Latest / Auto Collabs / Welcome to the Great Collaboration

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Welcome to the Great Collaboration · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  So this is AutoCollabs, and I don't know how we're gonna start the show.
• 0:04
  [inhales] [upbeat music] [laughs] W- there was this, there was this one idea one day that we were just gonna call Cirillo out of the blue- And we did... and start the show.
• 0:18
  And we, and, and we tried that, and it went to voicemail. And so, instead, we invited him to Philly. Yeah. [laughs] What was my voicemail like? I haven't said it yet. I- Oh, no, it was that.
• 0:27
  It was like, it was, it was, it was like the, uh- The AT&T kind-... the voicemail when you c- when you go to Walmart and get a new phone every week kinda thing. Yeah. Yeah, my burner. It, it was really bad.
• 0:36
  But either way, all of us came together here. We're all in Philadelphia right now to kick off a, a podcast that was really born, um, in all of our minds kind of at separate times.
• 0:46
  And it had been baking, uh, back in there. And then, eventually, little by little, we started talking about it and verbalizing it.
• 0:52
  And, uh, we knew the ASOTU ecosystem needed a deeper conversation format because, you know, the morning show is news, and it's insights, and it's high energy, and it's super fast.
• 1:03
  And we wanted to leave a little time, uh, to breathe. And you know, so we called Michael and said, "Hey, what are you doing?" [laughs] I said, "Uh, nothing, spladoosh." [laughs] Give me a second.
• 1:16
  [laughs] Well, it's funny, too.
• 1:18
  W- we've experienced this over the last two years at least, at least 18 months, where one of us is doing something, and then we realize that the other one is also kinda doing something very similar.
• 1:30
  And you were the first one. You were telling us earlier, I mean, you, uh, around the clubhouse thing. Yeah. Like, you were like, "Hey, dude," like, "we need to talk.
• 1:37
  You and I are in each other's brains, like we're thinking a lot of the same thoughts." And then, I mean, this happened recently with the three of us.
• 1:43
  Your, on your famed behind-the-scenes Google Meet lunch meetings where you were like, "Hey, so we have this idea about a podcast." I'm like, "Funny, 'cause I wanted to talk to you about this idea." And so here we are.
• 1:54
  There it came. Yeah. Making it happen. No, and, and I think that that's m- what... It's the momentum that the three of us are feeling a lot.
• 2:00
  And I think there's a lot of people, even in the automotive industry as a whole, that are feeling that type of momentum.
• 2:07
  Uh, you know, we've, Paul and I, we've talked about it a lot, where, you know, that everybody is feeling that. There's this kind of move towards something.
• 2:15
  It's maybe not been named yet, but there's words like collaboration and innovation and new customer experience and better employee experience and all of these things that are just kind of, like, uh, you know, everyone's starting to say, "Oh, you're, you're doing that?
• 2:30
  And you're saying the thing, think- thinking the same thing and saying the same thing?" Right. And it's not that that stuff hasn't been happening over the past 10, 15, even 20 years.
• 2:38
  You know, we, you know, we, ac- actually, uh, it was interesting. We ta- we were watching and David Kane just said, "Hey, look, this is a s- a story that I've been talking about for a long time."
• 2:49
  But I think that kind of everyone's finding their way to each other. Yeah. You know? Yeah, 100%. You know what I love about David Kane? Can I just pause you there? Yeah. Go, please.
• 2:58
  Even when he in- Insults you, you feel edified. You're like, "Thank you" So I was at his event in, in Kentucky. He does it every year. One of the most phenomenal things I've ever been to.
• 3:07
  Very loving, very, very David, right? Like, you just feel n- Well nourished... nourished. Yeah. Like- Mm-hmm... I am a planet circling this bright star, you know? Like, that's how you feel.
• 3:16
  And so he booked a thing at the, the Lexington, uh, racetrack there. And, uh, and m- it said in the pamphlet, you know, "Make sure you're wearing appropriate clothing, a blazer, some khakis. We're going up to the club."
• 3:30
  I mean, eh, right? [laughs] So on the way in- If you're just listening, [laughs] we're all wearing black flat bills and black shirts. Yes. It's like we don't do...
• 3:40
  [laughs] I've literally been kicked out of places over this. Over this. Okay. So on the way in, I buy one of those Newsies caps. Oh, yes. Yeah. I got my blazer. Okay. I can see this. I walk in. David greets us.
• 3:51
  He says, "Oh, it's so good to see you guys." And I was like, "Thank you." It's a pretty good impression, yeah. A- and then I said, "Man, I feel like such a poser." He goes, "Ha ha, you are."
• 3:59
  [laughs] And you're like, "I, I think he meant that." [laughs] Yes. And I was like, "Why do I wanna hug you after this?" But I do. Thank you. But you're right. We're all moving in a direction.
• 4:08
  And I, I actually had a funny conversation with, with a colleague of mine the other day, um, not in the auto industry. He's a PR guy, very young, very into tech, very, like, he just understands that space.
• 4:18
  But he was talking about how he has to work with somebody that's really old. They've, they've retired. They're still pen-to-paper kind of people. And I'm like, "Isn't this interesting?"
• 4:26
  We've been experiencing this divide for quite some time. And now that old generation who was very accustomed to doing things a certain way are, a- have made their exit and, or are making their exit very rapidly.
• 4:40
  And now, even though there's another generation coming up that's used to doing things the n- new way- Totally. Yeah...
• 4:46
  I think we're all still very much trying to find our footing and make sense of how we can make it even more efficient. Uh, and I think that's part of that draw that you're, you're feeling, you know.
• 4:56
  We're all like, "Oh, we know there's something. We could be doing it better." There's a velocity to it. Yeah. What the pandemic did was kind of sped up quite a bit, and we've talked about this quite a lot.
• 5:05
  And so I think that that was already happening, but it was like molasses speed. Mm-hmm. Right? And the people were finding each other. And, you know, they're starting to kinda get together and talk about things.
• 5:15
  I even think, like, um, you know, NADA was starting to adopt new thinking, but they still had a lot of resistance from the old guard. And the pandemic hit. I feel like all bets were off.
• 5:25
  And now, you know, like the new entrants, like Tesla and Carvana, really ramped up during that time period.
• 5:31
  And I feel like now there's just a, a, an increased intensity of rallying around, like what we've been calling, Kyle and I have been calling a beacon, right? What we're trying to do with ASOTU is put a beacon up- Mm...
• 5:42
  so people can see it from far away, and then just gather toward it.
• 5:46
  And we know that if the right dealers and the right industry partners get in the same vicinity, we know innovation is going to move faster, which is one of the reasons we're doing this show- Yeah...
• 5:56
  is because we're committed to helping remove the friction between dealers and industry partners so that innovation can move faster.
• 6:03
  Because every time, you know, uh, somebody doesn't understand what, what a vendor actually does and what their product or service actually is, friction slows us down.
• 6:13
  'Cause you don't know if that's the right fit or not the right fit because you just don't understand what it is. So we're trying to eliminate a lot of that.
• 6:19
  And also-Man, how many, how many solutions have we seen in the last 12 months where vendors have worked together to create a new solution for a dealer? Yeah.
• 6:28
  It, it, it actually, you know, I think I was talking to someone a couple months ago how in, like, '16, '17, '18, '19, '20, right? That, that kind of five-year time period, we saw a lot of desire.
• 6:42
  And even, like, in the, in the event circuit and all that type of stuff, the conversation was all around who's gonna build the one thing to do it all, right? And it, and, and we all know the company that came along.
• 6:56
  Tekion was like, "We're gonna do it," right? And we love the team at Tekion, but I think that there's been a shift over the last couple years recognizing that, that both, like, dealers have m- m- many different needs.
• 7:11
  Like, there's not gonna be one kind of throat to choke on figuring out who's gonna nail it for all dealers- Right... from a technology perspective.
• 7:19
  And then there are different technology partners that own a section of the technology landscape that's really beneficial to actually create these integrations and, and flows between things, right?
• 7:33
  Every- everyone in auto kind of looks towards Salesforce, right? Right. From a tech... And they're like, "Yo, if everyone just did it like Salesforce."
• 7:41
  And what's really interesting about Salesforce is if you buy Salesforce off the shelf, it is not a great product. It's- It's custom development. It's custom development- Right...
• 7:50
  and plugging in different apps and things that move seamlessly within it, you know?
• 7:55
  So just thinking about that from a CRM perspective and, and this transition from we need one platform to do it all to we need martech vendors, and we need system tech vendors, and we need operations tech, and we need all of them to talk to each other and move in and out.
• 8:13
  And that's really what I think, in the end, like, if you could really dive in with dealers, that's what is being asked in this new effort toward collaboration. Right. Def- Which is not a new concept, right?
• 8:25
  You look at companies like Slack- Yeah... Dropbox, any, any SAS company, right? You, you see this example where Slack said, "Hey, we're not gonna be the best at everything.
• 8:36
  One-to-one communication, team communication, that is our thing. We are gonna double, triple, quadruple down on that. But then we're gonna say yes to everything that wants to integrate in with this." Yeah.
• 8:47
  Whether, or Discord or, you know, Dropbox. And, and that's the level I think that we need to anticipate. But it also, it makes me think about, you know, a couple years ago, the, the buzz was disruption. Mm-hmm. Right?
• 8:59
  Everybody was talking about disruption. Um, not, I, I... And I'm convinced. Oh, dear. Is th- this gonna- Oh, boy... go on the other podcast? Oh, boy.
• 9:09
  [laughs] I'm convinced that, that those that were most vocal about the concept of disruption had not even read a single sentence of a single paragraph a, of the thesis of what disruptive innovation actually is- Actually is.
• 9:21
  Mm... as it was authored by Michael Christensen, the, the Harvard, you know, uh, uh... Because it, it wasn't about interruption, which is what everybody positioned it as. Yes.
• 9:33
  "Oh, this is interrupting my way of doing business." No, that's not disruptive innovation.
• 9:37
  Disruptive innovation is seeing, to your point, a little segment of the market that is going unserviced, not very efficiently, and going for it. An example of that is...
• 9:49
  A- and in a way that the incumbent companies, the bigger companies, can't do. Yeah. Right? So you look at, like, um, [ts] Samsung has to sell a $1,200 smartphone. That is their market. They know they can do it.
• 10:01
  That's where they wanna sit. In comes opportunity, a new market segment, like the, the $4 smartphone company in India. What did they do?
• 10:09
  They identified a segment of the market and a need at the bottom s- level of that market that could use that. Next thing you know, they're a g- multi-gabajillion dollar company. Is that a Canadian- Right... factor?
• 10:21
  Gabajillion. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's the Queen's English. [laughs] But you must say it with, um... [laughs] anyways, um. Sorry. Some certain je ne sais quoi. Ah. Right, right, right. C'est.
• 10:31
  A little, a little French with the English- Le, le je ne sais quoi... and the whole nine yards, right? [laughs] Le je ne sais quoi.
• 10:36
  [laughs] Um, and that's, that, that to me is we didn't even understand what disruptive innovation is, and we still, there's so much room for it. The incumbents ought not be afraid by not having to offer it all.
• 10:48
  They should double, triple, quadruple down on the thing they're so good at- Yes... and screw everything else.
• 10:54
  And, and l- there will be market entrants that come in and say, you know, to your point, Kyle, "That's the thing we're gonna focus on. That's the problem we're gonna solve.
• 11:04
  It's down here," but there is boatloads of opportunity. Well, and I think that, that a lot of the effort is recognizing the need for both, right?
• 11:13
  Like, knowing that the, the data sets or the, the, the, the way that these companies that have done it for so long that are, they have to continue doing that way because of tech or because of processes or people or whatever that is, that maybe we can't just, like, throw that out.
• 11:30
  That, that it actually has to allow for these new entrants to connect and collaborate with. And that's gonna actually serve... Because, I mean, you think about it.
• 11:40
  In, in, uh, we literally just were talking to a dealer that resigned their Reynolds contract. Oh, man. Okay. This is painful. But think about that. But think about that. That, that's a massive decision- Yep...
• 11:53
  that they have- Right... to make because- Right... the, the things that stop if you don't have a DMS- Everything is tied to it, yes... like, absolutely wreck your business.
• 12:01
  So that's a five-year commitment now that they're in. Right.
• 12:05
  The volume of tech companies alone that will deal with data, especially with all of the new regulations, over the next five years, the volume that will both be started and grown is, it's obscene, honestly. Right.
• 12:18
  And so-When, when you look at that, like Reynolds has no choice at this point to at least figure out how to allow those to serve the dealer, right? Work together. Did you see, did you see... I'm sure you saw this.
• 12:33
  A couple of weeks ago, uh, Microsoft announces they are no longer supporting Internet Explorer. Yeah. [laughs] I r- I read that headline. I did not see that. Yeah. Yep.
• 12:41
  So I read that headline, and the first thought that went through my, my mind was, "What is the vibe at, like, Reynolds?" [laughs] Oh. [laughs] When senior management force it on all these dealers. Yeah.
• 12:53
  [gasps] It's happened, guys. [laughs] They're just, everybody's walking out with the box. We prepared for this. Yeah. [laughs] We prepared for this.
• 13:00
  I think there's an unreal amount of this type of conversation that is pent up within the minds and the hearts of vendors and dealers across the country. We have the privilege, all of us do, actually.
• 13:13
  And, and I think it'd be good to give people a little bit of a background on each of us. We've been in so many stores. We've seen the back end of so many dealership systems. Um, you all- Well, can, can I...
• 13:25
  Before, before we get to that story, because I, I don't wanna forget the, a piece of the puzzle that a lot of times we don't...
• 13:31
  'Cause I wanna talk about our stories, but a lot of times the, when we start to talk about this, we kind of remove and set off on a shelf somewhere, hoping that it doesn't disturb everything. Right.
• 13:40
  But it's the reason why we're in business, and it's, and it's three letters. It's OEM, or original manu- uh, original equipment manufacturer. The people that actually provide the cars. Right.
• 13:49
  And I think that a lot of times we segment, okay, here's the dealership operations, and this is the tech.
• 13:56
  This is the, these are the thing, the partners that I need, whether it be, you know, con- consultative or technology or any of those partners. And then over here's the OEM.
• 14:04
  And they're messing with some of this, but I don't want them to mess with it.
• 14:07
  And then they've got requirements from a customer experience perspective, and we've got requirements from a customer experience perspective from a dealer side. Mm-hmm.
• 14:16
  And I think there's also needs to be a renewed energy toward that level of collaboration, um, especially with things like EV and agency model and all of those thoughts, which I know th- this...
• 14:29
  We'll, we'll, we'll dive into that a lot, right? A lot of conversations coming on that, for sure. But, but we cannot forget that this is, that that's, that that's three tiers of, of this conversation.
• 14:38
  But I think that the one that we really, really have not done a good job at is asking the consumer the right questions.
• 14:46
  And for me, the right way to collaborate and to innovate is to actually draw all of that together to the table, right?
• 14:56
  Yes, we need industry partners and dealers to be on the same page and collaborate and be partners and not just like, oh, check the box and 30 days later it doesn't work type thing.
• 15:05
  But we need all of these conversations to kind of come to, uh, like, because everyone needs each other to survive- Right... is what the reality is. Yeah, it really is the interdependency of the ecosystem- Yeah...
• 15:19
  is, is the truth, right? That is the one thing. That is the truth, whether who's pointing fingers or who's m- controlling what. The bottom line is everybody needs each other or it doesn't work, right? Yeah.
• 15:29
  And if we don't do what you just suggested, right, bring the consumer voice to the front. One of the ways we've been talking about this a lot is, like, what we're trying to solve together is the consumer experience.
• 15:38
  And when you say that, that's actually the OEM- Yep... the dealers, the tech partners, right? If they can solve, work together, solve the consumer experience, then it doesn't matter who the new entrant is. Exactly.
• 15:51
  But there's such a weak consu- or a fragmented consumer experience. There's all types. Like, when you talk about disruption as being like, "Hey, let's focus on a market segment and go in," right?
• 16:02
  You look at what Carvana did, what Tesla's did and is doing. Right. What they both are. Mm-hmm.
• 16:07
  And that's actually more accurate, I think, to what they're doing, what you described, than kind of the way the industry's been absorbing it. They're trying to come in and take it all. Right. Right. Right?
• 16:16
  I saw Ernie Garcia speak at the Auto- Automotive News Retail Forum in, jeez, probably three years ago now. And I was like, "Is he gonna get lynched?" [laughs] Right? Like, he walks into this room with, like, 700 dealers.
• 16:26
  I was just like, "Popcorn time." But he, he was like, "Look." He's like, "This market is so big. We're shooting for this small, tiny percentage of it." Right.
• 16:35
  And he said, "And what we're trying to do is serve customers in this way, 'cause we think the data shows us this is what they want." Right. And that's what he said. Yeah. He, he didn't say the other things.
• 16:45
  [laughs] Well, and- And so, like, bringing all that together. Yeah. I, I love that you bring it around to customer. Uh, I have this visual I lo- I love to...
• 16:52
  There's an actual cartoon of it somewhere, but it's a tiny little yellow fish being eaten, about to be eaten by a slightly larger orange fish- Mm-hmm... being s- y- you know, a red fish, so on and so forth. Yeah.
• 17:04
  And then the big- biggest of the blue fish says, "Oh man, I don't really like yellow fish," right, the very first fish. [laughs] 'Cause he's gonna consume them all.
• 17:14
  And I use that visual to suggest, hey, you're so worried about Carvana, or you're so worried about whatever one of these companies you love to hate. You love to make them the villain.
• 17:23
  But to your point, he's focused on this little sliver over here, which is he's realized, or they've realized, that the biggest fish is not the company that's bigger than you, the, the company that you think is in, uh, interrupting your business model.
• 17:37
  The biggest fish has always and will always be the consumer. And if you can identify them and solve their problem- Oh, I like that... they're the ones that are gonna eat you for lunch.
• 17:46
  Don't get mad at Carvana 'cause they identified something, or don't get mad- There you go... they're... Y- you know, and so I, I think of it in those terms. And, and the beauty of it is if
• 17:57
  de- dealers, vendors, everyone alike, to your point of everyone needs to kind of come together.
• 18:03
  And, and I love how you say, like, "Hey, this is gonna be an uncomfortable conversation, but it's one that must happen," right? We need to all agree on the fact that it's the customer that is the biggest fish. Mm-hmm.
• 18:13
  That, that they will always be the biggest fish. They, they dictate the direction.
• 18:17
  And, and second to that is that-We already, every one of us, already have every resource we need at our disposal right now to provide the customer with the experience that they want. Like, Uber wasn't like,
• 18:35
  "If only when Jesus descends from the clouds, then we will have what we need." [laughs] No, they were like, "Okay, we didn't invent the internet, but we're gonna use that. We didn't invent smartphones.
• 18:48
  We're gonna use those. We, th- th- those- all these things already exist." Uh, ride sharing, the concept of it already exists. Taxis already exist. People who own cars already exist. Review platforms already exist.
• 18:59
  The rev- All of this... they took all of those existing resources and inse- uh, assembled them in a way that was fresh, new, and made sense to who? The customer. Mm. And we all can do that. We have internet.
• 19:11
  We have websites. We have inventory. We have... I mean, some of us have inven- you know- [laughs]... have time to record. But you know what I mean.
• 19:18
  Like- If you're listening to this in five years, there was a time when no one had inventory. [laughs] Once upon a time. [laughs] Once upon a time, there were, there were nil inventory for sale.
• 19:26
  [laughs] Uh, and so that's, that's the big thing for me. It is, yes, let's all rally around the same beacon, but let's have the meaningful conversation, and that's what we're trying to accomplish here. Yeah, for sure.
• 19:40
  Let's do this. Um, this is about the end of episode 00. We have a lot of interviews with a lot of people and a lot of things to talk about.
• 19:47
  Why don't we just go around and introduce the people to your background, where you came from? So, I know we have some new listeners and wanna make sure everybody's on the same page. Michael, why don't you go first?
• 19:57
  Well, gosh, I mean, I've been in the automotive industry now for, this is my 22nd year. I started when I was 17. Uh, and so, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, do the math. [laughs] I'm 29, guys, okay?
• 20:11
  I, once I turned 29, I stayed 29. [laughs] Oh, wait, that... I was gonna say, that's a rough 29 years, huh? [laughs] You know. And, uh- [laughs] So, and, and I've always been into the marketing side of things.
• 20:26
  I, in- inventory management has been something that I've always been passionate about, and I know that's super unsexy, but it is the nucleus of what drives the, the variable side of the business.
• 20:38
  So that's really where I got my start, um, you know, helping dealers with the inventory side of things, and then that evolved into an agency and, and things of that nature.
• 20:46
  But, you know, I needed a creative outlet because I love this kind of stuff, and I have a past life in the music business and had a little stint there in sound engineering. I know we kind of all share that in common.
• 20:57
  And, and so to kind of break up the monotony of the day, nine and a half years ago, I was like, "I'm gonna start a podcast." This was back when you still had to, like, upload it to your own web host. Oh, wow. Yeah.
• 21:10
  [laughs] Like, there was, iTunes hadn't figured anything out. No. Nope. No. I had to, I had to host everything. I had to create my own RSS feed. Yep. I had to do all that kind of stuff.
• 21:17
  Started this little podcast called The Dealer Playbook. Here we are nine and a half, going on 10 years later. Um, just- Couple people listen to it. Co- couple of people- Just a few...
• 21:25
  listen to it in 70 countries, but that's besides the point.
• 21:28
  [laughs] Um, and, but, you know, what's always inspired me, what's always encouraged me to continue to do that, 'cause you, both of you know, like, people go, "Oh, it's 2022, man. Creating content's the deal." Yeah.
• 21:41
  It is hard. Yeah. It's work. It's wake up, I don't wanna do that interview today. You know, not for the person, just maybe I don't, I don't wanna do the whole setup. Like, you got...
• 21:51
  If people can see the hyperlapse, we'll post it somewhere, of how long it took to just set up this room. Right. It's going through that while you're trying to grow a business.
• 21:59
  Um, but what's been encouraging is exactly that. It's like, hey, there are industry professionals, both on the dealer side and the vendor side, who are listening to this. Yeah.
• 22:09
  Who are engaging with it, who are sending feedback and comments and saying, "Man, you changed the trajectory of my career." Like, and you know, and I know you guys get comments.
• 22:18
  Like, I've, I've witnessed it firsthand at NADA. And that's so encouraging. Not, I, like, zero desire to be famous. Like, this whole a- somebody said auto celebrity to me, and I think I puked in the nearest garbage pail.
• 22:33
  [laughs] You know? It's flattering, but also- But you're never gonna be on Dancing With the Stars. I'm never- Yeah. [laughs] I can do the Carlton. [laughs] But I'm never gonna do it on TV, you know?
• 22:45
  And, and I mean, at the end of the day, look, I put my socks on one at a time like everyone else. I wake up, I ring a bell, the butler comes into my room- [laughs]... opens the curtains. Same way.
• 22:54
  [laughs] Puts, puts one sock at a time. So- [laughs] So that's my story. We do that to current. But, you know, just super excited to be connected with the two of you and doing something fresh like this.
• 23:03
  And tell us about your family really quick. Uh, my family's awesome. Yeah. I have a, I have a wife. Details. My beau- my beautiful wife, Kara, uh, who I'm convinced is blind 'cause [laughs] uh, and three kids.
• 23:15
  Uh, my son Dallin's 13, Tristan is 11, and my daughter Aria is 9. And what, what part of the country are you in? We are, we're in Texas. [laughs] By, by way of? By way of Canada.
• 23:27
  [laughs] Our, our queen, who resides in London. [laughs] Everyone goes Canada to Texas. Ab- That's the normal f- flow, right? Yeah. It's only 108 degrees today where you live. But enough about, enough about me.
• 23:39
  L- talk about yourself. What do you think about me? [laughs] Hold on. Let me hit the pause button. Let me hit the pause button. That's fantastic. Kyle, let's jump to you.
• 23:49
  We got about three minutes left, and then we're gonna let these fine people listening and watching go on their way and go to the first episode. Yeah. So, uh, let's see. I've been in auto since the very last
• 24:01
  week of Cash for Clunkers in 2009. That was your first week? It was my very first week. [laughs] I've never had that contextualized for me.
• 24:07
  [laughs] It was, it was very, very interesting because, uh, I think the second, the second thing I did on my job, the first thing was watch a Jim Ziegler vi- video about why to take the, why to take the rebate and not take the rate.
• 24:20
  [laughs] And then right after that, I, the used car manager comes up and says to me, "Kyle, we need to take some cars to get the blocks freezed." And I was like, "The blocks freezed? What is that?"
• 24:29
  Who's, was that Bill Cosby? What's that? Was Bill Cosby, man? It wasn't Bill Cosby, but- The guy that da, da... Anyway. But so, you know, back, back then, you took it, and they had to, like, freeze the engines. Yep....
• 24:39
  poured the whatever liquid that seized them up and everything. So that was, I was taking those and, like, ran- running all day today. What a weird time. [laughs] Yeah. So that, that was my first week in the business.
• 24:48
  So yeah, that's why I'm still here today. No, I'm just... [laughs] I'm waiting for the comeback. [laughs] Do that again. Yes. So, uh, yeah, so I've been all across dealership operations.
• 24:58
  You know, uh, started in sales, moved all the way through and, and, uh, was on the dealer side for 12 years. Um, started, uh, s- doing some creation.
• 25:07
  Have a little c- podcast called Contagious Conversations, which has been on a brief hiatus, and Michael reminded me the other day that I've left my audience in the dust. [laughs] But, but- Heartless.
• 25:17
  [laughs] No, heartless. But, uh, yeah, so done that.
• 25:20
  Uh, you know, have really s- uh, sunk my teeth into the marketing, uh, arena and, and then recently, you know, Paul, you and I, with, uh, Automotive State of the Union, also have a little bit of a tech company called Auto Genius, building out a, a really cool community and some neat tech on, uh, in, in some of this collaborative effort that, that we're talking about.
• 25:38
  So, uh, I do, I have a family. I have a wife of 12 years, a, uh, s- eight-year-old daughter, six-year-old son, and a four-month-old baby. So, yeah. A wee little baby. Little baby. [laughs] A wee little baby.
• 25:51
  Um, my name's Paul Daly, not that any of it you asked. Throw a J in there just for fun. [laughs] Because the domain- No junior.
• 25:58
  Because the domain name didn't- 'Cause the Paul Daly was some designer in England, which he seemed like he did a really good job dressed like Bono. But... [laughs] That's good. It's, uh, the- That's good...
• 26:06
  the shoe fits. I've been in the industry for, uh, almost 20 years now. Uh, got my first job at a dealership, the first one I ever walked in, when I was in my mid-20s, uh, to be a service writer.
• 26:16
  Started a reconditioning company, built that. Uh, it was acquired by Nit Wizard International. In the middle of that, started creating content mainly for our, uh, team, our company culture.
• 26:26
  Before YouTube, you could stream anything to YouTube, you could not because it wasn't there. So we drove around- Huh... with video cameras and played them at our company parties.
• 26:34
  Um, started an agency, ended up being, uh, a mostly automotive, fully integrated marketing agency called Congruent.
• 26:41
  And then started this little thing called Automotive State of the Union when the pandemic hit and no one knew what the heck to do, but we did it together on a live stream on LinkedIn.
• 26:48
  Thousands of people showed up, and, uh, we just kept going.
• 26:51
  Kyle, you and I met, decided to pour a little fuel on the fire, made it an official company, and, uh, now we spend most of our time just trying to rally dealers, industry partners, and most recently OEMs. Yeah.
• 27:02
  And we're always talking to the consumers every time we're in an Uber or anything like that.
• 27:07
  So we're hoping through this podcast we can gather together, bring more of this energy to you, um, bring more of the, these conversations.
• 27:15
  Hopefully unpack some of the angles that haven't been unpacked yet, and, and get under the surface of the usual things that people say when they're on podcasts. We're gonna ask the tough questions.
• 27:24
  You're gonna hear interviews from each of us, sometimes multiple, uh, a few of us interviewing the same person, and we're gonna give you a little thought and commentary after we think about it for, uh, a little bit, and we're gonna give you a little comeback.
• 27:36
  So it'll be an intro, do an interview, and we'll give you our thoughts, uh, after we digest it a little bit. So thanks for tuning in. We hope you have an amazing time with us on the Auto Collabs podcast.
• 27:46
  We'll talk to you soon with episode one.
• 27:50
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs.
• 28:08
  [laughs] Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] [claps] Are we recording? [laughs] Are we rolling yet? Not yet.