26 Aug

Cross Country Moves: Joining @Rentcycle in San Francisco

Posted by Dan Pierson in Collaborative Consumption, Startups.

18 days ago, I spoke to Tim Hyer for the first time.

16 days ago, I decided to leave Colorado behind for California.

14 days ago, I packed up and hit the road.

12 days ago, I arrived.

10 days ago, I started work at Rentcycle.

It’s been a wild ride.

We’re working hard to make renting things easy. Amazon, Zappo’s, and Buy.com created e-commerce for the masses: a streamlined system for finding and purchasing items online. Constant innovation and iteration have led us to a point where it’s now easier to buy stuff online, than offline.

Rentcycle is doing the same for rentals. Currently, the industry’s online presence is disorganized and inefficient. A homeowner looking to rent a power drill is stuck in the yellow page days: calling around to local stores for availability and pricing. When Amazon offers one-click checkout and free 2 day shipping for new purchases, this time burden is a huge barrier to entry for renting.

Soon, renting things will be just as easy. Availability, price, location, reviews, all in one place, with a quick and painless reservation and checkout process. No more phone calls for quotes on skis, tuxes, backhoes, bouncy castles.

So I’ve gone all in, and moved to San Francisco. I couchsurfed, commuted at 4:45 AM, and dipped into hotel points as I frantically searched for an apartment (a real mission in this city). I exchanged the known in Colorado for the unknown in California, and it’s scary.

It’s a leap. The hours are long. The work is hard. But I’m excited to be adding value to a platform with such amazing transformative potential, surrounded by an incredibly smart group of people who teach me new things each day. I’ll leave you with our mission statement. We’re busting our asses to accomplish the following:

“To elevate the way society consumes by spearheading the shift from ownership to usership. To inspire a community of sharing that reduces production, reuses what we already have, and makes the world a less cluttered place to live.”

28 Jul

Taking Learning Back for the People: Skillshare in Boulder

Posted by Dan Pierson in Boulder, Collaborative Consumption, Startups.

Fact #1: Boulder has the most PhDs, per capita, of any city in the United States.

Fact #2: The majority of these PhDs don’t teach at CU Boulder. They work, live, and play off the Hill.

Fact #3: Degrees granted by institutions are a great metric of communal knowledge, but they represent just one facet of our collective IQ; we’re also blessed with amazing creative types, including musicians, artists, and craftsmen.

We have an extraordinarily deep pool of intelligence nestled at the base of the Flatirons. A few times a year, we attend awesome events like Ignite and TEDxBoulder—annual highlights for many folks around town. It’s great to come together and listen to smart people share ideas.

And yet, no system exists to effectively organize the transfer of this knowledge within the community on a day to day basis.

Until now. Because, with your help, Skillshare is coming to Boulder. Skillshare is a community marketplace for offline classes. The premise is simple: “Learn anything from anyone”.

Check out a selection of the classes currently on offer in NYC:

“Be One of the Cool Kids: An Introduction to Ruby on Rails“

“Hacking the Human Body: Greater Results in Less Time“

“How to Get a Job at a Startup“

Superstars like Dave Tisch (NYC Techstars) and Chris Dixon (Founder’s Collective) have already taught Skillshare classes in New York. I’m hoping the smartest people in the Boulder startup community (and beyond!) will step up as well.

To “launch” Skillshare in Boulder, we need another ~395 people to sign up. It would kick some serious ass if we unlocked our town of 50k full-time residents before big cities like DC, Boston, and LA. Take a second and do your part.

13 Jul

Recap: @BeUnreasonable Institute Crushes My First #BDNT

Posted by Dan Pierson in Boulder, Startups.

My first Boulder Denver New Tech! Amazing!

The July 12, 2011 edition of BDNT featured speakers from The Unreasonable Institute, along with local favorite BumperTunes. I was really, really stoked on the international group of innovators that talked about their Unreasonable projects.

Unreasonable reminds me why I moved to Boulder. It shows a complete lack of fear for the unknown. And that’s badass.

On to the presentations:

BumperTunes:

Platform connecting musicians and their original music (jingles??) with content producers who need audio for commercials, podcasts, etc.

I was really impressed by Kit’s candidness. “It felt awesome to get money from a customer we didn’t know”. “We built the whole CMS on WordPress”. “Just get it out there”. These are things you read about in books and blogs of successful entrepreneurs, but don’t always hear broadcasted to an audience of 400. A ton of potential—maybe look at putting the payment plan on a scale to accommodate different skill/experience among musicians?

Cycle Chalao:

Bicycle sharing system in Mumbai.

My favorite presentation of the night; I’ve got a weakness for bicycles and Raj was hilarious.In Boulder, bCycle is convenient. In Mumbai, it could change lives. Awesome.

InVenture:

Microfinance platform that allows lenders to re-invest in specific projects.

Microfinance (at reasonable borrowing rates) is mostly cool with me, but I think part of this presentation went over my head. Different from Kiva, yet also partnered with Kiva? Couldn’t see the distinction. There was also some skepticism from a questioner about the for-profit model, but if that means InVenture won’t be harrassing people on the Pearl Street Mall for donations, I’m all for it. =)

BioSense Technologies:

Anemia testing technology that doesn’t require a blood prick.

Another great presenter (the two Indian dudes knocked it out of the park). Compelling, simple solution to what’s obviously a huge problem. I think the model is also applicable to tons of other diseases/conditions in the developing world.

CalSolAgua:

More efficient solar water heaters for the developing world

From a dollars and cents perspective, I think this has the most potential of any presentation. They’re tapping into an enormous (and obviously growing) market, with a superior product (at least to the untrained eye). Having spent a month in Guatemala last year and risked similar genital-electrification (gentrification??), I can testify that it addresses a pressing need.

DayOne Response:

Cheap effective water filters for disaster response

Immediately grabbed my attention: “what the hell is that huge camelbak?” As a New Orleanian, this one resonated. If America can’t solve water-supply issues in its own backyard, obviously something disruptive needs to happen to provide water after disasters in places like Haiti, Africa, etc. I dug Robert Reich’s suggestion of a TOMs model: when an outdoorsman in the States buys a filtering system, one is donated to an NGO working in the developing world.

To sum it up:

I don’t know much about the genesis of The Unreasonable Institute, but I picture a powerful blend of quiet humility and dogged determination to build something great. It’s humble: by the very definition of its mission the Institute promotes the advancement of others. And yet, it’s great for the same reason: each successfully incubated startup builds up the reputation and brand. That’s a pretty amazing, self-sustaining loop, especially when you think about the scale of the startups above: one homerun could change the lives of millions.

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