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