Archive for Cars – Page 2

Ernest Garcia: A Whole New Experience

Posted by William Hancock 
· Thursday, October 31st, 2019 
· 3 Comments

Despite record revenue, Carvana sees losses widen in ...Ernest Garcia is the founder and current owner of the popular online used car trading platform, Carvana. Garcia actually comes from an interesting background as he is not an example of a rags to riches businessman. Garcia’s father had been in the business of selling cars online, as the internet was just becoming something that more and more people were starting to use. His father soon took this skill to create DriveTime. Right before the young Garcia was about to be brought on full time, his father was arrested and convicted of several criminal offenses regarding illegal practices with stock selling and government bailouts. However, Garcia didn’t see this as a lost opportunity. DriveTime quickly began losing money and the younger Garcia began purchasing used vehicles that weren’t selling from the business in order to keep it afloat. Having all these vehicles he wondered if there was a better way to sell the cars than how his father had done it. This gave him the idea of Carvana.

Although Carvana and DriveTime are similar today, this was a radical new idea during its founding in 2013. He developed a way to get quick and easy appraisments for vehicles and match buyers with other vehicles right after they were listed. The concept in and of itself is not one that is essentially new or groundbreaking, but it is the marketing tactics that Garcia has undertaken since creating Carvana that really makes him stand out. Not only have they improved user experience and created a seamless car buying system, Car vending machine in Nashville could put salesmen out of business | Business News | News | The ...they have created user engagment through their car vending machines. When a car is purchased, you can have it delivered to your home or go pick it up from one of these machines. It created user engagement on levels never seen before and makes people excited about buying a car. This is one of the reasons Carvana has grown to be such a large company and why Garcia himself is now worth over $600 million. Even though he had a head start, Garcia created something that users really love which creates value for the business and gives him value in return.

3 Comments
Categories : Cars

Opt7 Re-Creating the Lightbulb

Posted by Michael Clary 
· Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 
· 3 Comments

As someone who enjoys aftermarket modifications to my vehicle, I can personally vouch for this company who has designed and redesigned various lighting products for cars and other vehicles that change the way they look and offer an inexpensive route to upgrade the safety of your car. Opt7, founded by Kevin Kung, loved the way aftermarket lights looked on vehicles but at the time, in 2006, those parts costed nearly 1000 dollars. With his expertise in stage lighting and engineering, he created a new wave of HID lighting, which are the bulbs in most of your car headlights, that were produced efficiently, had pristine quality, and were inexpensive.

With their passion for a better and cheaper product, they gained entrance to automotive forums and the rest is simply history. However, they did not stop developing. There were other products that needed to be reinvented such as LED lighting, car mounts, and interior show strips. The company kept pushing themselves and their products to the limit and soon they dominated the aftermarket car lighting market. Now they serve off road vehicles which require rugged and nearly undestroy-able products and also motorcycle products that require consistency and heat protection. I have Opt7 lights in my car’s fog light mounting system and also in my headlight lamp brackets in my motorcycle and they surely live up to the test. Opt7 should be an example for all of us to follow because although the market they originally focused on wasn’t large, they realized that other people had a problem that could expand over a vast market.

3 Comments
Categories : Cars, Uncategorized

Elon Musk: Technological Empire

Posted by William Hancock 
· Saturday, September 28th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

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By now, most Americans know who Elon Musk is. It is extremely difficult to miss the luxurious design of one of his Tesla vehicles drive by you or to not be intrigued about his realistic idea for commercializing space travel. Elon Musk, with a net worth of $12.9 billion, is one of the most successful businessmen that lives today and his story of success is one that very few people are aware of.

His parents always had aspirations of their son from the time that he was very young. They noticed he was a tinkerer so they bought him his first computer when he was nine. It came with an astounding five kilobytes of storage and with this computer, Musk made a simple video game called “Blastar.” It was a simpler version of the game “Space Invaders” but was nonetheless an impressive code, especially when you remember it was created by a nine year old. When he was twelve, Musk sold the game for $500 ($1,200 today).

After dropping out of graduate school, Musk and his brother had an idea for an online-type of yellow page directory similar to that of Google and Yelp today. He saw that the internet was going to be the future and wanted to develop the technology and make a living from it. This idea for the directory was groundbreaking in the 90s and was quickly purchased by the company Compaq for $307 million from the two innovative minds. Using his newfound profit, Elon saw the potential that the internet held and decided to create an online banking business. Being in a cutthroat market for online banking, he and another company, Confinity, merged and became what is known today as PayPal. This company was soon sold to eBay for $1.2 billion to handle the online transactions for the online mega-store.

In 2002, Musk founded one of his famous companies, SpaceX, with the mission to make humanity a multi-planetary species. While he was in the development stage, he started his most famous company, Tesla, in 2004. Although Musk is aided largely in his efforts through federal subsidies and investments, Musk funds a large amount of his massive companies himself. Since their conception in 2002 and 2004, Musk has continually invested his own money into his own businesses. By doing so, he is the one making the decisions that lead to the success of the company. If the company loses money, he loses his fortune. This keeps him motivated.

How Tesla and SpaceX have already merged - Business Insider

Although each of these companies has had numerous drawbacks–SpaceX couldn’t get their rockets into orbit until they practically ran out of money blowing them up and Tesla continues to lose money–Elon’s exceptional leadership has and continues to lead these companies to the top of their markets. With estimated combined company values of over $24.3 billion, there is no doubt that with these great companies comes great leadership, something that Elon Musk continues to illustrate through his dedication and hard work.

 

Sources:

www.theverge.com/2015/6/9/8752333/elon-musk-blastar-pc-game

www.gobankingrates.com/making-money/business/how-much-is-tesla-worth

www.waitbutwhy.com/2015/05/elon-musk-the-worlds-raddest-man.html

www.moneymorning.com/2018/02/12/how-much-is-spacex-worth/

Roadster Image: https://is.gd/6GjSnC

3 Comments
Categories : Cars, Engineering, Sci Fi Inspiration, Transportation, Travel

Collete Davis in the racing industry

Posted by Benjamin Deplazes 
· Monday, September 16th, 2019 
· 2 Comments

Collete Davis is a young entrepreneur in the automotive racing field and is now a professional driver. Growing up she was always working on trucks and cars and that got her into indoor go-kart racing which eventually led to her racing cars, shortly after she started racing she won a championship and decided to pursue racing professionally. She then graduated high-school two years early to start school for mechanical engineering when she was only 16. After going to university she formed two start-ups; Collete Davis Racing and TechDrive. In an interview she said her motivation comes from the people she has surrounded herself with over the years and her passion for racing.

For me her story is truly inspirational, because i too share a passion in racing. In the end of one of her interviews she says, ” I’ve been told ‘no’ a million times, I am still not where I want to be – but I’m on my way and the people that do make it are the people who keep pushing”. This statement really put the drive and determination to be successful into perspective for me.

 

 

2 Comments
Categories : Racing

Kyle Vogt – Former Co-Founder of both Twitch and Justin.tv

Posted by AyersJD1 
· Monday, October 15th, 2018 
· 3 Comments

Kyle Vogt was a student at MIT, during his Junior year he left to go join the start-up team that would form Justin.tv and Twitch. Through that process he was the company’s main programmer, he was called a “creative genius” for his work in the company.  After Twitch was sold to Amazon, Vogt left to form his own company, Cruise Automation, which works on autonomous cars. This was a passion of his ever since he was a younger. Cruise was bought by GM in 2016, for 1 billion dollars. Vogt along with his co-founder Dan Kan are the youngest senior directors at GM.

Cruise Cars,

https://getcruise.com/

Info on Kyle Vogt,

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylevogt

https://www.crunchbase.com/person/kyle-vogt#section-overview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Vogt#Cruise_Automation

3 Comments
Categories : Cars, Manufacturing

Need a Lyft? (John Zimmer)

Posted by boltonjr1 
· Monday, October 15th, 2018 
· 5 Comments

About Lyft:

Lyft is a ridesharing platform created in 2007 in order to improve transportation in urban environments. Co-founder and acting president, John Zimmer, came up with the app by identifying an unnoticed problem. Since its inception, Lyft has been steadily growing into one of the best ridesharing services in the U.S., competing with other large companies like Uber.

John Zimmer (Inspiration and Innovation):

John Zimmer first identified the previously mentioned problem while attending college at Cornell. The problem was that 20% of seats in vehicles are vacant while these vehicles operate on highways. This statistic can be easily overlooked as insignificant, but Zimmer saw this as an opportunity. Capitalizing on the perceived potential, he joined forces with Logan Green who was already working on a ridesharing service called Zimride. Because Zimride was not very successful, the two decided to start developing a more mobile-focused app. With the launch of Lyft, Zimmer and Green established the solution they had been working towards.

Importance:

One of the qualities that stood out to me as I was researching John Zimmer was his ability to frame a problem. Because it is very common to see vehicles on the road with empty seats, it is not a factor that most people would consider to be a problem. George Zimmer was able to see past mundane details and use this perceived problem to discover the value of filling empty seats.

5 Comments
Categories : App, Business, Cars, Millennial Entrepreneurs

From One Thing To The Next

Posted by woullardcc1 
· Monday, December 11th, 2017 
· 9 Comments

Elon Musk is one of the most influential entrepreneurs of not only now, but of all time. He has been working on countless ways to make the world we win in a better place. Elon Musk doesn’t always just fix problems, but he also makes people realize how the world really should be. The first way he did that was through PayPal. PayPal was his innovative way to help people purchase products safely, securely, and quickly. This product has changed the way people are able to purchase what they want with confidence because of their ability to make sure the money only gets paid if the person paying, gets what they actually wanted.

Another innovative idea he developed was Tesla. Tesla is a car company focused on making cars that are run off batteries and from electric motors. This has changed the world of how cars work. The batteries used to make the cars have also changed the though of how powerful batteries can be and how useful they are. Mr. Musk wants to continue to work on making housing panels that allow ones house to be powered by solar energy, and make more clean, reusable energy for everyday use.

Another one of Elan’s innovations is his SpaceX company. This company is working with NASA to help get astronauts back into space. America is currently a country that cannot send astronauts into space, but Musk is working to change that. He has created new rockets that will allow up to seven astronauts to go into space. His design is based off the Apollo mission designs from when humans first went to the moon.

In the end, Elon Musk has truly changed the world by his ability to be an entrepreneur. He has made life better for humans, and will also continue to change the world by his future innovations.

9 Comments
Categories : Business, Cars, Sci Fi Inspiration, Solar Power, Sustainable, Technology, Transportation, Travel

Convoy

Posted by kenyonzj1 
· Wednesday, October 18th, 2017 
· 3 Comments

Convoy is a new company that is like Uber for Freight companies. It allows shipping companies to get connected with local truckers to avoid large fees from brokers. It helps both sides to set their own terms and getting a service at a reasonable price.Image result for Convoy

This is a really nice things for the trucking industry because it will make the ease of contacting local drivers much more easily and efficiently. Since the industry is so large it is important that it work well. Many times people overlook this type of industry because it isn’t the most apparent to everyday life and isn’t the most appealing.

The founder Dan Lewis really has a step up on others trying to get into this industry because he is an ex-Amazon executive. This means he has all of the connections with old Amazon engineers as well as other big businesses that can trust his work. Also, because of his past position he has a lot of trust from investors and they have high hopes that the company will succeed.

The company is up and coming but is growing very quickly and is expected to grow outside the trucking industry as well.

Image result for convoy trucking

3 Comments
Categories : Cars, Millennial Enrepreneuers

Convenient Store At Your Door

Posted by Hannah Hastings 
· Thursday, December 15th, 2016 
· 3 Comments

Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev launched goPuff when they were only sophomores at Drexel University in 2013. GoPuff is your convenient store on wheels, bringing over 3,000 items ranging from snacks and drinks to necessities and electronics – straight to your front door in 30 minutes or less. The idea came to them as car-less freshmen roommates constantly asking for rides to get basic necessities or cigarettes. There were apps for full-blown grocery shopping or gourmet food, but what about just a plain old convenient store run? – and goPuff was born.

Image result for gopuff

Before they had even fully launched, they were already getting orders from fellow college students and residents of Philadelphia. At first, the roommates worked 17-18 hour shifts with their (new) cars to deliver the snacks and goodies, but with time came employees and they now have dozens of drivers in twelve different cities across the US.Image result for gopuff

Gola and Ilishayev don’t see other food delivery services as their competitors – they see the brick and mortar convenient stores as their primary competition. Competition is a loose term however – in 2014, they already had 25,000 customers in Philadelphia alone just a year after launch.

While it’s unfortunate that their services don’t extend to Grove City, they are constantly expanding and setting up camp in more major cities across America. So the next time you’re in a big city with a hankering for Ben & Jerry’s, goPuff’s got your back.

3 Comments
Categories : App, Cars, College, eCommerce, Food, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Services, Smartphone
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Mate Rimac: Out of Nowhere

Posted by Zachary McClelland 
· Thursday, December 5th, 2013 
· 5 Comments

Guys, and Cars (Electric Cars)BN-AC237_mag111_G_20131022151958

See this car? Believe it or not, Mate Rimac (pictured) designed it at 21. Yeah, 21. And this slick cherry-red vehicle, the Concept One, goes from zero to sixty in three seconds. But why electric cars?

“It wasn’t about making the cars environmentally friendly, the performance is just much better.” -Mate Rimac

After years of testing a converted 1984 E30 BMW, he hit some spots of success. He began to work with his team on the Concept One, after being approached by a Croatian businessman on behalf of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. They wanted two cars, and so he set to work.

Hobby to Business

Rimac loved working on cars, but the passion quickly turned into something for which people sought him out. Today Rimac Automobili employs 22 workers. The company is small but it has certainly grown through trial and success. Early on, Rimac depended on seed money from his father–a shopping-center developer–and Abu Dhabi’s promise to invest. When the vehicle debuted in Germany, the industry was shocked. All of a sudden Rimac Automobili was offering quality super-cars that made BMW and Tesla scratch their heads and take a breather. Rimac had come out of nowhere, and he wasn’t going to be easy to catch up to in his fancy Concept One.

“It was a learning curve—we made mistakes, but eventually I realized we were doing something right: developing cars for a lot less money than big car manufacturers and managing to beat them in many fields. We have an advantage starting with a blank sheet of paper. There’s no heritage that we have to incorporate into the design.” -Mate Rimac

5 Comments
Categories : Bootstrap Business, Cars, Millennial Entrepreneurs
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