Four Models of Sharing Economy Platforms

In less than a decade, sharing economy platforms have fostered competition and redefined industry boundaries in a range of businesses. Two sharing economy pioneers—Uber and Airbnb—are now well-known global giants and leading players in the sector, which is estimated to reach $335 billion by 2025.3 At the other end of the spectrum are small startups focusing on different niches; several hundreds of sharing economy startups were founded in Europe in 2016 alone.4 In between are platforms of varying sizes, offering a wide range of services. Examples include BlaBlaCar, a long-distance carpooling service that matches drivers with passengers who have the same travel destination; BeWelcome, an open source hospitality community that matches travelers on a budget with members willing to host them for free; and TaskRabbit, a per-task hiring platform that matches skilled workers with clients paying for onetime chores. What distinguishes sharing economy platforms from traditional marketplaces, supplier networks, third-party intermediaries, service integrators and such, is the way they combine