EP 367: $94M Raised, Car Marketplace, 270 Employees with George Arison of Shift
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:
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- Favorite Book? \u2013 I don\u2019t really have one.
- What CEO do you follow? \u2014 Tim Cook
- Favorite online tool? \u2014 LinkedIn
- Do you get 8 hours of sleep?\u2014No
- If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \u2014 That I should learn how to code.
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Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 01:25 \u2013 Nathan introduces George
- 01:44 \u2013 Shift is a new way to buy or sell a car
- 02:05 -- There is no physical lot, everything is virtual
- 02:35 \u2013 They will sell cars locally, to people in that car\u2019s area
- 03:20 \u2013 \u201cCar enthusiasts\u201d
- 03:38 \u2013 Great design and transparency
- 04:10 \u2013 How they make money
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- 04:25 \u2013 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 \u2013 The buyer pays a fee
- 05:45 \u2013 They help buyers with car insurance and warranties
- 06:10 \u2013 Founded in 2013
- 06:30 \u2013 They started selling cars in 2014
- 06:45 \u2013 They are selling hundreds in a month
- 07:25 \u2013 Capital has been successful
- 08:05 \u2013 Their service is unique
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- 09:15 \u2013 They offer cars that are several years old, because people can test drive them
- 09:55 \u2013 First-year revenue involved car inspections for sellers
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- 10:45 \u2013 That revenue was $2000
- 11:00 \u2013 $150k in 2015
- 11:20 \u2013 Pricing cars is complicated and takes a lot of trial and error
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- 12:00 \u2013 Mispriced cars effected their revenue in the beginning
- 12:30 \u2013 They are growing quickly and have focused on increasing revenue
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- 13:35 \u2013 20% growth month to month in 2015
- 14:15 \u2013 Team of 270 people
- 14:50 \u2013 Why he got into this business
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- 15:05 \u2013 He started with Taxi Magic
- 15:25 \u2013 He had to get a green card, so he moved to a bigger business, Google
- 15:55 \u2013 He then left Google to start Shift
- 16:30 \u2013 He had a leased car, and when he wanted to buy it he found that financing a car is very complicated
- 17:50 \u2013 Find George Arison on LinkedIn
- 19:55 \u2013 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\u2019s technology to redefine industries with an up-to-date approach.
Resources Mentioned:
- Host Gator \u2013 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\xa0 \u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
- Audible \u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
- LinkedIn \u2013 George\u2019s favorite tool to find the best people to work for Shift
- Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives