Understanding Industry Dynamics

I've been digging into the auto industry since I joined Simpler a few weeks ago and have come to appreciate the complexities of how consumers, dealers, manufacturers, regulators, and software vendors interact with each other. It's been a nice reminder of how important these relationships are in understanding the status quo and the future of the industry.

If you've ever wondered how the car buying experience came to be what it is today, for instance, it's important to understand that dealers, their employees, and manufacturers have a love/hate relationship with each other. This American Life does a great job of laying this out in 129 Cars, a great podcast about a dealership on Long Island trying to hit their monthly sales goal.

There are a lot of reasons why the car buying experience is less than ideal before a customer even shows up on the lot. Manufacturers and dealers squabble over issues like inventory allocation and CSI scores (Customer Service Index, not Crime Scene Investigation). Dealers and their employees game each other every step of the way to pad their paychecks. Monthly goals with huge financial incentives override improving processes and long term strategy. It's a mess.

At Simpler we're interested in data in the auto industry. As a result, we're mapping out the relationships both inside and outside the auto dealership to understand all the moving parts. There are quite a few. Software is moving from on-premise servers to the cloud, regulatory agencies are scrutinizing lending and data privacy practices, hackers are more and more active, and customers are armed with better information. We're excited because where there's change and uncertainty there's opportunity.

Before you start cranking out thousands of lines of code I'd recommend that you follow Mark Suster's words of wisdom to Skate Where the Puck is Going, not where it is today. Identify industry experts, trade organizations, regulators, investors, customers, and vendors to map out the industry landscape. Most importantly, dig into the details to understand all the intricacies. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on, writing on this blog to help organize my thoughts, and am talking, talking, talking to tons of people in the industry.

If you've got other ways to get acquainted with an industry, I'd love to hear about them in the comments!