How They Started by David Lester Read Free Book Online Page B

operations director at a school that provides international environmental programs to high school and college students.
    For 13 years after getting her MBA, Robin alternated work with time off as her three children were born. At one point she returned to JSI, while in another stint she was managing editor of the government scientific journal Public Health Reports .At the end of one of her stay-at-home stints, Robin decided she wanted to return to work as an entrepreneur, with greater autonomy and flexibility, rather than work for someone else.
More than a playdate
    As a new stay-at-home mom in Cambridge, Robin got more involved in her children’s activities. She made new friends, including Antje, whose son was in the same kindergarten class as Robin’s daughter. The two kept running into each other on the playground, Antje recalls.
    Antje was leading a research project on how to reduce carbon emissions from cars, which produce roughly one-third of global carbon emissions. For a Harvard energy-research project, she looked into how other countries reduced car trips.
    She soon discovered car sharing. The concept began in Switzerland in 1987 with two small cooperatives, which rented out cars by the hour to members. Car sharing quickly spread to Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Norway and the UK. In 1999, approximately 200 car sharing organizations operated in 450 cities, Antje’s research showed. Together, the companies had an estimated $200 million in sales. Notably, the car sharing sector was growing 30 percent annually. Antje learned that every car sharing vehicle eliminated the need for about 7.5 individually owned cars.
    At that time, there were only two small car sharing services in the US, both on the West Coast: Car-Sharing Inc. in Portland and Flexcar in Seattle. Sensing a business opportunity, Antje says, “I ran a few simple, back-of-the-envelope calculations and came out saying this could work out financially.”
    On a family visit back to Berlin in late spring 1999, Antje did a little field research on car sharing companies there. Where did the companies park the cars? How did they secure the keys?

    Antje learned that every car sharing vehicle eliminated the need for about 7.5 individually owned cars.
    Though excited by car sharing, Antje felt uncertain about launching the business herself. Her background was environmental science, not business. Antje’s husband suggested she approach Robin, and the two met at a local café, where Antje explained her idea.
    “She said, ‘Here’s what I saw in Berlin—what do you think?’” Robin recalls. “Really, the light bulb went on over my head. This is what the Internet is made for: sharing a resource easily with people.”
“You’re too slow”
    In fall 1999, Robin began work on a business plan for a proposed startup to offer a car sharing service in Cambridge. Meanwhile, Antje investigated the technology they would need and tapped contacts from her car sales days. Their research showed car sharing was projected to grow to a $50 billion market by 2007.

    “Really, the light bulb went on over my head. This is what the Internet is made for: sharing a resource easily with people.”
    Flexcar had applied for federal funding, which meant their application—complete with budget figures—was a public document. Antje studied it, but disliked the government-subsidy model Flexcar used, which kept hourly rental rates too low at $3.50 per hour. While setting fees higher, the plan kept the average rental below the typical $45-a-day rate charged by traditional car rental companies.
    By December, Robin and Antje were ready for some feedback. Robin approached her former mentor, Sloan School of Management dean Glenn Urban. Antje and Robin went to Urban’s office for a meeting.
    The pair expected Urban to poke holes in their model, or to say Americans wouldn’t take to car sharing. Instead, he told the women their idea was too big for Cambridge. Car sharing