We live in a world full of entrepreneurs
Not just the ones who have already "made it," but the ones who are disciplined, innovative, and willing to work, even if their bank account has not caught up yet. There are people everywhere who have the mindset and the work ethic of the successful they just haven't traveled far enough down that road yet.
That's who we built Sharebot for.
At the time of the writing of this article, the idea that became Sharebot is 351 days old. Just 14 days shy of the ideation's 1-year anniversary. Significant because of just how much has been done. Feels a bit insignificant because of how much more we have to do.
As I type this, I'm sitting in a Pret café in the Singapore airport enjoying a crafted hot cocoa. Sharebot exists because of what we've seen in communities around the world, and becaue I bleive that communities can be the answer to
I would have to say that there is nothing new or revolutionary about Sharebot, and that's why I believe it's so brilliant. We are stepping into a familiar pattern with a team that's done this before and a simple, fresh take on a new asset class.
I'm certainly not the first founder to be so passionate about the business that it's palpable when you get close. This isn't the first team that had to solve for unique customers and design great software to meet them at our open doors.
Familiarity of the model
When I opened our app to accept the first invitation from a community member to rent the first robot through our platform, it just felt familiar. Airbnb did not invent the idea of renting out space. They simply made it accessible and trustworthy at scale. Turo did not invent car sharing. Furnished Finder did not invent temporary housing. These models succeed because they take something familiar, got to know the user-base and its needs, and removed friction.
Sharebot sits in that same line. The model is not new. People have always shared what they have.
Familiarity of the providers
The entrepreneurs are there, and we don't need to teach them how to operate in this model. Sharebot gives entrepreneurs a way to turn high-value assets, specifically consumer focused robotics, into income-producing tools. They already get it. You, several of you reading this right now, you get it. We built this space for you to come innovate and succeed in. We didn't build a platform and then go looking for people to fill it. We knew who our people were, and we built around them. When I use the app, it's familiar, almost like making transactions in Furnished Finder, or letting a room to our newest guest in our Airbnb. You all understand that economy, and I think you'll love what we built.
Familiarity of the end user
When I wrapped up my last rental through Sharebot, it was truly a wonderful experience with the end user. I rated him 5 stars in hopes that another investor in our community might get to meet him soon and rent another cool piece of new tech to this awesome family. People that would rather do business with neighbors than corporations. We trust each other because our neighbors told us that we could.
We are far more likely to say yes to someone because someone we know had a good experience with them than because a company told us they are the best. That trust layer matters more than most people realize, and we built it into the design. Not in some new way that breaks old norms, but the same way that you use reviews on every platform that you love. Users rate providers and providers rate end users. The reviews are transparent and timely, helping all of us to see how we treat each other and how we respect one another's space.
At its core, we just provide a space for people to help people. Providers help communities by democratizing robotics for all of us. End users help providers by spreading that capex out over dozens of users and rentals. And each helps the other by reviewing that experience so that we all know who we can trust and so that we can all grow with this emergent technology.
Familiarity of design
We are not trying to force a new behavior. We are aligning with a very old one. Sharing, earning, trusting, building, these are not new concepts. What is new is the category we are applying them to and the timing in which we are doing it.
Robotics is quickly moving from novelty to utility, and our market has plenty of room for both.
So yes, this is an old story. We didn't invent anything. We just laid this new asset class on the ironclad principles already in our economic structure. That's why Sharebot works.
This is a clarion call for you to get involved.
Regrettably, we can't take any more investments into the platform. I wish I could include each of you, but our investor group has taken excellent care of us and will continue to support as we expand. But just because you can't invest in our platform doesn't mean you can't use our platform to invest in yourself and in this next personal venture where you are the preferred provider of consumer focused robotics in your neighborhood, community, and state.
Your community needs robotic access, and you can provide that to them, in the same way that thousands of Floridians provide beach front access to end users from all over the world. You can provide needed utility to families and companies that want a "try before you buy" experience. You can own the kung-fu bot that hundreds of businesses and families need for grand openings, company parties, attention magnets, and selfie stations.
You can be that entrepreneur. And I argue that many of you reading this right now already are. You just didn't know this space existed.
Your market is unclaimed right now. The entrepreneur who moves first owns the geography. Not because they're the biggest, but because they showed up. Tell us your market, your goals, and which robot you think your community needs first. We're small enough that I still read every message personally, and I want to help you take it.
We live in a world full of entrepreneurs. Not just the ones who have already "made it," but the ones who are disciplined, innovative, and willing to work. You. You are that entrepreneur. We built this space for you, and we'd love to refine it with your feedback as your robotics business grows.
