The idea for this post came during a conversation with Nathan Pham, the cofounder of Goodjoe, an online marketplace for original, positive message t-shirts that support both artists and nonprofits. In addition to selling merchandise, the company hosts contests for nonprofits seeking new designs that align with their mission statements, subsequently increasing awareness and support for the nonprofit’s cause. Goodjoe launched in 2009, and has covered operating expenses with a moderate but steady revenue flow. That hasn’t left much for Pham to live on, however, or more aggressively grow the business, recently motivating him to become a Lyft driver. In his first three days he made $651 – not bad, especially considering the connections he’s making with passengers throughout Silicon Valley. Says Pham, “Almost everyone asks me what else I do, besides driving for Lyft. So, it’s an opportunity for me to pitch Goodjoe! I’m now in conversations with a potential strategic partner, as well as an associate at a local VC. It’s been pretty incredible.”
At the time I spoke with Pham I’d been using Airbnb regularly, renting my condo in Santa Monica during frequent trips to the Bay Area, and using the income generated to cover costs associated with launching my startup, Amp - a Yelp for sustainability resources, which includes a marketplace for documents focused on social and environmental progress. I had a feeling I wasn’t alone. Indeed, a recent New York Economic Impact study comissioned by Airbnb confirms that more than 50% of their hosts are non-traditional workers: 23% are supporting themselves while freelancing, and 11% are supporting themselves while launching a new business. Shivani Ganguly is one of them.
Ganguly lives in San Francisco and is the founder of Friday Consulting, a firm that specializes in helping social impact startups successfully scale growth by providing strategy and finance expertise, including crowdfunding best practices and organizational design. So far she’s made $15K through Airbnb, and uses TaskRabbit to find people to help with hosting logistics, allowing her to avoid the otherwise excessive back-and-forth between the city and her boyfriend’s place in San Jose. Says Ganguly, “The additional income helped me leave my previous job and lowers my stress, so that I can focus all of my energy on growing my business.” Potential clients for Friday Consulting in the San Francisco area abound. One such example is Hero Hatchery, a recently launched initiative to crowdfund the climate heroes of our future. Part fellowship program, part Khan Academy for the environmental movement, and endorsed by none other than Al Gore, the nonprofit has days left to meet their goal of raising $30K.
How have the two founders, Ryan Kushner and Amanda Ravenhill – also husband and wife, been supporting themselves during this time? Ravenhill co-teaches a course at Presidio Graduate School with environmentalist Paul Hawken, and Ryan does freelance design and video production work. Oh, and they also take care of other people’s dogs through a website called DogVacay. When pressed to explain why they don’t just have a dog of their own, Kushner explains, “Our travel schedules are too crazy right now, between all of the conferences we attend and the social causes we travel the country to support – we aren’t in a position to have that kind of consistent responsibility. But we love having a dog when we’re home, and we can always use the additional income, so the DogVacay business model just works for us.”
The increasing trend of entrepreneurs leveraging sharing economy sites is something Mike Tringe, cofounder of CreatorUp, is witnessing first-hand. The Los Angeles based startup is an e-learning platform that allows qualified experts to share video lessons as a way of generating income, with the company taking a cut of each transaction. One of their most popular courses is called “How to Crack the Kickstarter Code,” making clear both sides of their target audience include current and aspiring entrepreneurs. “Company founders are used to being scrappy and creative to make ends meet, so the overlap we’re seeing makes perfect sense,” says Tringe.
There’s a feel good factor at play here, too. At a time when there is so little trust in government, politicians, large corporations and media conglomerates, there’s something reassuring about these businesses whose success depends upon people trusting each other. Every time I rent my condo and return to find it’s been left in good condition, I feel slightly encouraged about the state of humanity (the bump in my PayPal balance likely helps). And given the current enthusiasm surrounding entrepreneurship, with many touting it as the primary solution to economic recovery and job creation needed in this country, it’s great to see the sharing economy emerge as an empowerment mechanism for those willing to take increased professional risk, and start companies of their own. Now, we just need a name for them.
