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The Past Is Gone, The Future Is Not Here Yet with Danny Zaslavsky · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  They drink this in Valhalla. [laughs] [upbeat music] This is AutoCollabs. [laughs] He— Don't worry, he's not drinking alcohol. Nope. He is drinking, uh- Orange tangerine...
• 0:17
  what is that? Vitamin orange tangerine mixed up with some water today, and you're here with us on AutoCollabs- [laughs]... not in Valhalla. So, uh, welcome everybody. It's, it's been a minute. I'm in, actually...
• 0:31
  The people don't know this if they're just listening. I'm in a whole new office setup. Or watching, they probably don't notice either, unless they- They probably don't notice... see sharp.
• 0:37
  Same blue color, except for I took down the hat. So I apologize to everybody- [laughs]... that's confused and concerned. You look incredibly crisp right now, though. Doesn't he, though? Well, thank you.
• 0:46
  Doesn't he, though? Well, internet speeds are a little bit, tch- Okay. Sure... notched up at the old house. All right. So maybe, maybe that's what it is. I appreciate the- Hmm... the note there. The compliment.
• 0:57
  [laughs] The compliment. You got that old- Well, none of that has to do with the fact that we're hanging out with Danny Zazlavsky today- Mm.... on the podcast. Good. Guys, I'm excited.
• 1:05
  Every time, every time we talk with him- Every time... he always has something to contribute. He's just- Yeah... but his nature is a contributor. I'll say this. Yes.
• 1:13
  Every, every room I've been in with him, every group I've seen him speak in front of, every personal conversation, he is someone who is oriented toward, "How can I contribute to you?"
• 1:22
  And I see that span his personal life and his professional life, his, his contributions to the auto industry. So y- you just know you're gonna get something good.
• 1:30
  Danny, at one point, he said to me, he has me on a call, he's talking to me about a SoDo Con, actually, and he goes, "Now listen, I've got an idea, but wait." I was like, "Huh?" [laughs] He goes, "Do me a favor.
• 1:43
  When you hear this idea, don't change your mission, don't change what you wanna do, and make sure you don't do anything for me that you wouldn't do for anybody else. Got it?" I was like- [laughs] "Okay" I'm not a setup.
• 1:55
  That's, uh, next. He's like, "We should bring in McDonald's for everyone." [laughs] Boom. And that's when our friendship ended. No. [laughs] Never spoke again.
• 2:05
  [laughs] All right, we hope you, uh, love this conversation that we have with, uh, Danny. [upbeat music] Hey, we're here with Danny Zazlavsky, and if you try and say that name five times fast, you can't.
• 2:20
  Danny, thanks for joining us on AutoCollabs again, man. Thanks for having me, guys. [laughs] Have you ever... You should, like, make that a party ch- I could do it. I could do it.
• 2:28
  [laughs] Danny, I, for all the people that aren't... We were admiring just previously, uh, for all the people that aren't watching this on video, we are admiring, uh, your, your handsome-ish tan there. Mm-hmm.
• 2:42
  [laughs] And, and, uh- I like the "ish". I like the "ish" you threw in. [laughs] Yeah, because it's like, you know, I, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna just, like, leave it just gently there.
• 2:52
  But, uh, well, first of all- The only thing that makes my teeth whiter is when I get color, 'cause otherwise. [laughs] There you go. [laughs] I actually... So I'm just gonna get my teeth whitened, and that'll fix it.
• 3:01
  Nah. Yeah, that'll fix that. Look how tan I am. [laughs] So we were talking about before we got on here, and I love bringing on all the conversations from before we got on, but, uh,
• 3:13
  that, that, like, taking vacation as an entrepreneur, there's so many people in entrepreneur life or in dealership ownership roles or big, large roles in auto groups or dealers that...
• 3:28
  Well, one, historically, our industry has, has positioned vacations as, like, "Welcome back, part-timer," you know? [laughs] Um- Mm...
• 3:37
  but that even since then, like, uh, it, it is hard to unplug when your, when the business is so dependent on you helping it progress.
• 3:49
  Like, give us a little insight into what vacation looks like to you as an entrepreneur living in the auto industry. Uh, it's a series of little tricks I play on my brain. My dad, growing up, uh, would take three days
• 4:07
  into the vacation to actually be able to disconnect, and I watched him do that, and I watched the arguments my parents had of, you know, "Why can't you?" Or, "You should," or whatever. [laughs] And I never understood it.
• 4:19
  And watching my dad, and like- Am I your dad and I didn't realize it? [laughs] Uh, so... And I, I projected on my dad. I'm like, "Dude, settle down." Um, like, "Enjoy. Be here. Be present." Um, but what I
• 4:38
  took for granted was the, the, you know, the vision that was pulling him or the pain that was pushing him.
• 4:46
  Uh, whether it be on one of his cell phones or ideas he had in his mind or, you know, the, the old question of does art inspire life or does life inspire art?
• 4:54
  He was out in the world and he was seeing things, and he goes, "I should use that in my business," or, "I should do..." You know what I mean? [laughs] So it's, it's hard to disconnect.
• 5:01
  Um, today, I, the tips and tricks I do is, like, you know, when I'm on vacation, I, I stay away from social media. Um, that's one of the...
• 5:10
  I, I don't look at other people's lives and I don't share anything about my life because I wanna be present. Uh, and I rarely even share kinda where I go or what I did, uh, afterwards, because it's not about that for me.
• 5:23
  It's about being present.
• 5:24
  Um, and I'm a mantra guy, so my, uh, mantra early on was, uh, when I was going through some tough times about seven years ago, it was, "Look forward, move forward in all things and in all ways," because I knew where I was in that moment wasn't where I needed to be, and so I was thinking forward.
• 5:44
  So, "Look forward, move forward in all things and all ways." And then when I got past where I didn't wanna be and got into where I was- [laughs]... uh, my new mantra was, um, "The past is gone. The future's not here yet.
• 5:58
  Now I am free of both." Uh, and so that mantra, like, got me to be here. Um, and a-Uh, years ago when I did some, um, some therapy of my soul, uh, I asked my therapist, uh, a favor.
• 6:15
  Uh, she goes, "What do you want?" And I go, "Well, I wanna know pain, but I wanna know happiness. Um, and if I know both, then I'm not ignorant to either, and I have, like, my control.
• 6:27
  I have control over my life, and I could choose."
• 6:29
  Um, and that shows up for all of us, like, in maybe an argument we have with our spouse where we know we can push a little harder, uh, but we choose not to because we know happiness and we know pain.
• 6:39
  And, um, so that I, I, I, I take kind of that view of, honestly, vacation. And so I just got to go for four days to Florida and spend it with some friends and family, and it was awesome.
• 6:51
  Um, and I could have picked up my computer. I could have made the call. Um, and I could have- You're like, "'Cause I saw that restaurant that was just amazing, and I had ideas," right? [laughs] Exactly. I could have.
• 7:05
  Yeah. Uh, but I chose not to because, uh, I, the past is gone. The future's not here yet. Now I'm free of both. Well, this has been Auto Collapse Days of Zofsky.
• 7:15
  [laughs] I mean, where, you know, everybody's crying at home. It isn't a podcast. Exactly why we don't title things until the end. Exactly why.
• 7:22
  [laughs] And then your accountant at Country Hills is like, "Hey, Danny, we gotta talk here. What is the $3,000-" Yeah. Yeah... "on burner phones from 7-Eleven?" Exactly. [laughs] Yeah. Oh, by the way.
• 7:32
  He's got them hiding in a vase. There's like, uh, I mean... You know, but nothing... You know, I, I love what you're saying, that be present in the moment.
• 7:38
  That's certainly something I think all of us on the, on this call can relate to. Um, it, it's almost seemed like this never-ending battle of, like, how do I be present in the moment
• 7:50
  and not sacrifice missing something that will be a memory for someone else in my family? But part of their memory will be Dad sitting off in a corner ferociously pounding holes in his iPhone screen, right?
• 8:04
  Len Lundy and Liza Borches said this. I don't know whose quote it is.
• 8:08
  Uh, maybe it's one of theirs, maybe not, but they said, "There's a difference between spending time and investing time," when they say, "Spend time with your kids or invest time with your kids." Mm.
• 8:18
  Uh, and I've, I've, I've, like, some things you just hear loudly, and that has stuck. Um, so I invest time with my kids. I spend time, um, watching The Bear on Hulu that, uh, you told me to watch. [laughs] So, uh...
• 8:32
  It's true, though. Like, you think there are... That just freeing yourself of social media and, and the thing that I think is so beautiful about it is that your life continued after.
• 8:42
  The world did not come to a screeching halt. There are people right now at this very moment in time who cannot make it through their vacation without taking low-lit, grainy photos of their dessert. You know what I mean?
• 8:55
  [laughs] Like, th- th- their, their, their hands, they're like Alanis Morissette. Swerless, like, Swerless, like, "I only-" He's like- "... only take well-lit-" He was so close Well-lit... high-quality photos. Well-lit.
• 9:06
  F-stop two or lower. He didn't do it. He used portrait mode. [laughs] Th- they're Alanis, man. They got one hand in their pocket. You know, they're just reaching for that phone. "I got one hand in my pocket." Oh.
• 9:18
  Oh, there's a great Canadian reference. There it is. Alanis Morissette. There's one in every episode. Alanis Morissette. So, so I- I- Go ahead, Paul... I have a tie-up.
• 9:26
  So you're talking about the future's not here yet, the past is gone, right? And being in the moment. How does that connect to what y- we do as an industry with technology? Hmm.
• 9:38
  Because right now we are in this spot where it's like the future's not yet here yet, but we're all talking about it a lot. Ooh. The past has been weird, right? The last several years of the past.
• 9:49
  But here we are in this place where people are talking about this mix between get back to basics, and we have to do this thing with data and systems we've never, ever done as an industry well before.
• 9:59
  How do you navigate that in what you do? Because you have a foot in the dealer world. What a juxtaposition. You have a foot in the dealer world, and you have a foot in the technology world. Paul's such a poet.
• 10:07
  That's probably- Yeah, really... the best segue I've ever, uh, been a part of. That knocked that one out there. Casey Jones. Every once in a while. That was unreal. So I think our job is to solve complexity.
• 10:17
  Um, I think as humans, the older I get, the simpler I want things and the less I need to wear on my sleeve, um, because we earn the ability to understand, and as we learn the ability to understand, we get to choose how we, uh, apply that.
• 10:32
  And then vin-- at VinQ, um, uh, there's principles that we, uh, um,
• 10:38
  behave by, and these aren't principles that we, like, necessarily see on a wall and then that's our guiding principles and that's how we have to, have to behave.
• 10:49
  It's principles because it's the way we're literally formed as a company. Um, an example of that is we believe innovation happens on the front line. So how does that show up in real life? Our product... M- my dad.
• 11:03
  My dad, for example, used to buy buildings and say, "What are we gonna do with this building? What business are we gonna put in it?"
• 11:10
  And that's the definition of creating a product and then wondering how the world's gonna use it, and that doesn't necessarily solve any complexity.
• 11:19
  Um, but when you do it the other way around, when you say, "What are-- what's, what's the experience? What's the, um, what's the result? What's the intention here?"
• 11:29
  And then you work your way back to product, um, then you, and, you know, for us, we, we end up with a better result.
• 11:37
  So if we know that our job is to solve complexity, one of the, uh, benefits we have is to see the landscape, and some companies innovate through acquisition. Um, we haven't, uh, for a couple reasons.
• 11:51
  Um, we've chosen to innovate through, uh, innovation and partnerships. Uh,
• 11:58
  I, I shared this with somebody earlier, uh, but being on the dealer side, when I used to walk the floors of NADA, I would see a lot of really cool solutions and I would say, "Hey, which one of you can I, um, install at my dealership to elevate our processes?"
• 12:13
  Um, and when we would do that, sometimes they would work, obviously, sometimes they didn't.
• 12:18
  But as a person that now helps create solutions-It's also very easy to walk around the NADA floor and go, "Shoot, I can build that." Um, when in fact we have a zone of genius, and that's inventory.
• 12:34
  Um, and when we find others that have the similar zone of genius, and when we can create partnerships to end up at, um, the ability to solve complexity for our client, uh, then whoa, that's like real power.
• 12:48
  Uh, so that's really-- that's another tenet of ours, uh, is y- we don't go wide, we go deep. Um, and that's been, quite frankly, a maturing thing for us as a company.
• 12:59
  Uh, and, and I, to preface, I defied-- I, I define company as a company of people, no different than you throwing a party at your house and you have company over. Um, and it's set by, by the culture you create.
• 13:11
  We're, we're no different. We're a company of people. Yeah. You know, the-- I love the NADA reference because especially as, like, dealers are beginning to even just hire developers, not to create a new company.
• 13:25
  Like, they're trying to solve a problem internally, and so they, like, solve one problem, right? And as you-- Like, the moment you have some developers on staff, you're like, "Oh, what else could they develop for me?"
• 13:37
  Mm-hmm. Right? And, and I think that this is the trick with any-- Like, it's a trick with a tech company or the trick-- There's so many things to do out there. I mean, like, so many.
• 13:48
  You could create apps for days just to solve for the apps that you've created for days, gaps, right? And this is, it's, there's, there's like a two-prong issue here.
• 13:59
  One is that you just create more and more things that are wide, like you said, instead of deep, that don't actually, like, get to the root of the problem, and so you're always having to continually develop or acquire new development tools.
• 14:11
  But the other thing that actually happens, and I think this is, um, where, where you are actually leaning first here, is you start to wrap your processes based on your product instead of your products based on your processes, right?
• 14:25
  Mm-hmm. Which is the most dangerous thing that I see dealer groups and dealers get into is, oh, s-shiny new... This was DR, right? This was like DR at its core. Shiny new thing. C-customers wanna transact online.
• 14:38
  We tried to wrap our process around it, but the adoption curve was so slow because none of it actually fit what was happening in the showroom.
• 14:47
  How do you, like, as a company that has to continually integrate, uh, innovate, how do you ward off the, like, shiny new object syndrome- It's the filter... and actually make sure... Yeah. Yeah.
• 14:59
  It's a filter of thinking. Um, a feature is only a shiny object unless it lives within a process. When it lives within a process, it's a weapon. And when that weapon's used for good, um, then you're solving complexity.
• 15:12
  So, um, w-we think about anytime we get a feature request, um, does it enhance a process? And processes, um, depending on the dealership or the dealership groups, are slightly different.
• 15:26
  And so I'll give you an example of one. Uh, we have a dealership group that, uh, asked this question. I love this question. They said- [chuckles] "Today, we behave like a group of dealers.
• 15:42
  Tomorrow, we'd like to behave like a dealer group." [chuckles] "What is it gonna take- Oh... for us to be- Oh. [laughs]... like a dealer group?" Um- Oh. And, um, so for them, that meant changing the thinking of
• 16:00
  right car, right price, when they're doing appraisals and/or acquisitions, to right car, right lot.
• 16:09
  Maybe that dealer that is appraising that vehicle, um, that vehicle, um, they may have bias because they didn't do well on the last one, or, or maybe they did really well on the last one.
• 16:21
  Uh, but they see it out of a very, um, surgical filter.
• 16:27
  Uh, when we apply technology to be able to appraise a car as a dealer group, uh, to bring in signals from the dealer group, uh, to bring in, um, other touches and other ideas, uh, and do it in a live way, then all of a sudden you're now going from a group of dealers to a dealer group.
• 16:48
  Um, and that's pretty cool. So, like, that's, that's solving complexity. I think you got us all on that one. Just like- That's-... the simplicity of the thinking, actually. But that's all great thinking, though.
• 17:03
  All th- all great thinking is, like, you get it to the most concise thing possible, and there's beauty in the simplicity of it.
• 17:10
  And I think there are a lot of groups of dealers running around right now with this new, with this newfound scale. And- Which I don't think is a problem. I, like, I wanna preface that.
• 17:21
  No, there's some groups that operate and, like, have operated like that- They operate great like that... for a long time, like the Rydell group. It was just the right question asked of- It's intentional.
• 17:29
  There's not, there's not a wrong here. Um- That's right... no different than I can't put calculus in front of my 10-year-olds and expect them to do it, um, because- Unless they have AI. Yeah.
• 17:41
  [laughs] They may not be interested or they may not be ready. Um, and really- Yeah... the, the question is what is gonna, uh... how do you meet, um, others where they need to be met?
• 17:52
  Um, I mean, that's the, that's training 101. [laughs] It's... Some people just see it in a different way, right? Like Gary Vaynerchuk says, you know, "What's the ROI of a basketball?" He's like, "Well, to me, nothing."
• 18:06
  [laughs] LeBron James, right, a couple billion. Um, and, and the same is true. Like, you could take... And it's just, what, what, how does someone view the world? What is their intent behind going in that direction?
• 18:17
  And yeah, you can-- It's the, the best thing about the auto industry is that there are so many perspectives, and each of those perspectives can find a large group of people who sees the world that way, and they can go innovate in that direction.It's one of the things I love.
• 18:33
  I was on a call, um, actually at Clubhouse, uh, and Kyle, you were in it, and there's a guy named Daniel that was on there, who I think is just one of the best fixed ops guys in the country.
• 18:43
  And, uh, the question was, "If you were on an island and only had three tools, what three tools would they be?" And he essentially said, "Screw the tools. Um, have your performance manager on the demo," um, versus sales.
• 18:56
  [laughs] Uh, uh, which I was like, "Yeah." [laughs] Um, 'cause that's, that's innovation from the front line.
• 19:05
  I mean, that's literally, uh, taking, um, the, the person that's responsible to be your coach, your mentor, your, your solutionary, whatever you wanna call it, um, and leading with process instead of lead- leading with features.
• 19:20
  Good night. Yeah, absolutely. Good night. Man. Well, look- Let's drop in one-liners. It's unbelievable. It is. Oh.
• 19:25
  Well, Danny, it is always a pleasure, and every time we get in a situation like this where we have a few minutes set aside to talk, I always walk away feeling like my, my perspective has been expanded, and I know that's gonna be true for the people who hear this episode.
• 19:39
  So on behalf of Kyle, um, Michael, and myself, thanks for joining us today. Thanks, guys. [upbeat music] Um, guys, I didn't know...
• 19:51
  I- he sent me into a poetic trance that- You were just quieter than I've ever heard you, I think, in an interview... he hit me with the whole question. At one point, I saw you laying on a couch in the back.
• 20:01
  [laughs] Where did you get the therapist couch in your office? The worst thing is- Where's Cirillo? I think I see his feet. By the time I got on top of that piano, I was like, "Where'd these high heels come from?"
• 20:10
  [laughs] No, he... The, the question, you know, usually when you're on podcasts, especially when you've been doing it for as long as the three of us have, you're like- Right...
• 20:20
  p- you know, sometimes people are like, "Oh, and then I was asked this question," and, "Oh, I just love this question."
• 20:25
  And he kinda did that, and I w- like braced for impact, and then he actually hit us with a banger, and I was like- Bam. Zow-bow-bow-chka. Yeah.
• 20:33
  I just like- Just Mi- Michael, Michael usually will come in with, "You know, what occurs to me is," and he'll like lead in that way. [laughs] And you never did that.
• 20:41
  No, because I'm just, I'm still like- The occur was still processing, the little spinny wheel of what occurs to Michael. Yes, I mean, one of those- That's gonna hit you at, like, 10:30 PM tomorrow night.
• 20:50
  You're gonna be like [gasps]. Yeah. I mean, the thing that I admire about Danny is, is that he, you can tell, I mean, he brings up his father, his parents, he brings them up, you know, nearly every time he's interviewed.
• 21:02
  You can tell there's a deep sense of, of meaning and purpose that drives him. And, and he used my favorite word, it was my word of the year. He used the word intention several times throughout that, that interview.
• 21:13
  And, you know, gosh, I just think he, he...
• 21:16
  What he got me thinking about is, what would happen if just a fraction of a percent of the people that work within our industry got clear about the intention with which they behave each day? Mm.
• 21:30
  That's wh- I was like, oh, dang. The whole landscape changes. No joke. No joke. Well, look, he's gonna be on the ground at ASOTU CON with us in September. So if you wanna meet him, you can do that. Just get a ticket.
• 21:44
  We wanna see you there so bad. I want every... Is it weird that I, I want everybody to be at ASOTU CON, whether or not they're in the auto industry or not. I wanna tell, like, the Uber driver- Just everyone... about it.
• 21:52
  I'm like, "Hey, you, why? Because I know you will leave, like, in a better shape than you showed up." Absolutely. And if you're in the auto industry, way better shape than when you showed up.
• 22:01
  There's all these cab drivers that are like, "You know, that was amazing, but, uh, the, the meter's still been running for the last four hours." "What's a CDP?" [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Oh, it's good.
• 22:11
  Well, on behalf of myself, Mike Cirillo, Paul J Daly, thanks for joining us here on Auto Covet Labs. We'll see you next time.
• 22:19
  Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
• 22:32
  If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 22:40
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Covet Labs. Welcome to Auto Covet Labs. [laughs] Why are we recording? [laughs] Are we rolling yet? Not yet.