
What Makes or Breaks Startups in the Sharing Economy? Insurance Rates
EXTRACT
Insurance represents both the lifeblood and the biggest threat to the sharing economy. As I explore in this monthโs WIRED cover story, companies like RelayRides โ or Airbnb, Lyft, or any other sharing company โ depend upon its customersโ willingness to trust one another. These businesses have devised numerous mechanisms to engineer that trust, but perhaps no one feature has been as important as insurance.