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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 12:00 – Mispriced cars effected their revenue in the beginning
- 12:30 – They are growing quickly and have focused on increasing revenue
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- 13:35 – 20% growth month to month in 2015
- 14:15 – Team of 270 people
- 14:50 – Why he got into this business
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- 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