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FirmHandshake

Harnessing Trust
trustocracy

When San Francisco got hit by the Big One, my business quadrupled in less than a week but I didn’t make any money. I’m Matt Van Natta and in 2010 I developed FirmHandshake with a few friends. Back then the Shake was a for profit mixup of CouchSurfing, Craig’s List carshare, and Dodgeball. Say you lived in San Diego and were heading up to San Francisco. With FirmHandshake you could find a ride, ask to stay in someone’s guest room, and find friends of friends to hang out with once you were there. Maybe the ride cost you half the gas. The room could have been free, or thirty dollars but it was still cheaper than a hotel. Either way, FirmHandshake took things that went unused and added value. It did this with the Shake.

            The Shake was trust. The Shake meant that verifiable users had met you, were friends with you, or had made a deal with you. Point being, if they liked you they gave you a point of trust. On a screen it amounted to a number of handshake icons with links to the giver’s profile next to it. In reality, the Shake meant people who had yet to meet you had a reason to give you the benefit of the doubt. It worked pretty well. Then the quake hit.

            I won’t bore you with technicalities, what matters is FirmHandshake was up and accessible when the aftershocks were still rolling through…and people were using it. In the first two days the Shake assisted more than 13,000 people with finding an immediate place to stay that wasn’t one of the huge government shelters. Word of mouth hit and our numbers swelled. The 6Degrees function (which would text any friends of a friend who were within five blocks of you) helped countless people get news to relatives or just find some emotional support. When the Big Cleanup began, rideshare brought in volunteers and all of them found free couches to sleep on. That’s why my business grew and I didn’t make any money. FirmHandshake’s model took a small percentage from any cash transactions. If a user gave something away for free, we didn’t charge at all. Volunteers got things for free (for which I’m glad). The funds that did come in went straight to server space and bandwidth to add capacity for the boom. No complaints.

            In 2012 we set up an African version. There were two ideas that drove this. One, the loose social market that the Shake created could be instrumental in development. There had been multiple reports praising the simple introduction of the mobile phone in villages. By 2012 mobile phones were everywhere and the Shake could be run from a basic internet enabled phone; a stripped down version works through texts. Idea two, the loss of people due to HIV/AIDS, other diseases, displacement and violence were breaking down the basic social structures of entire nations. FirmHandshake is built on trust, so the Shake could bridge these gaps forming in social structures. It’s working.

            Just like San Francisco, the Shake is finding migrants places to sleep and people to meet. What’s more, the trust system that makes FirmHandshake work is giving people opportunities to bridge cultural divides. When a user notices that three people from his tribe trust the vendor in the local market, he gives that vendor a chance too. Thousands of people giving each other the benefit of the doubt is a powerful social force.

            I'm not sure if I’ve developed my point well. If you haven’t used the Shake or something like it, this might be confusing. What I’m saying is this, having a way to verify that people trust the person in front of you is extremely powerful. The Shake is an icebreaker. It’s the difference between avoiding eye contact passing someone on the sidewalk or starting up a conversation. Coupled with the 6Degrees function, the Shake can harness serendipity. Have you ever met someone only to find out that they’re the best friend of a guy you work with? Well, the Shake can create those situations with much more frequency. Nightvision goggles extend the sense of vision. The Shake extends the social sense.

            Why am I telling you this? I think it can be expanded. I think someone can imagine something better than FirmHandshake. We can build a system that acts like social gravity, or a visible form of trust. I think the power in that trust can be the foundation for a better world. I want to give the Shake away and see what it becomes. Who should I talk too?

Oct 16


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  • PlaNetweaver
    Oct 17
    Hi Matt.. Between 'Trust' as a key element, serendipity and the 6Degrees function, FirmHandshake IS Airillion by nature. Either make FirmHandshake a Superstructure or go to the Superstructure "Mobilizing Airilions" (should be "Airillions with double-L but its got a mis-spell...) and start weaving in the wisdom you have shared and gained from this so needed TRUST initiative - thank you for being out there... and in here!
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