One of the nice things about renting is the simplicity of the concept.  The benefits of renting are relatively easy for most people to grasp.  We save money by renting when we can't affort to buy.  We help the environment by sharing the things we already have, reducing production.  Makes sense, right?  There's another advantage many overlook when it comes to renting -- space savings.  Take a second to think about your home.  Now, think about your closets.  Are they empty?  If you're anything like me, they're stuffed beyond capacity -- usually to the point where I can barely shut the door.  Some may say this is because I live in a city apartment and have limited closet space, but I think this lets me and others off the hook way too easily.  Whether you have 1 closet or 10 closets, chances are you'll find ways to fill them.  Why is it so easy for us to accumulate so much stuff?  Because this is how we've been programmed to consume.  In order to remain savvy, we're forced to upgrade to the latest tech gadgets that claim to be "the next big thing."  In order to remain fashionable, we're forced to keep up with the latest styles that fluctuate drastically from season to seaon.  After awhile, we end up with a pile of old iPods and shoes that do nothing but take up space, adding zero value to our lives.

Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, touches on the current era of humanity as "the age of abundance" where people have way too much stuff -- more than they'd ever need.  He discusses this in the context of the self-storage industry -- an industry built around an over-abundance of posessions.  He comments, "What is the unmet consumer need that self-storage is trying to satisfy?  It is a problem called too much stuff.  Not a problem that affected our parents and grandparents.  But the self-storage industry in America today, an industry devoted entirely to finding a place to house people’s extra stuff, is a $22.6 billion, that is a B, billion dollar a year industry.  The self-storage industry is larger than the motion picture business in this country."  I've also read it's an industry that's growing faster than McDonald's.  When we get to the point that our material goods exceed the space we need to functionally live -- to the point that we need to purchase additional space exclusively for housing our idle assets -- we should probably admit there's a problem.  You've heard of hoarding, right?

Annie Leonard, an activist who has spent the past 10 years traveling the globe fighting environmental threats, created a documentary called The Story of Stuff.  In the video, she presents a rapid-fire, often humorous and always engaging story about “all our stuff—where it comes from and where it goes when we throw it away.”  The documentary may present a one-sided, extremist viewpoint about the lifecycle of material goods, but it certainly opens up a dialogue around how the production of more and more stuff is destroying our lives and our planet.  Leonard's primary thesis states, "you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely."  We need to introduce a cyclical process -- something that is sustainable.

Fortunately, renting is a cyclical process.  You take a material good that has been produced and reuse that product over and over and over, until its value has been fully maximized.  More sharing = less production = less waste.  I'm not suggesting that renting is the cure-all for our society's obsession with possession.  But it's certainly a step in the right direction.  What most people don't realize is you can rent just about anything you can buy.  From designer dresses to iPhones to Christmas Trees, there's no shortage of rental goods.  So next time you need a stereo for a party or a power saw for a home improvement project, consider renting.  Your closet (and your planet) will thank you.

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For the past 18 months, my team and I have been working hard to develop the concept, model and product behind Rentcycle -- a website for rental stores to gain greater visibility with consumers seeking alternatives to ownership.  During this time, we've recruited a handful of early adopters from around the rental industry to get direct input and feedback on the product as it came to life.  We had a surf shop in Santa Monica.  A tool rental company in Arizona.  Even a bike store down the street from us in San Francisco.  These initial Rentcycle customers provided invaluable feedback and shed light onto the inner workings of a rental business.  We learned the importance of taking deposits to avoid no-shows, requiring contracts to avoid liability down the line, and other processes specific to the rental industry.  Aside from these few contacts, Rentcycle had a very limited view into the rental world... until a few days ago.

This week, Rentcycle took the cross-country trek to Orlando, site of this year's Rental Show, an annual event hosted by The American Rental Association.  As I've mentioned before, the rental industry is a HUGE space, accounting for $85B and over 65,000 businesses in the U.S.  This show was our first major opportunity to introduce ourselves and we tried our very best to do it with style.

Although we were booth #5043 in the sea of exhibits within the monstrous Orange County Convention Center, Rentcycle's 10'x10' slice of the trade show floor was packed with flare.  Passers-by couldn't miss the vibrant Rentcycle green displays, complete with 2 Internet kiosks (for live demos), plasma screen (for videos) and the friendliest staff to hit the rental world since Avis ("we try harder" campaign).  Video games brought out the competitive side of attendees who played in our Wii Sports tournament.  And a daily raffle of iPod Touches and a Nintendo Wii kept visitors coming back.  All this traffic made for the perfect atmosphere as we debuted our brand new technology to an industry that's trying to keep up with its increasingly savvy customers. 

Rental stores from across the country and world stopped by our booth to learn about Rentcycle.  To be honest, I wasn't sure how a brand new website would be received by an industry that has done things mostly the same way for generations.  But our reception couldn't have been more positive.  I can't tell you the number of times I heard, "this is the way our industry is heading," and "we could really use some help getting more online business."  Business owners were signing their stores up and checking out how they stacked up against the local competitors.  We demoed our online reservation system, which would allow stores to conduct business 24/7.  And we got input on planned features that are in the pipeline to better suit their needs.  In three day's time, we achieved exponential progress.  It was fantastic.

During the event, we learned the nuance of difference between rental categories like party & event versus tool & equipment and will be planning our product accordingly to meet the unique needs of each.  We strengthened our network and developed relationships we hope to strengthen as we continue to grow our business.  More than anything, we got ourselves out there in the community of people we're trying to serve.  This alone made the trip worthwhile.  The fact that they liked what we're doing didn't hurt either :-)

Next year's event is a bit closer to home and I'm looking forward to bringing back the Rentcycle green.  See you in Vegas!

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As a startup based in San Francisco, I'm spoiled.  During any given week, there are countless social and professional startup events -- more than I could ever keep up with, even if I tried.  There's demo events for techies showing off their newest gadgets.  Pitch seminars for new founders learning the ways of fundraising.  Networking forums connecting entrepreneurs with co-founders and other team members.  Even incubator programs like the one I graduated from.  These are the catalysts of the startup world -- they pollinate ideas, connect point A to point B and generate the buzz needed for mainstream adoption.  From the city to the Peninsula to South Bay, entrepreneurship is ingrained in the culture of the Bay Area.  Living here, it's sometimes easy to forget just how lucky I am.

I was reminded of my good fortune last night, when I presented at Vator Splash, a startup event hosted by vator.tv in San Francisco.  The event was held at a very unique and fun venue, Cafe du Nord in the Castro neighborhood.  For the evening, the vaulted wooden walls of this traditional Swedish-American event hall were wallpapered with posters bearing the logos of up-and-coming startup companies hoping to catch the attention of an investor or media journalist.  What I quickly realized was that my 5 minute commute to the event was a convenience few other presenting companies shared.  I met ChangeUpMag, a cool lifestyle publication out of Baltimore.  Vokle, a live streaming events company drove up from Los Angeles.  CrowdFusion, a publishing platform, hailed from New York.  Though I didn't meet them, the guys from Vidli came from Denver and MyEGamer drove 18 hours from Kansas!  Yet, there we all were, squished in an intimate cafe in San Francisco, united by a love for startups.  We were a mile away from my apartment :-)

I exhibited Rentcycle at a table where my wife sported her green Rentcycle T-shirt and was, once again, my co-founder for the evening.  She's becoming quite the pro at fielding questions from VC's and techies alike!  She actually saved my butt a few times and scored key business cards while I had to work out the technical difficulties of my presentation.  Unfortunately, my diligence wasn't enough to ward off some glitches in my presentation.  My video demo failed during my 3 minutes in the limelight.  For a moment, I felt paralyzed, but then I proceeded.  I did my best remaining cool and collected, touting the current challenges in the rental industry, how Rentcycle is solving them and how we're building a successful business doing just that.  Barring the audience question about whether you can rent a monkey on Rentcycle, I seemed to recover for the most part and leave the audience with good vibes.

After an entertaining presentation by Mark Pincus of Zynga, the event's MC, Robert Scoble -- a personal tech idol who I follow -- revealed the results of an audience-wide vote for the top presenting startup.  Although I heard him say "Rentcycle," I didn't believe.  I was sure I had blown my chances with the technical glitch, yet there was Robert Scoble waving me up to the stage.  It was surreal -- my wife actually had to tell me to stand up and walk to the stage.  Soon, I was on-the-spot once again, giving a 90 second elevator pitch on Rentcycle to the audience.  After which, a panel for 4 venture capitalists critiqued Rentcycle in a live version of Vator Box.  The feedback was positive and the panelists were gracious.  The night ended with a bottle of champagne, presented to me by vator.tv CEO, Bambi Francisco.  Here's a great write-up of the panel discussion.

It was a night to remember.  Rentcycle's first big splash!  I could feel new doors starting to open -- hopefully with more to come.  As I took the 5 minute car ride back to my Nob Hill apartment, I once again felt lucky for where I am at this moment in my life.  Thanks, San Francisco.

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For those who have followed my startup journey, change is something I've had to become comfortable with.  Change of lifestyle.  Change of career.  Even a change in wardrobe (mostly PJ's now).  And I definitely don't sleep as much as I used to!  It's a fun ride.  An evolution.  Well, today marks another change, and an exciting one at that. 

About an hour ago, we launched Rentcycle 2.0.  The Rentcycle website has metamorphosized from a business-facing SaaS application to a consumer-facing rental marketplace.  Don't worry -- our current business customers will still be able to use our back-end software and book reservations from their websites -- it's just now we have something useful to offer consumers as well.  As of today, there's now a place where you can discover, compare and book items for rent online!  As far as we know, Rentcycle is the only company that is exclusively serving the rental industry in this way.  There are other sites that promote peer-to-peer renting (like if I wanted to rent out the ladder in my closet for some extra cash), but Rentcycle is all about helping the rental businesses who yearn to get discovered.

Did you know you can rent an iPhone?  Solar panels?  A pet dog for the day?  You can find all those things on the new Rentcycle.

Check out the official press release and thanks for continuing to cheer us on!

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As we start a brand new year, one can only hope we've seen the worst of the recession.  Although predictions for the economy are optimistic, the aftermath of last year's layoffs have sent much of the workforce back to school.  Classrooms are crowded and budgets are tighter than ever.  Today's student needs to learn on a dime.  On top of the cost of tuition, supplies, transportation, room and board, textbooks are one of the overlooked expenses students are forced to burden in order to get a quality education.  Students spend an average of $900 per year on textbooks which is 20% of tuition costs at an average university.  There's even an entire campaign dedicated to making textbooks more affordable.  For years, buying and selling used books was an option, but now there's another solution.

Once again, renting comes to the rescue!  Over the past couple years, several startups have emerged to alleviate student wallets by applying the successful Netflix model to textbooks.  A recent USA Today article featured Santa Clara-based Chegg.com, a leader in the growing space of college textbook rentals. Although they are yet to turn a profit, Chegg has raised $25M in venture funding and already has hundreds of thousands of customers on more than 4,000 campuses.  Through the simple idea of renting textbooks, Chegg saves its customers 50 - 70% the cost of buying books new.  That's a lot of money to a cash-strapped college student!

But Chegg isn't the only one.  Similar startups like eCampus.com, BookRenter.com, CollegeBookRenter.com and CampusBookRentals.com attempt to solve the same problem.  Even traditional university bookstores are jumping on the bandwagon to capture a piece of the pie and give progressive students what they're now asking for.  My wife, a PhD student at UC-Berkeley tells me the local bookstore, Ned's Books (which has multiple locations across the country) is now promoting textbook rentals on their homepage and in their store.  I have a feeling this isn't a fad.

It's often the simplest ideas that have the biggest impact.  Rent things, save money.  There's your economics lesson for the week.

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We've all been impacted in some way.  From lay-offs to foreclosures to plunging stock prices, the recent financial crisis has been a bearer of bad news for the past two years.  As an optimist, I can only take so much negativity.  So here's some rosy colored perspective to brighten your day.

On a recent cross-country flight, I grabbed an issue of this month's Men's Health.  This is a great guy magazine.  In a single issue, you can learn how to eat healthier, dress for success, make more money, improve your sex life and score a killer six-pack.  All for $4.99!  All jokes aside, it's an entertaining publication where some factoids hold more weight than others.  I was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon a feature called, "Can't buy it? Rent it" on page 80 of the December 2009 issue.  Here I'm taking a break to do some pleasure reading, only to find an article about renting in a lifestyle magazine, of all places!

The feature discusses renting as a viable option during lean times and touts the economics of temporary use.  It goes on to explain how the recession triggered a spike in rentals for all sorts of products because of the money savings.  From tools to furniture to electronics, more and more people are turning to renting as a means to survive the recession.  As a result, stores like True Value and Rent-A-Center have had to increase their product inventory in order to keep up with demand.  The Home Depot says increased rentals are wearing out its products and it has been forced to buy new ones more often.  Not a bad problem to have in these tough times!

Just because we're in a recession doesn't mean we have to give up all the things we love -- it just means we have to think before we buy.  Each time you make a purchase, you should ask yourself, "Is ownership really necessary?"  With the burst of the housing bubble, many tenants are thanking their lucky stars that they rent rather than own their abode.  Many guys have the dream of owning that flashy sports car or motorboat, but renting offers an on-demand experience at a sliver of the cost without the hassle of upkeep.  Same goes for ladies and their luxury handbags and designer dresses.  Who needs to waste precious closet or garage space on expensive tools that sit idle for years at a time?  And imagine you had to own every single (bad) movie you wanted to watch!

Renting offers many options for maintaining the lifestyle you enjoy without breaking the bank.  What are some of your favorite things to rent?

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Regardless of how you celebrate the season, one can't help but notice the Christmas spirit in full swing.  Festive decorations, familiar carols, classic specials making their once-a-year TV appearances.  You may have noticed some less traditional signs of the times surfacing as well.  In past years, the season of red and green has been getting a lot greener.  Today's eco-freindly consumer is finding new ways to bring joy to our world.  From LED Christmas lights to buying local to re-gifting, green options abound!  Some of the most popular eco trends to surface revolve around the holiday's centerpiece -- the Christmas tree.  It's estimated that 32M Christmas trees are sold in America each year.  The sheer environmental loss inherent in this statistic is staggering, not to mention the greenhouse gas and landfill implications.  To combat this overwhelming reality, there's now a new option for Christmas tree lovers -- renting.

Several companies have been popping up around the world offering programs for renting (or adopting) living Christmas trees.  The idea is simple.  For under $100, you can have a potted evergreen delivered to your home where you can decorate and enjoy for three weeks time, after which it is picked back up and replanted, donated or cared for until next December.  Ingenious!  The cost is a bit more than what you'd pay to buy, but you can feel better knowing you did a good deed.  Plus, drop-off and pick-up are included -- in a bio-diesel truck, no less!

Below are a few Christmas tree rental companies available by city.  Feel free to add to this list:

• Portland, OR: The Original Living Christmas Tree Company
• San Francisco, CA: Friends of the Urban Forest
• Los Angeles, CA: The Living Christmas Company
• San Diego, CA: Adopt a Christmas Tree

Unfortunately, I didn't know this option existed until yesterday.  But I know exactly what's on my list next year!  For more green holiday tips, check out the Vancouver Sun article, 12 Ways to a Green Christmas or the popular book, Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season.

Happy Holidays!

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It's interesting to think about life as a path.  Everyone's path is different.  Some are long and windy, others short and straight.  Like a fingerprint, each path is a unique pattern of a life's journey.  And it's the pivotal moments in life that set the course and define the direction of the future -- where you went to school; which job you decided to take; who you became friends with.  Each of these seemingly small decisions play a huge role in your journey and ultimate destination.  Think about what some of the pivotal moments in your life have been.

For me, today is one of those moments.  I'm taking a sharp change of course -- leaving a fulltime job I love for a startup I believe in.  Building a company is certainly a dream, but working in my current role has also been a dream come true.  For the past 2.5 years, I've had the opportunity to work at the epicenter of innovation at a leading-edge company that delivers world-class work.  Today is my last day at Cheskin, an innovation consulting firm with a long heritage of success (you may have read about Cheskin in Malcom Gladwell's Blink).  As I look back at the path that has led me here, it's even harder to say good bye.

As a Business Development Manager at Cheskin, it has been my job to seek out the opportunities where businesses can benefit and advance themselves through a deep understanding of the people they serve, the cultures they operate in, and the change that’s possible through creative solutions.  It’s been a great gig.  And something I've always looked forward to on my way into work each day.

Now I stand in the face of a new challenge -- to build something that doesn't yet exist.  It's extremely exciting, but terribly hard to leave a place I already love.  But when I find myself getting sad about the job I'm leaving and an environment in which I thrive, I remind myself that this is exactly how it's supposed to be.  For 2.5 years, I've learned and have grown immensely from my experiences at Cheskin.  I've established close relationships with stimulating colleagues and smart clients.  What better preparation to start a company than through hands-on exposure to some of the Fortune 500's greatest innovation challenges?  I have the opportunity to apply everything I've learned at Cheskin to build something brand new.  At the end of the day, that's what innovation is all about.

Today, my course takes a new trajectory.  A new future is being written to an unknown destination.  As sad as it is to say good bye, it's exciting to take a moment and realize this is one of those times that, going forward, nothing will ever be the same.  As scary as that sounds, I can't help but feel this is exactly the way it was all supposed to happen.  The next step in my path is really a continuation of my deeply rooted passion for innovation.

Thanks for everything, Cheskin!

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Anyone who has spent more than 30 seconds browsing YouTube understands the power video has as a persuasive communications medium.  Viral videos can turn ordinary people into television stars overnight (the now famous JK wedding entrance dance clip was recently spoofed on The Office).  And catchy consumer skits can make or break a brand (like the amateur music video United Breaks Guitars).  Video has the ability to appeal to multiple senses and can make complex points quickly.  Which is why, when you come across a good one, you can't help but pass it along.  But with the millions of amateur film makers out there, good quality isn't so easy to find.  Standing out from the clutter requires a certain level of polish and content that can hold a viewer's attention. 

It's no different in the business world, where film is becoming more and more of a requirement -- especially for those just entering the marketplace.  Today's consumers are strapped for time and are easily bored by text heavy marketing collateral.  If you can't make your point in 60 seconds or less, you may be losing potential customers.  Having visual pitches, promos and demos are a must.  Unfortunately, well-produced films can cost upwards of $1,000 for a 60 second clip.  To a startup, that's a lot of cash!

Luckily, I was recently referred to a great resource for getting professional video production services on a startup budget.  A company called TurnHere runs a special offer for small businesses and startups where you can get a 60 second video filmed, edited and produced for free.  That's right, FREE!  You then have 6 months to use this piece to promote your company in any way you'd like.  After which time, you decide whether you'd like to purchase or stop using the video.  This try-before-you-buy approach is perfect for startups trying to get off the ground and is a smart move on the part of the video production company since it gets new customers (like me) to consider professional video production without the up-front cost.  Check out the promo they helped me put together for Rentcycle:

I had an excellent experience working with TurnHere and highly recommend them to other startups.  Their professional staff has an eye for telling powerful stories in a short amount of time.  Their turn around time is super fast -- it only took four days from filming to final delivery.  And obviously, the price is right.  I'm looking forward to maximizing this promo to get the word out about Rentcycle.  I'm confident this video will help me bring in enough additional revenue in 6 months time that the film will pay for itself.

See you on YouTube!

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If you're like me, you're still recovering from the annual food coma that is Thanksgiving.  This year, I feasted with family and friends in my hometown of Tampa, FL.  These are the people who have supported me most in my startup journey to date, so it only felt appropriate to hold a little event to say thank you and kick-off the next phase of the business.

On Thanksgiving morning, I got the neighbors together.  It was great to get to see everyone in person and thank them for routing for Rentcycle.  All the votes and words of encouragement have really kept me going!  This support is the fuel that keeps startup dreams alive.

Taking full advantage of the Florida sun, I organized a little fun run to work up an appetite for the rest of the day.  The first annual Rentcycle Turkey Trot was a blast!  Nothing like some good old fashioned exercise to work up an appetite.  Plus, a mini keg of beer awaited the finishers!  Thanks to all who came out.

So much fun.  So much to be thankful for.  Already looking forward to next year!

             

Click here to download:

Lots_to_be_thankful_for.zip (21445 KB)

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