Sharing has become the new business model that is being applied to a wide range of industries. The most popular sharing economy companies include Airbnb, Uber and Lyft. Can the sharing economy take over your industry? If so, what would that look like?

In this weeks show, we take a look at the innovation happening in the sharing economy in non-traditional industries such as customer care.

The topics covered in this weeks show includes:

* What is the sharing economy?

* Why does the sharing economy give a better experience?

* How is the sharing economy a predictor of the future workforce model?

* Is this the new model for customer service to the millennials?

* What role does the combination of cultural and social shifts have on innovation?

* How important is picking a personal problem to success?

* How does Ronald Coase look the Theory of the Firm predict the share economy?

* What advice would you give entrepreneurs when they are launching their innovation?

* Pick a problem you are passionate about

* Be radically open with your idea looking for feedback and validation

* Build the product and get into the market very quickly (~30 days)

About Antony Brydon:

Antony Brydon is CEO and co-found of Directly.

He is an entrepreneur who focused on the moments when new technology and shifts in culture collide. Directly is his fourth venture with partner and co-founder Jeff Paterson. They were behind Iuma, the first self-service website creation tool that launched 50,000 artist sites and was acquired by eMusic in 1999. They co-founded Visible Path, a corporate social networking company funded by Kleiner Perkins and acquired by the Hoovers division of Dun & Bradstreet in January 2008. They launch Shopwell, a web and mobile site focused on personal nutrition and food shopping.

And their current venture is Directly, a company that takes the on-demand work model of Uber & Lyft and applies it to business problems like improving customer service.

Links:

* Directly

* Antony's blog

* Antony on LinkedIn

Killer Question:

So, how do you determine where you, as an individual or a business, will be in five years? You can’t say where exactly you’re going because you can’t predict what’s going to happen in the world. However, you can challenge yourself to change.

Apple Value Chain

In 2001 Apple’s sales figures were in decline. The company had yet to launch the iPhone, iPad, or iPod and was struggling to get their computer products into big-box stores that were primarily focused on PCs. Their small market share made them a low priority for most retail outlets, and the company was frustrated by their lack of control over their potential customers’ experiences with Apple products.

By opening their own chain of stores, Apple was able to control their entire value chain from start to finish. The stores purposefully simplified and enhanced the customers’ experience with Apple products, and today the physical stores alone pull in upward of 33 million dollars in annual revenue.

Can you replicate this kind of experience in your own business?

Healthcare Value Chain

Look at how the health-care industry is adapting to the coming “gray wave.” The gray wave refers to the way our population demographics are skewing older.