Introducing the Viral Economy

Too Long; Didn't Read

With the term Viral <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/economy" target="_blank">Economy</a> I identify a range of businesses founded on P2P <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/networking" target="_blank">networking</a> and leveraging on social media, smart devices and geolocation services. A hall of fame could include: <a href="https://www.ebay.com/" target="_blank">eBay</a> (1995), <a href="http://tripadvisor.com/" target="_blank">TripAdvisor</a> (2000), <a href="https://www.lulu.com/" target="_blank">Lulu</a> (2002), <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> (2002), <a href="https://www.taobao.com/" target="_blank">Taobao</a> (2003), <a href="https://www.facebook.com/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> (2004), <a href="https://twitter.com/" target="_blank">Twitter</a> (2006), <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/" target="_blank">Airbnb</a> (2008), <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> (2009), <a href="http://www.uber.com/" target="_blank">Uber</a> (2009), <a href="https://www.vizeat.com" target="_blank">VizEat</a> (2014). They spread like viruses and like viruses they mutate, with each of the above mentioned companies to be considered as a different strain: a reinterpretation — from a new standpoint — of the opportunities given by the application of the IoT to our daily lives.