When I was in college, I worked at
Extreme Dodge selling cars during the summers. Extreme Dodge is positioned in the centrally located Michigan town of
Jackson (where, not incidentally, I grew up).
Extreme is one of the most technologically advanced dealerships in the nation. We were testing a bunch of cool new dealership software applications while I was there (which was the best part). I'd get to sit in on meetings with software designers, consultants and the leading thinkers in the automotive IT game.
I even got to sit in on one of the first investor meetings of a software start-up called DealerKid which later sold for millions of dollars. I didn't have any money to invest, but when the company eventually sold, one of the owners bought me a Jeep Wrangler for my help (which made college much more fun).
My specialty at the dealership was "Internet Sales".
This was right around the time Chrysler introduced its "GetAQuote" program, through which a car shopper can pick out the car of their dreams on Chrysler's website, enter their Zip code, and get a no-nonsense quote from a real salesman at a real dealership
that actually has the car on the lot. All of this happens in a matter of minutes or hours. In the beginning, a fair amount of my time was spent giving price quotes to 12 year old kids doing school projects (which was fun, but not profitable).
Around this time, my brother and I launched a competing service called ExtremeQuote, but my Internet marketing and entrepreneurial abilities were still in their infancy, and we were unable to drive enough traffic to the site to make the numbers work.
My other early entrepreneurial ventures included starting a company that sold hi-powered attention-getting searchlights to marketers, a company that developed websites for Realtors, and a company that produced specialized instructional materials for employee inservices.
When Acar and I started Penguin it was my fifth company and my first success.
With that background in mind, you'll understand why I was so excited to see that Penn and Teller are now selling cars for Ford Motor Company. Until now, I thought I might have been the magician who had sold the most cars. That title now goes to Penn and Teller!
If you haven't seen them on TV, check out the commercials:
http://www.fordvehicles.com/fordmagic/?bannerid=2334331281695028602010Since I'm on the topic of entrepreneurship, I want to mention two things:
First, I think entrepreneurship is the only way to live. I would encourage, urge, insist and implore anyone who's considering it to GO FOR IT 100% and make it happen. Obviously, most working professional magicians are independent entrepreneurs, so I'm preaching to the choir here on this blog. But, I' m sure some some readers are thinking of making the switch at some point... so I need to say it. In my opinion, there's no other way to live. I work all the time, and I love every moment of it. There's nothing more natural or more human than being an independant entreprenuer.
Second, my experience in business so far has been that when a business fails, it isn't the ideas or the products that fail, it's the people. My first FOUR ventures didn't work out. Each one of those businesses was a great idea with great products, and today there are companies making money doing exactly what I was doing. But, I didn't know how to stay in the fight and battle it out. I gave up too soon. I wasn't comfortable at the edge of catastrophe, and I didn't fight for what I knew was possible. I pulled back resources, minimized risk, and let the businesses fall gently asleep. No investors lost money. I didn't starve to death. My credit wasn't ruined. I wasn't even embarrassed. But, I wasn't a success either.
By the time Acar and I had started Penguin I was different. I had learned how to focus all of my effort and energy like never before, and most importantly I'd learned to STAY IN THE GAME. Now, when we're in the middle of a battle for marketshare or we face personal attacks from competitors, I always think back to my days as a hockey player growing up. I remember exactly what if felt like to look up at the scoreboard late in the second period and be down by a couple of goals. The clock was ticking, my legs were aching, and we had a rough and tough battle ahead. But, many times we'd come away with the victory.
I find my mind drifting to that ice arena again and again... "Come on guys, it's only the second period... lets bare down and get to work. Lets make it happen."
