SF & Lisbon
Shouldn’t we all get richer and more connected as technology advances?
I’ve spent my life on that question: from couponing, to the sharing economy, blockchain and shared ownership, and now AI and ethics.
My method has never changed: bring the technology to people where they are — real rooms, real tables, together.
The throughline
Every wave of technology promises abundance. Then someone builds a gate around it. My work is prying it back open.
Coupons
Sharing Economy
Ownership
AI · now
About
A practitioner, not a guru.
I started my first business at 15 in rural Oregon, giving away free samples companies had locked behind the counter. I never really stopped. Later I slept on strangers’ couches across six continents for a documentary, then wrote the practical guide to the sharing economy.
I’ve taught teams at PwC and Johnson & Johnson, spoken at TEDx twice, and spent years building for the ownership web. Now I’m in Lisbon, teaching people to build with AI and running CoLab — a studio and community for entrepreneurs who want an edge on AI. Around every technology I’ve touched, I’ve built community first — dinners, courses, hackathons, always in person.
The future of the economy has to be shared value and shared ownership. That’s the whole thing.
Speaking
Keynotes on AI, community,
and the future of ownership.
Two-time TEDx speaker. 15+ countries. From the European Parliament to PwC boardrooms. I bring technology to people where they are — and make it stick.
Stages in 15+ countries: TEDxBoulder, Web Summit, European Parliament, Slush, PwC, Invest India, and more.
Community Building
Rooms full of people building together
Courses, dinners, and hackathons — mostly in Lisbon, always in person. New technology doesn’t land in a feed; it lands around a table. These rooms are where that happens. Click any photo to see it big and in color.
Collaborative Dinners
100+ people · clubs & associations: AI · Generosity · Ethics · food-making together + private chefs
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Hackathons & Events
AI Chats, NFC, Vibe-a-thon · big spaces, big crowds · teaching big groups · workshops · topical (like video AI)
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Meanwhile, this year…
Built with AI
Everyone’s talking about AI. How many of us have actually built something with it?
Here’s what I’ve shipped. Projects and software I’m working on and actively a part of, all built by my second brains and agents.
Flagship
CoLab Lisbon
2026Hands-on, in-person AI workshops: the company I set up to teach entrepreneurs and teams practical business use cases that save time or money, often both.
200+ taught AI in person · beginner→advanced Claude · 70% women · 3 instructors · Unicorn Factory, Tribe, Impact Hub
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Hathaura
2025AI-guided seasonal color analysis. 800+ customers and counting, now a SaaS platform for stylists to create custom reports for their clients.
hathaura.co →Nomad Apartments
2026We’re creating a digital nomad community in Bansko, Bulgaria, starting with 70 apartments right next to the ski lift. Website built entirely with AI.
banskomountainhomes.com →Rethink AI
2025Full service team with strategy and design helping teams actually use AI, starting with an audit and moving toward simple time-saving automations, later custom software, and team onboarding and dashboards.
rethinkaisolutions.com →Words
Two books, economy and eternity.
On sharing & ownership
It’s a Shareable Life
A practical, human guide to living and earning in the sharing economy. Written for people, not platforms.
Get the Book →“It’s a Shareable Life is a ‘must-read’ for anyone interested in the practical side of living the sharing economy.”
— Rachel Botsman, Author of What’s Mine is Yours
“This is the best guide I’ve seen for the sharing economy.”
— Casey Fenton, Founder of Couchsurfing
Selected essays
UBI is Far Too BASICOn why a floor isn’t the same as a stake. Should Couchsurfing Be a DAO?What communities lose when platforms sell. What if Airbnb Hosts Owned Equity?The people who build the value should hold some. Who Owns the Sharing Economy? We Do.A manifesto, of sorts. More on Substack →On time, death & other explosions
Time Bomb
An exploration of physics, time technology, and history — how cultures across the ages have pictured time, arriving at one idea: timing is a sort of illusion, and every moment lives on in block space, block time.
Enter Block Time →Frequently Asked
Questions & answers
What people ask about my work, community building, and AI.
Last updated: August 2026
Who is Chelsea Rustrum?
What is community building?
What AI courses does Chelsea teach?
How do collaborative dinners work?
What is the sharing economy?
What is shared ownership?
The tools change. The mission doesn’t.
Let’s connect.
chelsea@rustrum.com“Chelsea is driven, smart and compassionate. There’s often two types of people (idealist/realist or business/creative) and Chelsea is a rare combination of both. She’s some of the globe’s best talent when it comes to marketing and community building.”
— Kate Kendall, Politician / Entrepreneur
“Chelsea is the big-picture thinker and thought leader most agencies crave to work with. Her fresh ideas and convergent thinking allow people in a room to open up to the world of possibility thinking.”
— Michael Darius, Apple Pioneer
For press & event organizers
Chelsea Rustrum has spent her life on one question: shouldn’t we all get richer and more connected as technology advances? She’s the author of It’s a Shareable Life and Time Bomb, a two-time TEDx speaker, and a builder across the sharing economy, blockchain and shared ownership, and AI. She splits her time between San Francisco and Lisbon, where she runs CoLab, teaching entrepreneurs and teams to build with AI. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, and The Economist.
Past stages
TEDxBoulder · Web Summit, Lisbon · European Parliament, Strasbourg · Slush, Helsinki · Pioneers, Vienna · PwC, San Francisco · Signal by Twilio, San Francisco · Invest India, Mumbai · Grow Co. by Inc, Nashville · Expo, Milan · Singularity University Village, Milan · Ouishare, Paris · Goethe-Institut, New York City · Meetup HQ, New York City · General Assembly, San Francisco · Pepin’s Annual Shareholder Meeting · Interzone, Vancouver · Year of the Ex, Munich · Barnraising Cooperatives, Oakland · RCA Waste Reduction, Banff · #GetDecent, San Francisco · OpenHere, Dublin · Insights, Cyprus · TEDx, Menlo Park · CEED, Ljubljana · Sharing Summit, Bethlehem · Inflection, Redwood City · Loomio/BizDojo, Wellington · Christchurch City Council, Christchurch · Ethical Banking, Dubai · Murex Festival, Toulon
