Futureproof

Chapter 3

Collaboration

The way some organisations collaborate, you wonder who the enemy is

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.¹

Helen Keller

I grew up with jumble sales as a major part of my childhood. It made perfect sense to me not to spend the full price on something when, with a bit of extra work, you could get it at a fraction of the cost. I first explored the idea of doing a startup in what was then called the Sharing Economy with my friend Ben in 2011. The aim was to help people rent out their spare rooms online. Host meet guest. Guest meet host. I’d grown up my whole childhood travelling to different cities. Staying over at people’s houses was always normal. I’d been enamoured looking at Couchsurfers with friends ...