Reading this book, all I could think of is, “why do I not have my own business?” It’s so easy to start a business these days. With all of the technological advancements and the ease of use of so many technologies and the accessibility of Social Media…it seems foolish that I don’t have my own business! That’s not really the theme of the book, but it’s all I could think of while reading it.
The book itself is really a case study about how Social Media has helped to spawn a whole new category of businesses, ie. Mesh businesses. A Mesh business is simply a business that takes advantage of an existing business model and optimizes it them for the modern, plugged-in, web-engaged users.
Think of car share companies, bike sharing companies, Netlflix, tool rentals, clothes sharing (or trading) etc… Anything that takes advantage of durable goods that are cheaper to rent than buy and taking advantage of technology, social media and convenience.
The book is great and one of the coolest parts of the book is that Gansky provides an indepth directory of Mesh businesses for a variety of categories at the end of the book. (Maybe in a few years you’ll be able to add my business to that list too!)
I should also mention that this was another gift from Seth Godin. I’m on his list and I’m loving it. He’s sent me two free books now and his recommendation is priceless.
