Social Skepticism and Its Effect on Shared Economy
The new disruptive models of businesses are now making strangers meet strangers for economic and service benefits. This new shared economy system begs for a very pertinent question. Has human trust increased to that point where we can completely trust strangers? This chapter answered the above question within the African context while considering some case studies of failed start-ups that launched on shared economy models. This chapter also made some comparative analysis of some homegrown platforms that did not survive the valley of death in the Nigerian Innovation Ecosystem and successful similar foreign models imported into Africa. A definite opinion analysis through social scepticism lens was used in writing on gomyway.com, a Nigerian car-pooling start-up that failed after two years of operation. The chapter ended by making a strong case for models that dwarfs social scepticism to ensure the survival of the valley of death for platform entrepreneurship in Africa.