ValG

Awesome Boris, happy to hear it! I hope we can engage with your co-worker.

Haha, We can still help. email me directly at val@instamotor.com.

Great idea! We've started soliciting quotes from out beta customers and have a ton of awesome data on car sales that we can use for blog posts. More coming soon!

Hey jsun,

Haha, yes it is a real thing, unfortunately only in the bay area for now. We've already sold a few cars and wanted to get some additional feedback. We'll push for Chicago soon!

Hi Guys, Val here from InstaMotor. We’re trying to be to car dealerships what airbnb is to the hotel industry.

We’d love to get some additional feedback on the service. Any feedback provided is super beneficial. We’re specifically looking for some feedback on:

1. When you get to the site, within the first 30 seconds, do you understand what we do. Why or why not?

2. If you do understand what we do, would you ever use a service like this? How much would you be willing to pay for this service?

3. What’s the biggest benefit to the service that you see?

4. Any general feedback on the site the content, the service as a whole would be great.

Thanks for the help guys, We always appreciate it!

He makes an assertion that isn't true. That it's just as possible to raise money somewhere else other than Silicon Valley. Is it possible? Yes. Is it as easy/fast/convenient? Not even close. I've tried doing a startup in Michigan. Conversations with investors lasted months and they still wouldn't commit. In the valley, you can get a yes after meeting 2. Can you raise money outside of SV? Yes (in some places easier than others) but if you have to spend a bunch of your time on investor meetings instead of on your customers, it just makes it that much harder to grow your business. Silicon Valley also provides other intangibles that other locations don't (eg lots of early adopters that will give you feedback on your product, easy access to talent, etc...). My opinion is that it's still the best place to do a startup. (Granted I've only tried in Michigan before)

Ohh and the exit scenario that he mentions, this is pretty accurate from my observations and SV/VCs here are really good at this. A lot of personal relationships that help facilitate this.

This just got reposted on the NPR site, it's highly relevant and timely along with this law and Elon's response:

http://pcasts.in/9Ruq?

In it, some argue that "A no haggle, painless car buying experience will eventually come; but it won't be without your local dealers"

I wouldn't be so sure. As Elon states, the fundamentals of the industry haven't changed in quite a while. He's approaching it from one direction (The cars/manufacturing and sale of new cars), and others (like myself and partners) are going directly after the used car Buying/Selling process. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for Sellers/Buyers to transact. Check us out here:

http://www.instamotor.com/

[Full Disclosure, I work for MW]

Not so much like MechTurk. Workers are highly capable (many of them have advanced degrees), NOT anonymous (we and you know exactly who they are), reliable, trainable and they work on macro projects (e.g. write a full blog post on topic x w/ research and counterpoints) not microtasks (e.g. take this number and put it here). More akin to virtual staffing than MechTurk. Plus, we have a commitment to paying fair wages, so no fraction of a penny "hits"

I can't speak about the other guys, but Leore is not a first time founder. We've hired interns, contractors and employees at our last company together. [1]

[1] Leore and I were co-founders together at hangtrend/dress.me

I worked through car dealerships both at a low and a high level through my early career. Would be interested in chatting. valgui@gmail.com

Haha, actually we do use our own service to find users. We eat our own dog food, yum...

That being said, we're pretty agnostic to the methods we use to source our leads. We find that different industries can have widely different lead generation methods that are most effective. The advantage to our service is that we can customize how we generate these leads. If Craigslist ends up being the best way, we'll use that, if it's a different method (LinkedIn for example) we'll use that method or any other method that works well.

Site is up and down. Quick Cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...

I'm a little confused about this article. From the article

"Ending an agreement made in the pre-internet age gives the Germans a chance to show they're doing something, and at the same time the Americans know it's not going to hurt them."

It's completely a symbolic gesture. It seems to me like the Germans are just playing a political game, hoping that (somehow) the people don't notice. Any German natives able to give insight into the general feeling among the population (preferably the whole population, not just 20 something start-up guys)?

I wouldn't necessarily call is scary, they're a start-up and early stage at that, probably just an oversight. Plus, they mention in the TechCrunch article that right now it's literally just the 2 of them, I'm sure they'll get one up soon!

Yes but what is the cost of those machines? And what is the cost of the service that uses those machines?

An additional anecdote comes from Jerry Seinfeld, (comedian). He says that his goal when he got into comedy (and still to this day) is to write jokes every day. Create a chain of joke writing and keep track of it in a physical way (in his example, a calendar that he marks off with an X every time he sits down to write). You create momentum that you don't want to break, and even though you might not be writing good jokes (good code, etc...) every day, there is still improvement going on. [1]

All anecdote, but it seems to point to the fact that the value of iteration on DOING is more valuable than iteration on PLANNING. (i.e. plan a little bit, and do a lot).

[1] http://www.writersstore.com/dont-break-the-chain-jerry-seinf...

Forums are now down as well.

Not really. This would be a prime example of a negative externality, or a cost which results from an activity or transaction and which affects an otherwise uninvolved party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality

Great work. Taking the extra step to be proactive in a situation that seemingly is localized, you still found a way to (likely) make a difference from 3k miles way. Visibility to the site is likely the only barrier now, but if there is anyone on the ground that can spread the word, this may be a hugely beneficial service.

The workers we are working with are not just located in the US, they are in job training programs with local municipalities. That means they have support behind them, someone that they can ask questions of and specific skills that they are being trained on to build. While the projects offered may seem trivial to some, they may not be to someone that doesn't have the same access to resources as us. We're trying to provide the fish as they learn how to fish for themselves.

This looks pretty cool. Tell me more about it. email in my profile.

The partnership is centered around the job training programs, not a partnership with temp agencies. The goal is exactly the opposite of a race to the bottom, it's providing skills and real world training, something that will then be marketable at the conclusion of the program.

Thanks for this orionblastar. I will definitely check it out and do some of these tutorials. Now if can find a way to set up accountability to make sure I stay on course!

haha, my Mom did when I was young ;-). I know this is a less than optimal method, I'm just trying to hack myself into budgeting time for this. It's more justifiable in my brain if I'm committed to it by some outside force. Is that being "weak"? Maybe, but it doesn't really matter to me, I saw that trying to get myself to do it wasn't working, so I'm trying a different approach.

btw, nice blog. It's fun to see someone doing something with his hands rather than strictly programming!

Best,

Thanks for this bockris. I used LearnPythonTheHardWay and it was great. But that was when I had more time on my hands and could actually sit down and do it. Now (unfortunately) I need something actually force me to attend and practice. I agree, just writing a lot is the best way to do it. I don't get enough practice during my day, and want something that can help me do it more. Basically trying to force myself to do it by having some sort of commitment that is not arbitrary.

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Emerson.

When I first read that quote in early High School I didn't understand it. It was the kind of thing that ate at me, I could not get what he was trying to say. To me, consistency was an important part of life; the old adage that you stick to your word. However, that quote transcends the idea of being consistent, because when you often make decisions without all of the information (especially in startups). As new information becomes available, you have to incorporate it into your decision. Sometimes it makes you look like a dick, or someone that doesn't know what direction they want to go to, but that's where different skills (leadership and sales) come in to be able to hold people together.

the interesting point to make here is not that the model s is necessarily faster than the M5, but the difference in acceleration between the two. I remember reading about the high incidence of driver caused accidents with the Tesla Roadster when it came out. Electric engines generally have more linear acceleration than traditional engines. The torque is available immediately. This is different than traditional engines, where max torque is available at specific levels. People, not being used to the immediate power, would often panic/lose control and crash. You can see the affect on acceleration in this video, with the Model S taking off faster, and the M5 catching up at the end.

my b, didn't see it.

You must drive your car hard! Do you ask for the brake pads back after each service? By law they have to provide them to you if you ask, and I suspect you will see a decrease in the number of recommendations if you start asking for them back and measure them to see what their specs are. I can't say for sure, but it would not surprise me if they are being over-eager in making their "recommendations".

The way they're going about it might not be the right way, but having worked at and run car dealerships, $600/year is not out of line (granted this is based on conventional engine vehicles). The first year of the vehicle you probably won't get your money's worth, but after that it becomes much more valuable. At a traditional car dealership, a 15k mile service is pretty basic, oil change and tire rotation, but they will try to upsell you on numerous other items (special additives to improve engine life/gas mileage, air filter change, wipers, etc...) that will easily hit $250-$300 for that visit. These items can all be done in ~10 minutes at home for ~$50. For a 30k mile service, you're looking at well over $400. To be able to take your car in, not have to deal with the hassle of someone trying to hustle/upsell you, get everything on the car done, road side service, and (hopefully) better service than you'd get at a traditional car dealership? Doesn't seem to me like the price is way out of line.

Not only that, but think about the last time you went to a dealership to buy a car, remember when you went in the finance office to sign the paperwork? More than likely the finance manager was trying to sell you a service contract from a 3rd party that was more expensive and covered less items.

In the end though it's hard to judge the value of these things without having the service contract in front of me, knowing you specific driving habits and exactly what services the contract covers and what services it doesn't (if any). Having said that, I would be highly surprised if 12% of Tesla pre-orders get canceled because of the service contract (as mentioned in the article).