Dan Gill, CPO @Carvana: The Most Wild Story in Public Markets | E1243

Carvana is one of the most wild stories in the public markets. The company IPO’d with a market cap of $2BN before skyrocketing to $60BN, only for the company to lose 99% of it’s value hitting a bottom of $400M market cap. Today the company is stronger than ever and with a market cap of $41BN. Joining us in the hotseat is Dan Gill, Carvana’s CPO, the man who oversees all technology functions, as well as strategic partnerships for the business. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:50) How Did Gymnastics Shape The Approach to Business? (03:20) What’s the Ideal Background for a Product Role? (04:29) Hiring Process (06:31) Was Founding Harder Than Being Carvana’s CPO? (08:58) Top Lessons on Product Prioritization (10:10) How Carvana Achieves Margin Improvement (13:19) How Dan Makes Tough Product Decisions? (16:14) Is Different Always Better in Product Design? (20:27) How To Choose the Right North Star Metric? (23:25) Carvana’s Biggest Product Decision Mistake (26:07) Top Lessons in Product Storytelling & Marketing (28:58) The Best Experience Hurt Margins the Most (31:50) Is Being a CPO Hard When the Product Isn’t Software? (38:49) How Should Founders Use Take-Home Assignments? (41:13) Should New Hires Work on Existing or Neutral Products? (43:25) Does Every Public Company Need an AI Story? (48:08) Are Chinese Car Subsidies a Threat to Carvana’s Business? (50:33) What’s the Most Misunderstood Thing About Carvana? (51:58) Keeping Morale High After a 99% Value Loss? (56:45) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Dan Gill We Discuss: 1. From $60BN to $400M Market Cap: - What did Carvana do that Dan wishes they had not done? - What did Carvana not do that Dan wishes they had done? - How do you maintain morale in a team when the company has lost 99% of it’s value? 2. From $400M Back to $40BN Market Cap: - What have been the core needle movers in Carvana’s market cap surging? - How does the Carvana business model benefit from economies of scale? - How does vertical integration of the different products Carvana sells change the margin structure of the business? 3. The Future of Carvana: - Why does Dan believe there is a massive market for Cavana in selling new cars? - Why does Dan want to move into the peer to peer market, a market where so many before have failed? - Why does Dan think Carvana should sell Chinese cars on the platform if American citizens want to buy them? - What revenue line does Carvana not have today that Dan believes will be the biggest in 10 years time? 4. Product Advice, North Star Metrics, Idea Selection: - What is the product advice that Dan gives more than any other? - How does Dan advise startup founders on how to know they have the right north star metric? What is his framework? - How does Dan advise founders on how to select the right idea to work on? - What is Dan’s prioritisation framework for if an idea will have a larger enough impact and is therefore worthy of being worked on? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Dan Gill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanGill Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #dangill #carvana #product #venturecapital #CPO