Robin Chase
Robin Chase is an American transportation entrepreneur. She is co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar.[1] She is also the founder and former CEO of Buzzcar, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service, acquired by Drivy.[2] She also started the defunct GoLoco.org,[3] a vehicle for hire company. She is co-founder and executive chairman of Veniam, a vehicle network communications company. She authored the book, Peers Inc: How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism.
Robin Chase | |
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Chase in 2008 | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Wellesley College MIT Sloan School of Management Harvard Graduate School of Design |
Occupation | Businesswoman |
Known for | Co-founding Zipcar |
Spouse(s) | Roy Russell |
Children | Cameron Russell |
Early life
Chase spent her childhood in the Middle East and graduated from Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa, Wellesley College (B.A.), and the MIT Sloan School of Management (M.B.A.), and won a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.[4]
Career
In 2000, Chase co-founded Zipcar with Antje Danielson.[5] In January 2001, Chase fired Danielson after she petitioned Zipcar's board for the ability to make hiring and firing decisions without consulting them.[6] In February 2003, after difficulties in securing additional rounds of funding, Chase was replaced as CEO by the Zipcar board with Scott Griffith.[6]
In addition to Veniam, Chase is currently a Board member for the World Resources Institute,[7][8] and the Nasdaq listed Tucows Inc.[9]
Formerly, she served on the board of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation,[10] was a member of the World Economic Forum's Transportation Council, a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship,[11] the US Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Advisory Committee,[12] the Boston Mayor's Wireless Task Force,[13] and Governor Deval Patrick's Transportation Transition Team.
She has appeared in national media such as the Today Show, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Wired, Newsweek and Time magazines, and has been mentioned in several books on entrepreneurship.
Chase is a proponent for the creation of a mesh network so that end-user devices can create a shared wireless network. She is a proponent of expanding internet access, and participated in the InternetforEveryone kick-off event.
Awards
Chase has won several awards. She was listed as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2009,[14] received the Massachusetts Governor's Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit, Start-up Woman of the Year, Business Week’s top 10 designers, Fast Company's Fast 50 Champions of Innovation, technology and innovation awards from Fortune, CIO, and InfoWorld magazines, and numerous environmental awards from national, state and local governments and organizations.
References
- "The MIT 150: 150 Ideas, Inventions, and Innovators that Helped Shape Our World". The Boston Globe. May 15, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/01/community-based-car-rental-service-drivy-grabs-another-8-6-million-acquires-buzzcar/
- http://www.newsweek.com/going-your-way-97473
- Harvard Gazette: Zipcar creator looks toward bigger challenges, by Ken Gewertz, Harvard News Office, October 21, 2004.
- Caroline Leopold (2016-11-07). "Airport Layovers Don't Need to Be Boring Anymore with Zipcar". Reward Expert.
- Duhaime-Ross, Arielle (April 1, 2014). "Driven: how Zipcar's founders built and lost a car-sharing empire".
- World Resources Institute Biosketch of Robin Chase. Accessed March 27, 2012.
- Bloomberg President, Zipcar Founder Named Directors at World Resources Institute
- http://www.tucows.com/about-us/board-of-directors/
- National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship members
- DOT ITS Advisory Committee members
- Boston Mayor's Wireless Task Force membership
- Craig Newmark (April 30, 2009). "The 2009 TIME 100: Robin Chase". Time Magazine. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
External links
- Wired interview by David Weinberger
- Visionaries: Zipcar Founder Sees Success In Sharing
- Robin Chase at TED
- Internet for Everyone Kickoff
- Profile from Technology Review
- Share a car; save the world
- Chasing away urban congestion
- On the go with a Transportation Entrepreneur
- The future of the car
- Zipcar Founder Tells How GoLoco Will Make Carpooling Hip, Too
- Robin Chase