The Driver Companion App

We're all familiar with the trend -- companies growing ever larger, sucking up all the competition, and destroying the little guy. Because of its sheer size, the automotive aftermarket is a little different. Even though there is no Amazon of auto repair (yet!), independent shops face enormous and growing pressure from chains and especially from dealerships.

As more software is introduced into new vehicles, independent shops are increasingly locked out of business that now goes to dealerships. This is largely due to weak right-to-repair laws and the tricky legal traps that manufacturers use where car buyers don't actually own the whole vehicle. Instead, the manufacturers license the software that manages everything in the vehicle. On top of it all, dealerships almost always have marketing and operating budgets that dwarf that those of the average independent shop.

My vision is for Beep to play a critical part in evening the playing ground for independent shops:

• Attracting a large base of consumer users we can offer a receptive audience for shops to market to when they are most receptive -- that is, when they are approaching a service milestone or have an unscheduled repair need.

• Providing sensible repair financing that actually attracts and retains good customers rather than bringing in desperate people who never become repeat customers

• Pooling credit card processing fees to lower payment processing costs

• Powering service subscription products that let you presell work and guarantee repeat visits

• Building a loyalty ecosystem where you can incentivize customers to invest in building a long relationship with you

I am passionate about personal mobility, and especially cars in particular. I come from a family deeply rooted in the car business. My grandfather owned a used car lot. My dad and uncles spent their youth there buying, selling, and repairing them. They all eventually embarked on successful professional careers, but on the way there each one of them supported themselves at one time or another fixing or flipping cars. I myself have been wrenching on cars (and everything else) for as long as I can recall.

As ever-greater attention focuses on the environmental impact of our modern lives, it is far too easy to forget the social good that personal vehicles provide. Personal mobility and economic mobility have always been intertwined. Social mobility first requires basic mobility. And mobility leads to opportunity.

This fact is more evident than ever in today’s gig economy. An unprecedented number of people rely on their personal vehicles to earn a living. And affordably keeping those vehicles in safe operating condition is an absolute necessity for putting food on the table.

My vision for Beep is to remove the confusing and chaotic experience of maintaining and repairing a vehicle. Everything from basic awareness of maintenance needs, finding reputable service providers, keeping records, maximizing value for dollars spent to simply being able to afford a surprise repair will be manageable in one place.

I envision a smooth, integrated consumer experience that saves consumers time and money.

Hi. I'm Sean. And this is project is the result of a lot of thought and observations around the experience of owning a car and the service industry that helps keep them on the road.

Beep is a mobile app designed to make car ownership simpler and cheaper. Features include:

• Trip tracking and reporting
• Vehicle intelligence
• Predictive maintenance
• Service subscriptions
• Repair financing
• Loyalty rewards

It automatically generates expense and tax reports for reimbursements or deductions.

It learns your driving patterns and alerts you to adverse traffic conditions before your expected drive, warning you if you need to leave a few minutes early in order to keep to your usual schedule.

It keeps track of all your service and predicts when the next service is due based on your driving.

When it comes time for service, Beep helps you find a service provider, and even schedule an appointment.

When service is complete, you can pay from within the app. You can even finance repair bills with a nearly instantaneous approval process.

You can even pre-purchase maintenance packages at steep discounts from participating service providers.

Finally, each payment you make through Beep racks up loyalty points. You can use these with any provider participating on Beep, and get double value when getting service from the provider where you initially earned the points.

My goal is to deliver a single app that eliminates the biggest hassles for car owners. And saves them tons of cash!