20 min listen
EP 367: $94M Raised, Car Marketplace, 270 Employees with George Arison of Shift
EP 367: $94M Raised, Car Marketplace, 270 Employees with George Arison of Shift
ratings:
Length:
24 minutes
Released:
Jul 26, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
George Arison, founder and CEO of Shift, an online marketplace that has transformed the experience of buying and selling a car. George saw a problem with the process of buying a car, and he wanted to make it simpler. He utilized virtual technology to create a completely unique service for buying and selling a vehicle. Famous 5: Favorite Book? – I don’t really have one. What CEO do you follow? — Tim Cook Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn Do you get 8 hours of sleep?—No If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? — That I should learn how to code. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:25 – Nathan introduces George 01:44 – Shift is a new way to buy or sell a car 02:05 -- There is no physical lot, everything is virtual 02:35 – They will sell cars locally, to people in that car’s area 03:20 – “Car enthusiasts” 03:38 – Great design and transparency 04:10 – How they make money 04:25 – They agree on a minimum price with the seller, and they make money on any higher price that they sell the car for. (They split the difference) 05:00 – The buyer pays a fee 05:45 – They help buyers with car insurance and warranties 06:10 – Founded in 2013 06:30 – They started selling cars in 2014 06:45 – They are selling hundreds in a month 07:25 – Capital has been successful 08:05 – Their service is unique 09:15 – They offer cars that are several years old, because people can test drive them 09:55 – First-year revenue involved car inspections for sellers 10:45 – That revenue was $2000 11:00 – $150k in 2015 11:20 – Pricing cars is complicated and takes a lot of trial and error 12:00 – Mispriced cars effected their revenue in the beginning 12:30 – They are growing quickly and have focused on increasing revenue 13:35 – 20% growth month to month in 2015 14:15 – Team of 270 people 14:50 – Why he got into this business 15:05 – He started with Taxi Magic 15:25 – He had to get a green card, so he moved to a bigger business, Google 15:55 – He then left Google to start Shift 16:30 – He had a leased car, and when he wanted to buy it he found that financing a car is very complicated 17:50 – Find George Arison on LinkedIn 19:55 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: If you see a problem in a particular industry, find a solution and make it your business. Offer a service that is unique. Use today’s technology to redefine industries with an up-to-date approach. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. LinkedIn – George’s favorite tool to find the best people to work for Shift Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Released:
Jul 26, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Aweber Shares Revenue Numbers, Customer Count, Future: Nathan Latka brings you top entrepreneurs daily inspired by Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, John Dumas, Entrepreneur on Fire, Chalene Johnson, NPR, HBR, the StartUp podcast, Art of Charm, Dave Ramsey, Planet Money, APM Marketplace, Mixergy, Seth Godin, #AskGaryVe by SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders