Chelsea Rustrum

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.

See the AI workshops chelsea@rustrum.com
Author 2× TEDx Community builder WSJ · Wired · Forbes
Chelsea Rustrum, community builder and AI educator based in Lisbon
Currently in Lisbon · CoLab

The throughline

Every wave of technology promises abundance. Then someone builds a gate around it. My work is prying it back open.

1997
Coupons
2008
Sharing Economy
2017
Ownership
2023
AI · now
Chelsea Rustrum, author of It's a Shareable Life and two-time TEDx speaker

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.

Read the full story →

Speaking

Keynotes on AI, community, and ownership.

Two-time TEDx speaker. 15+ countries. From the European Parliament to PwC boardrooms.

The Future of Blockchain

TEDxBoulder, 2018 · 72K+ views

Bringing Back the Village

TEDx, 2015

See all speaking topics →
As seen in →
CNBC TechCrunch VentureBeat Inc. Forbes HuffPost World Economic Forum

Community

Rooms full of people building together.

Courses, dinners, and hackathons — mostly in Lisbon, always in person.

Collaborative cooking
Dumplings & AI dinner
AI event crowd
CoLab course
See all events →

Recent Thoughts

Latest from the newsletter.

All writings →

Work

What I'm building.

Flagship

CoLab Lisbon

Hands-on, in-person AI workshops. Teaching entrepreneurs and teams practical business use cases that save time or money.

colablisbon.com →
Books

It's a Shareable Life & Time Bomb

Two books on sharing economy and time. Plus essays on ownership, AI, and community on Substack.

Read →
Consulting

AI Strategy & Implementation

Helping teams adopt AI practically. Audits, workshops, and hands-on implementation for real business impact.

Get in touch →

The tools change. The mission doesn't.

Let's connect.

LinkedIn X Instagram Substack
"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."
— 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