š How
@throtl started: (Part 1)
The inspiration for throtl was sparked at my bachelor party in 2015. My brother
@rickbeckerman_ ,
@erol.erturk8 , and I were deep in conversation about our passion for cars and the frustration of finding car parts. We often turned to the classified sections of auto forums, which were difficult to search, rife with scams, and incredibly fragmented.
This sparked the initial idea for throtl: a classifieds platform specifically designed for car enthusiasts that would solve these problems. Remember, this was before Facebook Marketplace even existed!
We created a proof of concept for throtl classifieds and launched
@throtl ās social media (Instagram) to spread the word. At the dawn of influencer marketing on IG, we devised a strategy to pay influencers to repost our content, driving traffic and sign-ups to our platform and email list. This was a ton of workā¦i.e: +14 hour days, strategy meetings, phone calls, testing, trying things, breaking thingsā¦The response was phenomenal, with over 50k sign-ups in just six months. Despite generating no revenue, we knew we were on the verge of something significant. We even made it to the app stores top 10 shopping apps at one point!
We then embarked on a fundraising journey, seeking investors who shared our vision. We learned immensely, participating in pitch nights, entrepreneur events, and applying to incubators, all while expanding our social media reach and brand awareness.
As we developed the classifieds, funds dwindled, and at one point, we were out of money entirely, putting the project at risk. To keep the dream alive, we pivoted to selling new parts, allowing us to make a small profit from each sale and leverage the large email list we had built from the classifieds.
In a moment of desperation, we realized we couldnāt afford to pay influencers anymore and needed to become influencers ourselves to grow throtl into the largest automotive retailer brand in the US. This pivotal moment in 2018 marked the beginning of our transformation and this was truly just the beginningā¦
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