Robin Chase
Robin Chase – Life, Career, and Notable Quotes
Meta description:
Robin Chase is an American transportation entrepreneur, co-founder of Zipcar, advocate of the sharing economy, and author of Peers Inc. This article explores her background, work in mobility innovation, philosophies, and key quotes.
Introduction
Robin Chase is a pioneering businesswoman in the transportation and mobility space. She is best known for co-founding Zipcar, one of the earliest and most successful car-sharing ventures. Beyond that, she has founded or co-founded several ventures including Buzzcar, GoLoco, and Veniam, and is active in urban mobility, networked vehicles, and the collaborative economy.
Her work bridges technology, urban planning, and sustainability. Her influence extends beyond business into policy, academia, and thought leadership in the “mobility of things” era.
Early Life, Education & Influences
Robin Chase spent portions of her childhood moving around the Middle East and Africa, due to her father’s role as a U.S. diplomat. Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa before university.
She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College (where her undergraduate studies included English, French & Philosophy) and later obtained her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. Harvard Graduate School of Design.
These educational experiences — spanning humanities, management, design, and mobility — shaped her interdisciplinary approach to transportation and shared infrastructure.
Career & Major Ventures
Robin Chase’s career is characterized by serial entrepreneurship in mobility, networked vehicles, and collaborative platforms.
Zipcar (co-founder)
In 2000, Chase co-founded Zipcar (alongside Antje Danielson).
However, in early 2001, she dismissed her cofounder Danielson after a disagreement about decision-making authority.
Despite that, Zipcar grew into one of the world’s leading car-sharing platforms and was eventually acquired by Avis.
Buzzcar, GoLoco, Veniam & More
After Zipcar, Robin launched or co-launched additional mobility ventures:
-
Buzzcar — A peer-to-peer car-sharing service in France; later acquired by Drivy.
-
-
Veniam — A company focused on vehicular communications, enabling data exchange between vehicles and infrastructure (the “Internet of Moving Things”).
She also co-founded NUMO, the New Urban Mobility alliance, which works on collaborative and sustainable mobility solutions.
Additionally, she leads Meadow Networks, a consulting initiative advising governments on wireless applications in transportation and innovation.
Boards, Advisory, & Thought Leadership
Chase has served on numerous boards and advisory councils, including:
-
World Resources Institute
-
Tucows Inc.
-
Past roles: Massachusetts Department of Transportation board, U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, U.S. Dept. of Transportation ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) advisory committees, OECD transport forums, and local transitions in Massachusetts & Boston.
She is also active in public speaking, media, and policy advising, regularly highlighted in outlets such as Time, Wired, Newsweek, The New York Times, and NPR.
Her book, Peers Inc: How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism, reflects much of her philosophy about how individuals and platforms can co-create value.
Philosophy & Impact
Robin Chase is a proponent of:
-
Collaborative economy / sharing platforms: She sees value in harnessing underutilized assets, allowing communities to share rather than over-invest in ownership.
-
Open networks & connectivity: Her belief in mesh networks, vehicle communication, and shared infrastructure underscores her vision of connected mobility.
-
Sustainability and urban mobility: She often frames transportation not merely as utility but as integral to quality of life, urban justice, and environmental resilience.
-
Interdisciplinary thinking: Her educational mix of humanities, design, technology, and business reinforces her approach of drawing from many fields to solve transportation challenges.
-
Mission over profit: Many of her quotes and public comments emphasize that she is not primarily motivated by money but by mission, impact, and innovation.
Her influence is felt in how cities plan mobility, how startups frame sharing economy models, and how policymakers approach transportation infrastructure in the digital age.
Selected Quotes
Here are a few notable quotes attributed to Robin Chase:
-
“Transportation is the center of the world! It is the glue of our daily lives. When it goes well, we don’t see it. When it goes wrong, it negatively colors our day, makes us feel angry and impotent, curtails our possibilities.”
-
“I have never been motivated by money. My peers and colleagues inspire me.”
-
“There is a book yearning to come out of me: about how we can build the new collaboration economy, and the role of ‘openness’ in our quest for efficient use of resources and as a driver of innovation.”
-
“That’s the key to new and good ideas; they come from having a very broad and multidisciplinary range of interests.”
-
“One reason Zipcar succeeded was its branding: cool, hip, smart, urban, fun, innovative. Who wouldn't want to be associated with that?”
These quotes reflect her values: mission, openness, interdisciplinary creativity, and belief in transportation as foundational to daily life.
Lessons from Robin Chase
From her life and career, several broader lessons emerge:
-
Innovating within infrastructure
Transportation is often seen as rigid, legacy infrastructure. Chase shows it can also be a domain for radical rethinking and platform innovation. -
Startups + policy must coexist
Success in mobility requires not just technology, but navigation of regulations, urban planning, and systemic constraints. -
Mission-driven entrepreneurship
Prioritizing social impact, sustainability, and access can be compatible with robust business models. -
Cross-disciplinarity pays
Her grounding in philosophy, design, and business allowed her to approach challenges with fresh synthesis. -
Resilience in leadership
Even though she was replaced at Zipcar’s helm, she continued launching new ventures and influencing the mobility discourse.
Conclusion
Robin Chase stands as a key figure in transportation innovation and the sharing economy. Her journey—from Zipcar to Veniam and beyond—embodies the evolution of mobility, networks, and the collaborative economy. Her insights and ventures continue to inspire how we think about cars, cities, data, and communal resources.