Car Dealership Guy Podcast

In this episode, I'm speaking with Pat Ryan, Founder and CEO of CoPilot. 00:00 - Intro 01:13 - Pat's background 10:33 - Family entrepreneurship 14:22 - Building & selling two companies  20:26 - Founding CoPilot 25:47 - How CoPilot makes money 31:05 - Breaking into a competitive market 39:41 - Who is CoPilot for? 48:13 - Trends that Pat's observing 54:00 - Evolving with AI 57:09 - Wrapping up Follo...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Scott Painter, Founder and CEO of Autonomy. 00:00 - Intro 02:03 - Elon's "thought exercise" for Scott 07:47 - Scott's entrepreneurial journey 15:12 - The Softbank Saga 23:06 - Inspiration & The Innovator's Dilemma 30:25 - Building Autonomy 39:46 - The economics of a subscription-based model 50:40 - Autonomy's ideal customer 57:22 - What does Scott drive? 01:00:53...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Chad Cunningham, aka WholesaleChad, an exotic car buyer with GiveMeTheVIN. 00:00 - Intro 01:49 - Chad's background 05:48 - How wholesaling works 13:31 - Achieving consistent profitability 17:17 - The "vibe" factor at auctions 23:47 - Becoming a top-performing wholesaler 29:14 - How Chad appraises cars 35:30 - Which cars to stay away from 40:38 - Navigating trade-...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Alex Vetter, co-founder and CEO of Cars.com. 00;00 - Intro 01:25 - Acquiring *the* domain 02:44 - 25th year anniversary 05:13 - Company background 09:08 - Keeping up with the pace of tech 12:03 - Tailwinds & headwinds 13:24 - Where are we headed as an industry 18:38 - EV search share 21:38 - Direct-to-Consumer 26:07 - Wholesale and Retail 36:31 - Leaning into AI...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Aharon Horwitz, co-founder and CEO of Fullpath. (00:00) Intro (01:23) Fullpath's story (03:45) What Fullpath does for dealers & consumers (06:20) Leveraging 1st-party data (13:56) Business metrics (16:56) Best/worst marketing strategies (22:20) How AI can help dealers & consumers (33:34) CDG's vision for AI-powered car-buying (41:54) Wrapping up Learn more about...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Jonathan Smoke, Chief Economist at Cox Automotive. (00:00) Intro (00:51) Our unique market environment (04:12) Jonathan's background (08:45) The Great Digitization (11:46) That time CDG bought 50 Chevys at auction (13:40) Are we in a K-shaped recovery? (18:45) Domestic vs International supply constraints (26:00) When do we get back to 2019 price levels? (33:45) F...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Jake Lebowitz of Raceway Auto Group in New Jersey. We talk about how much he makes as a dealer, his secret method for acquiring 15 car dealerships, the most profitable customers, why he won't touch Ford dealerships, and tricks to get the best car deal. (00:00) Intro (01:08) Raceway Auto Group (02:40) M&A activity (06:47) Sourcing strategies (13:32) Jake's best de...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Scott Case, co-founder and CEO of Recurrent. (00:00) Intro (00:56) EV battery reports? Recurrent's story (02:37) What happens when your EV's warranty expires (06:15) The truth behind EV battery range (08:52) Scott's take on EV % of market share by 2030 (11:20) How changing Tesla prices are impacting dealerships (16:06) The Recurrent Flywheel (20:45) When does an...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Chris Coleman, co-founder and Head of Product at WithClutch. (01:10) Chris' background (03:21) Carlypso origin story (07:11) Carvana acquires Carlypso (13:11) Transitioning post-acquisition (18:27) What is Carvana's edge? (24:56) Pros & Cons of working with credit unions (34:42) Founding and growing WithClutch (44:37) Does Carvana survive? (46:37) Conclusion This...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Steve Greenfield, Founder/CEO of ⁠Automotive Ventures⁠ and author of the book "⁠The Future of Automotive Retail⁠." (0:00) Intro (1:33) What will car-buying look like in 5-10 years? (11:22) Are smaller dealerships at risk of extinction? (14:12) Will auto-makers go direct-to-consumer? (24:22) Investment opportunities in the EV space (33:45) Trends that Automotive V...