5 companies that have changed the rules of business

We believe that all these young companies have broken schemes in the markets in which they operate. The answer we will only know in a few years when their models are consolidated or not.

Kickstarter: Careful selection of quality projects.

Although it was born less than two years after its direct competitor, Indiegogo, Kickstarter has soon become the online reference platform for managing collective funding – crowdfunding – for creative projects. Since its launch in 2009, Kickstarter has attracted five million people who have invested $ 828 million in funding 50,000 projects, from films, games and music to art, design and technology, with a success rate – achieving their goals Financing and time – much higher than its competitors, not only the US, but also Europeans.

The success of Kickstarter is in a careful selection of the projects that are advertised and in the capture of potential financiers, who will obtain rewards if the project reaches its objectives like anticipated copies, special work editions, invitations, etc.

Airbnb: New relationships between individuals.

If traditional travel agencies were seriously affected by the appearance of online tourism management platforms, Airbnb has come to completely change the way in which individuals relate to renting their homes for summer periods.

Its founders, Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, decided to skip the intermediaries and designed a tool (that can be used from a computer or a mobile phone) that puts in direct contact with who has a room, a flat, a house, a villa or even a castle or a village, with those who want to spend from one day to long vacation periods.

Founded in 2008 in California (USA), Airbnb has developed a new market for private accommodation reservations between individuals.

PeerTransfer: Saving and agility in payments.

When Iker Marcaide was admitted to the MIT MBA in 2008, he experienced in his own flesh the complexity of bank transfers between international students and academic institutions for the tuition payment. Led him to study how this market was and what the real problems students faced when they wanted to enroll in a school in another country. Launched the PeerTransfer platform, which manages the currency exchange between students and institutions. His business model has been made cheaper and streamlined through the Internet all that process with savings of up to 5% in operations.

Fancy: Do not waste time defining the model.

Following the Pinterest trail, Fancy allows you to collect the things you like and also buy (or give away even in a group) those that others recommend – and appear with a green button – directly from their platform. Its affiliate program allows you to earn commissions to those users who redirect customers to the page and then end up buying.

Quirky: Close co-creation circle.

This platform has come to close the circle that had opened Kickstarter in the search of resources for the launch of creative projects. In his case, Quirky – founded by Ben Kaufman – has changed the way you think about product development. According to Quirky, every week they show at least three new consumer brand products to market (out of the more than 2,000 they receive). The creators send a small pitch explaining what they want to do.