In the early part of the last decade, Founder Ron Olsen and his wife De Ann started taking note of the incredible experiences that they were having with family and friends, whenever they opened up their home or their travel plans to others. Unsurprisingly, when extra room was made available at no cost to friends, more people found a way to make the journey and the collective experiences were better for everyone because of it. Sharing what they had, to increase their enjoyment of it, became a way of life.
Read On
The Concept Comes Into Focus
But sharing takes a lot of work. Talking with friends, looking for opportunities to visit and get together, convincing them that the invitation is genuine, scheduling, communicating expectations, etc. And because it wasn’t easy, they thought more people who would like to do it, simply didn’t. So, a theory was conceived… if it were easier to share your place(s) only with the people whom you actually trusted to share with, and scheduling and communications were simpler, and new free travel opportunities were discoverable because you knew the offers were genuine, would more people share, and be shared with, more often?
The Concept Comes Into Focus
But sharing takes a lot of work. Talking with friends, looking for opportunities to visit and get together, convincing them that the invitation is genuine, scheduling, communicating expectations, etc. And because it wasn’t easy, they thought more people who would like to do it, simply didn’t. So, a theory was conceived… if it were easier to share your place(s) only with the people whom you actually trusted to share with, and scheduling and communications were simpler, and new free travel opportunities were discoverable because you knew the offers were genuine, would more people share, and be shared with, more often?
The Vision is Created
While always in the back of mind, the concept didn’t turn into an idea for a company until early in 2021, in the throes of the pandemic. Feeling cooped up and wanting to see friends and family, but wanting to do it safely and easily, Ron enlisted the help of co-founders Nick and Harold, to see if they could bring the friend-based sharing concept to life. Their mission was to create an environment where new experiences with your most trusted friends and family were discoverable, where easy communication of intent and expectations was enabled, where calendaring and connection management were simple, and where you could communicate about safety and navigating the pandemic environment with ease.
The Vision is Created
While always in the back of mind, the concept didn’t turn into an idea for a company until early in 2021, in the throes of the pandemic. Feeling cooped up and wanting to see friends and family, but wanting to do it safely and easily, Ron enlisted the help of co-founders Nick and Harold, to see if they could bring the friend-based sharing concept to life. Their mission was to create an environment where new experiences with your most trusted friends and family were discoverable, where easy communication of intent and expectations was enabled, where calendaring and connection management were simple, and where you could communicate about safety and navigating the pandemic environment with ease.
A Company is Born
And thus, a new company was formed: Two Degrees, focused on developing technologies to enable sharing and generosity within trusted networks. Together with the help of early team members Kris and Bridget (and friends and family from around the world), the company launched its first sharing platform early in 2022. Welcome to Two Degrees, Visiting and Hosting Simplified!
A Company is Born
And thus, a new company was formed: Two Degrees, focused on developing technologies to enable sharing and generosity within trusted networks. Together with the help of early team members Kris and Bridget (and friends and family from around the world), the company launched its first sharing platform early in 2022. Welcome to Two Degrees, Visiting and Hosting Simplified!
Why is it called
Two Degrees?
The Two Degrees concept of sharing is predicated on the strength of the trust between the individual sharing their stuff and the individuals who receive their generosity. In life, each of us decides what, and with whom, we share on a daily basis. Some friends and family are inherently more trustworthy and reliable than others, and we don’t hesitate to share when asked. Other friends, not-so-much.
And for our trustworthy friends, if they ask us to share with one of their close friends, most of us will “transfer” the trust that we have in our primary friend to their friend, often with the belief that our trustworthy friend would not put us in harm’s way by asking us to share with someone who they didn’t themselves trust. But the cycle stops there… if that friend-of-a-friend that we haven’t met asks on behalf of yet a third person, we are most likely to say no as we are simply too far removed from the person that we trust directly and primarily and would need to treat this as sharing with a stranger.
So, back to the company name. Our trustworthy friend is directly connected to us (one degree of separation). Our friend’s friend is connected to us through one other person (two degrees of separation). If you have ever played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you know what we’re talking about. Two Degrees is an application that encourages sharing between friends, and friends of friends, that is built entirely on the concept of trust… we call the application, and the company, Two Degrees as a nod to the limits of trust-based sharing.
Request an Invite
Why is it called
Two Degrees?
The Two Degrees concept of sharing is predicated on the strength of the trust between the individual sharing their stuff and the individuals who receive their generosity. In life, each of us decides what, and with whom, we share on a daily basis. Some friends and family are inherently more trustworthy and reliable than others, and we don’t hesitate to share when asked. Other friends, not-so-much.
And for our trustworthy friends, if they ask us to share with one of their close friends, most of us will “transfer” the trust that we have in our primary friend to their friend, often with the belief that our trustworthy friend would not put us in harm’s way by asking us to share with someone who they didn’t themselves trust. But the cycle stops there… if that friend-of-a-friend that we haven’t met asks on behalf of yet a third person, we are most likely to say no as we are simply too far removed from the person that we trust directly and primarily and would need to treat this as sharing with a stranger.
So, back to the company name. Our trustworthy friend is directly connected to us (one degree of separation). Our friend’s friend is connected to us through one other person (two degrees of separation). If you have ever played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, you know what we’re talking about. Two Degrees is an application that encourages sharing between friends, and friends of friends, that is built entirely on the concept of trust… we call the application, and the company, Two Degrees as a nod to the limits of trust-based sharing.
Request an Invite