Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest today is Ernie Garcia, co-founder and CEO of online used car platform, Carvana. Ernie launched Carvana in 2012, and less than a decade later, the business commands a $60 billion valuation while selling a used car every other minute. Our conversation covers a lot of ground. We discuss effective decision making, what it means to be a long-term thinker, and what Ernie sees as the defining features of attractive markets. We then went deep on Carvana itself, covering the original insight, logistics operations, and counter-intuitive decisions Carvana took as they set about building their brand. I think you'll find Ernie's insights and energy infectious. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Carvana CEO, Ernie Garcia.
Culture & Decision Making
Patrick
Ernie, I've been toying with where to begin our discussion. And when we talked on the phone last, there was this great idea of comparing this, I think you call it physics envy that investors have trying to always cramp things into formulas. One powerful formula in investing is this concept of seven powers, how is your company competitively advantaged versus others? And you said this really interesting line, which is that really what's important is the average decision quality inside of a business. And I'd love to start there, what that concept means to you, average decision quality, and how you as a leader think about engendering that into the culture of the business.