From Commune To Sharing Economy Startup

gthuang88 writes: Willy Schlacks grew up in a conservative commune in Missouri without technology like phones or computers. At age 27, he and his brother left and started a construction business. That led to their founding a Web startup called EquipmentShare that helps contractors rent and share construction machinery. The startup went through the Y Combinator program and just raised $2 million from venture capitalists. The Schlacks worldview, coming from a communal society where they never owned property, fits in an interesting way with the digital sharing economy of Uber and Airbnb that's seeping into other industries. But there's one big difference. "I appreciate capitalism," Schlacks says. "I definitely prefer it."

Comments

Re:Ownership and Appreciation

[ShanghaiBill]

As nice as communism sounds ...

Never sounded nice to me, and of course it fails every where it is implemented.

It does not always fail. Communism works well as long as you keep it small, so everyone knows one another. It only fails if you go above a few dozen people, and trust breaks down. The happiest people in the world live in Denmark's communal housing.

Re: Ownership and Appreciation

[TuballoyThunder]

Construction equipment is rented out all the time. For many construction firms it does not make economic sense to own a full complement of heavy construction equipment.

• https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/subcat/766/dozers-and-crawler-loaders/
• http://www.hertzequip.com/herc/rental-equipment-industrial-equipment/earthmoving-equipment+dozers
• http://www.unitedrentals.com/en/catalog/dozer-70-hp

Re: Ownership and Appreciation

[FranTaylor]

this is why you don't rent equipment, you pay for the service of getting your hole dug, the contractor provides the gear and the personnel.