Agenda

Industry Analyst Jeremiah Owyang, will share findings from a recent research on the Sharing Economy.  He’ll highlight the trends in the startup space, including verticals served, funding, and forecast what types of startups that will make it --and who won’t.  The speech will outline how startups can work with corporations to serve this greater movement of sharing. 

Here comes trouble. Who are these “digital hippies’? What are they looking for? What do they expect from corporations and institutions? How do they experience this digital revolution and empowerment? This is a morning that will raise more questions than answers... at least for the moment. The digital hippies represent a new mindset with new expectations. Forget the cliche. They are looking for concrete impact and new interactions, from their entourage to the brands they want to support and identify with. Learn about a way of thinking about the world that could rock yours.

Tony Espinoza is the CEO of Couchsurfing, one of the leading hospitality exchange service. With more than 6 millions member in 100,000 cities worldwide. Couchsurfing is at a privileged place to observe new customers behaviors and the sharing economy business.

Cedric Giorgi is the founder of Cookening, a new startup that connects people and culture through food. Passionate about the sharing economy and living in it. Cedric will talk about the rapid rise of this market and the potential for humanized experiences. 

When we use the expression Big Data, the word Revolution is never very far. The tremendous amount of information shared, exchanged and produced in our digital age has now become the gold mine full of data capable of solving, explaining and predicting many of our behaviors. What will be next? Can and should data really solve most of the biggest problems of our societies or will they be used for private interests to target customer behavior? Is this revolution really about creating a better world?

There is no success possible in the digital age without understanding the importance of the community. Strongly committed, the community is built on common values and goals that tie each member together. This is probably the hardest part when you launch your project: make your users embrace your vision while defining and shaping it day after day. Loyalty comes from trust and respect.

You know a product is just exploding when everybody around you knows about it, or even better, is already using it. So many of us have already used Airbnb, be it for traveling for work or vacation, or just to connect with strangers who become our “amazing hosts”.

Etsy brings out the potential creator in each of us and helps us connect with amazing artists. It allows us to bypass any intermediaries and create a dedicated and loyal audience. The sharing economy is humanizing these markets that were ready to be disrupted like never before.