029 - Nicky Hinrichsen & Chris Coleman

Today, I had the pleasure of talking to Nicky Hinrichsen and Chris Coleman, who went to Stanford Business School and started a venture-backed company called Carlypso in 2013. Working on building the “Amazon for used cars,” the two founders went through Y Combinator in 2014, raised $10 million in venture capital by 2015, and successfully sold the business to Carvana in 2017.

Like true entrepreneurs, Chris and Nicky are now working on their next venture called WithClutch www.withclutch.com. The co-founders discovered that auto loan rates are all over the map, and they built a refinance calculator that allows car owners to reduce their monthly payments and save thousands in just minutes.

Time Stamps

0:06:28 – Nicky & Chris’ meeting

0:11:57 – Two stages of a startup: (1) finding value (2) scaling

0:15:37 – Nicky & Chris’ experience at Y Combinator

0:22:42 – What it was like to build the technology as semi-technical co-founders

0:27:17 – Evaluating technical talent outside of your comfort zone

0:39:56 – Things that don’t scale: chasing a stolen car down the highway

0:45:47 – Developing the hustler mentality and structuring processes that worked for them psychologically

0:50:11 – Lessons on hiring, firing, and job inertia

0:57:30 – The Co-Founder relationship: what Nicky and Chris got right

1:03:48 – Nicky’s confrontation with a copycat

1:06:28 – Creating a culture of candor

1:08:26 – “Touchy Feely” at Stanford GSB

1:11:06 – Things they’d whisper in their own ears: some lessons are best hard-learned, it’s important to take time off, it’s good to form an informal advisory board, be easier on yourself when you miss high bars

1:13:30 – Books: ( www.strategychainpodcast.com/support ) Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss (and an example), High Output Management by Andy Grove

1:18:00 – Where to connect with Nicky and Chris: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-hinrichsen-7b33874a/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-coleman-a316696/

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