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sequential enterpriser Scott Painter ’s program to build an all - galvanic fomite subscription company call Autonomy has not exercise out . So he ’s pivoting once again to what he calls the “ hard build ” of his career .
While Autonomy will continue operating the modest 1,000 - car fleet it get together over the last few years — far from the stated destination of 23,000 — Painter is spinning out a novel company hollo Autonomy Data Services , or ADS , he tell TechCrunch in an exclusive consultation .
That new companionship will provide a software platform and data point to automakers who require to operate their own subscription armed service for galvanizing , flatulency , fresh , or even used cars . cougar also aver he ’s in talks with railroad car dealer , fleet operators , and even companies that sell construction and farm equipment but might require to offer subscriptions . He enunciate an early version of the service is already generate tax revenue .
Painter say ADS is talk terms with multiple automakers , admit three that have already scarper their own subscription service in the past . The company is partner with Deloitte to launch the service ; ADS will get a revenue plowshare as the software - as - a - service provider , while Deloitte will saddle the automakers ( or other customers ) to tailor-make the platform .
It ’s yet another reversal for Painter , who has had a rocky few years . After stepping down as chief executive officer of motorcar retailer TrueCar in 2015 ( a caller he founded in 2005 ) , he created car leasing startup Fair , which received over $ 300 million from SoftBank . That endedpoorly , with early investors accusing SoftBank of drive the company into the ground and Painter ultimately stepping down as chairperson in 2021 .
His latest pivot did n’t come prosperous , either .
To make all this hap in the first place , Painter had to win over Autonomy ’s investors , some of whom were submersed after the subscription service never took off as call .
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“ Our lenders had what ’s called aged secured status ; they could have killed the caller and tried to liquidate the fleet ” to get some of their money back , he says . But he make for with them to exchange $ 32 million Charles Frederick Worth of debt in Autonomy into fairness in ADS .
He also allege he had to “ in person jab deep , ” including sell a $ 6 million beach firm on the Pacific Coast Highway , mortgaging another holding , and “ selling a lot of assets that I did n’t want to sell . ”
“ It has been the grueling build I ’ve ever had as an entrepreneur , ” he says , describing the whole process as “ hug the cactus . ”
A six-figure acquisition for data
Autonomy was already struggling last twelvemonth when Elon Musk ’s aggressive price - turn off destroyedthe value of the modest fleet , which was mostly Teslas . ( Painter , who knows Musk personally , aver he has tried “ to impress upon Elon how crucial it is to be more predictable about discounting ” to no avail . )
The problem this time around is that most every major automaker has already adjudicate subscription services . And almost every single one of them walked away from the idea .
Without that entropy , Painter argues , it ’s really hard to figure out pricing , and so automakers charge a lot for their subscription services – something that scared away buyers .
That form of information is one of the affair he plan to offer with ADS . And it ’s not just come from the Autonomy customers . Painter quietly bought up the plus of bankrupt used car marketplace Shift Technologies originally this year for less than a million dollars . In the geezerhood leading up to its collapse , Shift had purchase Painter ’s former automobile - leasing startup Fair , which itself had previously acquired Ford ’s subscription inspection and repair Canvas — bring the remnants of his former business back under his possession — and Uber’sleasing serviceXchange .
The information from all of those companies can be used to predict “ how long people stay in cars base on their customer cohort , what their FICO mark is , how much income they have , so on and so forth , ” Painter says . This is important not just because it pop the question sure thing , but because the flexibleness of subscription services is attractive to customers with lower credit score .
In addition to the client datum , Painter says he got all the source code , patents , trademarks and abidance and sound “ employment product ” from those defunct businesses , which he says should make it very easy for ADS to get up and running with customers in raw markets .
In all , he order he get more than a terabyte , jokingly calling it an “ amazing avalanche of s—. ”
“ My IT guy wire were just like , what are you going to do with all this stuff ? It just maintain come , ” he says . But , he points out , the companies that generate all this data point “ spend almost a billion dollars collectively developing software ” that he now owns and is using at ADS .
“ I mean , when [ SoftBank chief operating officer ] Masayoshi Son finds out that I was able to buy all of the Fair IP and assets for less than a million dollars , it ’s just , I intend , it ’s gon na just belt down him , ” he jokes .
And while he ’s amass $ 2.5 million to fund the endeavor , the work is not done . “ We ’ve done everything that we had to do to make [ ADS ] an investable business . Right now we ’re just looking for an equity partner that will number in for somewhere between $ 5 [ million ] and $ 8 million , ” he enounce . “ That ’ll give the company two years of rail to then continue to scale with Deloitte . ”
