latest buzzword and trend is defining how we do business in the new millennium

Edwards Magazine Bookclub

[T]he authors have laid out the social and economic logic for collaborative consumption with such religious fervour and zeal that one can’t help but become converted to this new world order.

The Australian

[F]ull of impressive examples of entrepreneurs establishing new markets. Ultimately, the authors’ optimism is infectious.

Library Journal - BookSmack!

Rachel and Roo (same name as the newest NBC sitcom, oddly) define collaborative consumption as "bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping, redefined through technology and peer communities." It's that age-old activity-sharing-with coworkers, neighbors, your FB peeps, whomever. For something so simple, it sure is popular, profitable for businesses, and good at reducing waste and saving money, leading me to the conclusion that it must have been the forgotten brainchild of Jimmy Carter and Buckminster Fuller. And though the authors slant healthily toward reducing our throwaway culture (how many Styrofoam cups did you use today, boy?), they are not ideologues on an anticapitalist rant. I see the movement as dude-friendly, as it presents solutions that fit the needs of most. Perhaps the best aspect of the book is what it isn't: a dumbed-down pastiche of self-help and personal economizing. If you've ever traded your mad computer skillz for help building a deck, you did collaborative consumption. This book introduced me to dozens of sites that will save me dinero the next time I need something free (Freecycle, OurSwaps, SwapTree), have to rent something for cheap (Zilok), or borrow money (Zopa) to go to Argentina (Airtobnb, CouchSurfing). Just don't lend your copy to the hoarder who lives down the street. He doesn't need more crap. — Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes," Booksmack! 2/3/11

Library Journal

Business consultant Botsman and entrepreneur Rogers (director, Redscout Ventures) tout the benefits of access to products and services without the cost, burden, or responsibility of ownership. Their coined notion of "collaborative consumption" is beyond the toy sharing we learned in childhood. Citing dozens of examples from across the world, they look at how businesses like Netflix, Zipcar, Zopa, and Swaptree are revolutionizing the exchange, value, and creation of goods and services through networked technology and peer communities. Veteran narrator Kevin Foley delivers an effective performance of this fascinating and timely book; business community leaders will want multiple listens. [More at www.collaborativeconsumption.com.—Ed.]—M. Gail Preslar, Eastman Chemical Co. Business Lib., Kingsport, TN

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170522750
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/14/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos