The Sharing Economy

I'm fascinated by the rise of the sharing economy. Sites like AirBnb, Relay Rides, TaskRabbit and others all facilitate peer-peer transactions. The father of these sites, Craigslist. is one of the most efficiently run internet companies (30 employees for ~150 million monthly uniques, what?!). Just as impressive is the scope of its services.

Craigslist is the incumbent, but the latest arrivals in the sharing economy are able to use real time data and increasing market sizes to compete in different verticals (AirBnb in home rentals, TaskRabbit on errands, etc.). Andrew Parker, a VC at Spark Capital, published a great image in his post Spawn of Craigslist.  It's amazing the scale these sites have reached by carving out a specific service offering from Craigslist and developing their scope, depth, and legitimacy. 

I believe there is room in many other markets and verticals for sharing economies. It is only a matter of time before marketplaces in every industry, from agriculture to healthcare, facilitate transactions currently taking place offline.