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39:14
Company
manheim.com
Manheim is a big company in the used-car world, especially for auctions. Back then, dealers were starting to use websites and software to manage buying and selling.
Company
true car
TrueCar is an automotive shopping platform that historically focused on helping consumers find pricing and offers from dealers. Mentioning it in the context of the speaker’s career points to the broader shift toward online dealer-to-buyer sales tools.
Company
AutoTrader
AutoTrader is a well-known automotive marketplace brand focused on connecting buyers and sellers. The host mentions working there after Manheim, highlighting how dealer-focused software and listings became a major part of the used-car ecosystem.
Topic
luck is where opportunity meets preparedness
This is a personal-development idea the guest uses to explain career success: luck matters, but only when you’re ready to act on an opportunity. In the episode context, it frames how early internet-era dealer software work led to later career moves.
LIVE
Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast. This brew has been brought to you by Certified
Solutionaries and if you want to consume more brews or want more information about how to
build your brand on our podcast and want to see how you can sponsor the brew, go to CarGuyCoffee.com.
Let's brew! What's going on, CarGuy's and CarGuy's? It's Lou Ramirez. And it's Fred Lynn Arts.
And we'd like to welcome you to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast where we are brewing solutions. Of course
you already know we are on a quest to brew with the best and today we are doing no less. So get
yourselves ready to have a great conversation with one of the smartest people in automotive. One of
the smartest people I've ever seen rock a microphone on a stage at any of the many conventions that we
get to go to. I am so thankful and so honored for this opportunity to upgrade the quality of our brew.
What about you, Fred? I'm always excited about opportunities like this. We've seen Steve speak
on stages. We've seen him do donations to people to be able to help scholarships go through some
great organizations like Wokan. The way that he's just such a gentleman inside the automotive industry,
the way that he shares that just wanting to make sure that this industry gets better,
that's the quest we're on, man. We're on a quest to brew with the best and literally he's one of
the best out there. Period. Hands down, making sure that all of us have opportunities in the
future to be better at what we do. And I love it, man. And the more that he does it, the more that
we get to know him, the more that I get to really like this guy. I can't wait to learn this about
him. Having him here on a five liner is a huge honor for us just because I can't wait to learn
these things about him. What makes him tick, his purposes, all those things in these five questions
that we're going to be dropping today that I absolutely love learning about people. We've
been doing this now for six years, Lou, these questions and we have so much data on that.
I guarantee if we put all this data together with all the successful and honorable people that we've
been able to have on the show and host hundreds of them, right? And just so many of these shows that
man, I guarantee there's a common ground between all these people, but I guarantee Steve's got some
curve balls that we're going to get. We're going to be like, wow, that's dynamite. So I'm excited,
brother. Yeah, I'm pumped up to add to what I feel like should be a book one day, should ultimately
be released just the five liner. And then each chapter is just the five liner on each guess
that we have. I don't know. It's an idea. Drop it in the comments if you think we should actually
do that. If you have been a five liner candidate upgrading the quality of our brew, let us know
if you want us to actually release that and basically just transcribe what's happening right here.
But with that, everybody, we want to be able to make sure that we do put a marker out there that
things have all gotten different since we got this solutionary onto the show. I already know
he's going to upgrade it. I already know he's going to inspire those that are listening and
watching this, but we want to make sure more are part of the party. So let's get people inside of
this cafe and tag a car guy, gal and share, share. Let's get this
out there. Let's get some people in here, folks. We're going to be asking these five questions and
these are notes that you should be taking. I've never sat down and listened to Steve speak and
not taking notes. If you look across the room, everybody's eyes on ears open, just what is
going on? What does he generate to tell us? And he dropped some great stuff. There's never been
one talk, not what I've seen him speak at least five times. And every one of those times I've
seen him speak has been about something different. That's what I love about it the most. It's so
dynamic, man, but it's always the same thing. It's about the betterment. So let's go, Lou. Let's
make this happen. So while we're getting other people inside of the party, whether you're watching
this on the replay or you're watching this live or you're listening on the podcast, make yourself
prepared for a fresh five liner that's coming in hot. Ladies and gentlemen, help us to make
welcome the one, the only Steve Greenfield. Guys, it's good to be here. What a buildup. No
expectations at all, huh? We do. We do really honor you. We do really appreciate you being able
to take the time. We know how busy you are and we are so thankful just for the chance to be able to
learn a little bit more from you, have the time to welcome you into our cafe and celebrate somebody
that is making some great things happen inside of automotive and then we truly honor listening to
inside of this convention world, inside of the automotive industry. You have some voices that
can be tuned out because they're always saying the same thing and they're not really saying anything.
But you insistently say something fresh, which of course us car guys that love our coffee love it
when it's fresh, but you also say things that are insightful and that can help other people pivot
when they leave there. It's one thing for you to sit inside of an audience and leave the same way.
Think the same way that you thought before a session began. I am convicted and convinced
that when people leave a session that they are listening to watching or replaying with you,
they are different. They are at least taken to a provocation that helps them to think
on different levels and they thought before. We just thank you. We honor that and we definitely
want to welcome you for a good conversation and a cup of car guy coffee. So welcome to the party.
Indeed. Thanks guys and right back at you. You guys do a great job for the industry.
Really appreciate the opportunity to be on today and hopefully there's one of many
and I'll try not to disappoint, but do really appreciate everything that you guys do for the
industry. We appreciate that honor back and I think that the more that we can uplift each other,
the more the better the industry is going to be and we're thankful for that and we are. We're
thankful to have you here. We definitely would love to learn a little bit more about you personally,
but if anybody who's watching this show doesn't know who you are, can you tell everybody a little
bit about yourself real quick? Yeah, 25 years in the industry, six years ago decided to start a
venture capital firm. So now we're investing early stage, trying to find entrepreneurs around the
world, not only in the US who are doing anything in automotive or broader mobility, innovating,
trying to solve really big problems and we make a small investment as early as possible.
That's amazing. In the tech space in automotive, it's been expanding and there's so many great
ideas and so much innovation happening right now and I'm sure you must be super excited. You jumped
in right at the right time for all this because there's so many opportunities for you to be
an investor with some companies that are on their way to something really amazing,
really some big transitions happening. So thank you for that. Excited 25 plus years,
that's pretty big. So Lou and I, similar years in the automotive industry, seeing a lot of crazy
things and I know that you have had some great perspective and how this industry can do all
these crazy floating things, but how resilient we are here in this car business. So excited to
talk to you a little bit more about that, but our very first question is a very simple question,
but yet deep, right? It's your why. We ask the why because we believe that's where it all starts.
I think if we all have a really solid why, a purpose, we get really far in life and we can
go further because we get through things that we don't normally want to push through. What is yours?
Yeah, I feel like a lot of us in the industry just really very thankful that the industry found
me, right? 25 years ago, I knew nothing about automotive whatsoever and here I am 25 years later
and every year it gets more interesting for a lot of the reasons that you said,
which is it gets more complex, there's more technology, etc. But at the end of the day,
there's a couple of things, right? One, it's probably the most important industry in America,
moving people around, getting people to work, the soccer games on the weekends,
etc. It's pivotal to people and how they live. Two, it's a very human centric business, right?
So it's really human selling cars to humans and servicing cars. It's human to human interaction.
So all of this is, it's a very important industry, maybe the most important in America.
It's an important part of everyone's lives that we provide for them and there's never a dull moment.
Everywhere you look, there's opportunities to fix things and I kind of fixing problems or looking
at puzzles to fix and with every passing year, there's actually been, it seems more problems
to fix than there were the year previous. So it's never a dull moment in automotive.
Never is, never is, especially when there's so many vocal people in automotive. To be
in automotive, you have to have some sort of a communicative spirit to you where you want to
get things out, whether you're diagnosing something or you're closing something.
One way or another, we are communicators in this industry and it is always exciting
when you have something new and you have something fresh to be able to give your attention to
and you are staying at the tip of that sphere, finding that fresher, that newer, that, that
hottest thing that's out there to be able to invest in and that's an awesome position to be able to
be in looking for the opportunity, gold, light and then being able
to not just commentate on it, not just write an article about it, but really put your money
where your mouth is. If it inspires you, you put your money out there and that's,
that's exciting for anybody in the industry. I hope your ears are perking up for those of you
that are creators and got some ideas out there. In fact, so much information, looking at your
resume, going through and seeing all the different places you've been, spoke, but more importantly,
different parts of the industry that you've been part of, everything from starting Manheim and
working your way through Viado. You can keep naming, name dropping some big companies, y'all.
Just saying, he's been part of a lot of big things and seen a lot of different transitions
and shifts. So you have a great perspective on all that, but it's really huge. Automotive is big,
but I know I can't wait for the next question because I know that this industry isn't something
that most people choose, but yet when we get here, we fall in love with it and we can't leave it.
I've been stuck. I don't, once in my career, maybe I was like, I'm going to leave and go do
something else, but then I realized I love this too much. This is where my heart is and I absolutely
love the people love it. And the more that I'm out there networking, the more I love it. The more
that I'm seeing that there's greatness in this industry and there's even more greatness just
if you go look for it and then we could start sharing it. That's why the show matters to Lou
and I so much because we want to share the greatness of automotive and really let people see that.
So it's a blessing. And this, so this industry though is considered, oh, I don't want to be
part of this industry yet. It is such an important one. Like you said a moment ago, it's not the
most important thing out there because it does provide so much peace for people having something
reliable, what the jobs even I can keep going on and on what automotive does even just inside my
family. But I know that it doesn't touch, right? There's not many factories. big,
big buildings, big places that don't have parking lots, right? That aren't filled with places for
people to put their transportation solution in a place for them to wait until they need it again.
So us transportation problem solvers in any shape or form that we are inside of this industry, we
touch all industries. And that's why getting the information from people like you that are in this
industry that do touch the industry also, it's very important because sometimes we can get jaded.
And you did say, hey, automotive chose you. But the thing is we choose automotive every day, right?
It may have found us and we may have found our way here. But for those of you that are listening,
whether you're a manager, you're a sales pro, you're a mechanic or you're a service advisor,
there's been plenty of days where you woke up and said, I am really having to choose to stay
going here today. Some people, they go through that depending on which payday it was, whether
it was the mid month payday, and it wasn't quite what they wanted. And they're like, do I still
choose this job? And then all of a sudden they get the big payday. And they're like, man, I choose
this for life. I'm a lifer, right? All of those different spectrums that we find ourselves on,
it still is something that at the end of the day, we choose to be a part of. And you, Steve,
you take it to another level. It's not just your time, your effort in your career that you invest in.
You literally invest in this industry and you make a calculated choice to continue to advance
this industry by way of other people, their dreams, their ideas and their contribution.
And that's something we greatly respect. But on an origin side of things, being the superhero that
you are in the industry to so many of us, what is it that actually brought you into this universe?
What brought you to automotive?
Yeah, it's a good story. I remember distinctively getting a phone call. I was living up in Toronto,
where I'm from originally, and I got a call from one of my buddies from high school,
and he was working at an auto auction as a systems admin person, like a computer person.
And he got a phone call saying, hey, they're hiring for this new position. It's a technology
manager, and you're going to be selling software to car dealers. And this is back in 1999, right?
So the very beginning of the internet. And I was, I don't know anything about dealers. I know nothing
about auto and I don't know nothing about sales. So I don't know how I'll be good. But I went in
an interview and got the job. And literally it was selling software to car dealers access to a
website, manheim.com, which at the time was like $50 a month. And I did well at it enough that
after three months, I got the phone call from Atlanta from the headquarters saying, what are
you doing up there? You're out selling all of our other 89 locations in North America. And by the
end of the call, they said, would you ever think about relocating down to the US? So took the
opportunity, thankfully, and manheim sponsored me to come down to the US. And the rest is kind
of history spent 10 years with manheim, five years with auto trader, a couple of years with true car.
But if it wasn't for that fateful phone call from my buddy from high school, I never would have been
here. Wow. What a story. That's an amazing story and thankful for your buddy. What's his name?
John Scarf. He's out there somewhere. I'll make sure I send this.
Thank you, John Scarf. Without you, I would not be here.
Thank you for that big thumbs up right person to call that day for that. But you know, what
a great opportunity. What do you think? What was it? What was the difference between you and
everyone else that was out there doing it? Because there was something that you were doing that they
weren't doing. Maybe it was consistency. actually showing value. I don't know. But
what do you think it was? I don't think I'm different than anyone else. I think that I've
always liked the saying that luck is where opportunity meets preparedness. So you can't get
luck in life unless there's an opportunity, but you got to be prepared to seize on the opportunity
when it presents itself. And I think all of us can look back and there's probably five. I asked
you guys, there's five times in your life where you came to a crossroads and you're like, what do
I do? It could have been a mentor that dangled a juicy opportunity in front of you for a promotion.
It could have been someone recruiting you to a different job somewhere, whatever it is.
But you think back, why was this opportunity presented to me? And sometimes it's all external,
but quite often it's because you worked your butt off and you exceeded expectations in your role.
And someone out there said, I really think that whoever, Steve or anybody else is doing a great
job consistently every day overperforming and you then unlock opportunities. It's almost like a
video game, right? So if you work hard and keep your head down, you unlock the opportunity to get
to the next level. And some of that is, yes, the opportunity has to present itself, but a lot of
it is self-motivated. And if you are prepared, then when that opportunity presents itself,
you can one, you can see it for what it is. Hey, this is a great opportunity,
but if you've prepared yourself, you're ready to jump at it. Even if you think you're not quite
ready, you've prepared enough that you're like, I got to take the chance. I got to take the shot.
And I got to try to get unlocked to the next level. So I really like that saying, I think
about that saying a lot. And so I don't think I'm any different than anyone else, but I do think
about how you constantly get prepared for whatever that next opportunity is, if and when it presents
itself. That's so strong. That is so true. And that confidence comes from preparedness. You're
right. And when you are, we literally just had a sales meeting with the team and we talked about
how that confidence grows when you are prepared. It doesn't matter what the situation is. It could
be something you never even heard of before. But when you're prepared, you're confident. And when
people see that confidence, people want more of it. And that's where it really comes from. But it
is, that's amazing that you talk about that when you said mentor, that word is a huge word in our
world. And matter of fact, it leads right into our next question. That's so wild. We all come up in
this game, you have been blessed to be meant a mentor to many to include Lou and I, whether you
know this or not, we watch what a lot what you're doing. And it's amazing what you've done for our
industry and where you're still doing and where you're going with it, right? And I keep following
I got to learn more. But mentors are a big part being a mentor is huge. Matter of fact, Lou and I
are going to be at the women and automotive thing talking about what to look for when you're looking
for a mentor. That's great. Or sponsor, right? It's huge conversation to have. And it's a huge part
to a big part to be. So along the way for you, Steve, I know that you've been a mentor to many,
but I'm sure you've had mentors that have guided you giving you those opportunities that you were
like, yes, who have been some of those mentors for you? Yeah, most of them have been bosses,
right, that I've had. We've all had our cast of good bosses and bad bosses. And when I talked to
people that I'm mentoring, I said, you can learn more from a bad boss than a good boss, right? The
way I look at bosses is as you evolve in life, you kind of think through, what do I want to be
when I'm managing people? What role do I want to play? And you look at the bad bosses and you can
say those are certain traits that I want to stay away from. And then if you're lucky enough to have
good bosses, you can say those are definitely traits that I want to adopt for myself. And so
like a puzzle, you're assembling all the different pieces to say, be more of what you want to be
and be less of the folks that you've come across and had spent time within life that are energy
drainers that take energy away from you or don't provide you opportunities. So I think most of them
have been bosses, but I'll say this trait, which I've really respected and I've tried to emulate,
almost never in life, when those opportunities present themselves,
does a person feel that they're ready? There's always self doubt, right? You're always like,
I'm not ready for this role. I'm not qualified for this role. I can't do the role, etc. But then
you think like other human beings have lived on this earth that have done great things. And what's
different between them and me, if not just for motivation and just raw effort, the good bosses
in life, the good mentors in life, find someone who's got just raw potential and are willing to
take a chance on them. And I kind of liken it to, Hey, we're going to throw you in the deep end of
the pool and you're going to feel like I can't swim and I'm going to drown. But just know that
as a mentor, I'm going to be there for you. I'm going to keep an eye on you. If you ever need me
to reach out and help you, I will be there. But this is actually healthy for you to get in there
and feel like you can accomplish it and figure it out for yourself and shorten your own path.
But a good mentor always keeps a watchful eye. It's like a parent with a child, right?
You're keeping an eye on them. They don't know you're watching them, but you're watching them
to make sure that they're out of harm's way. But you let them figure out their own path in life.
And I think that that's the strength of a great mentor is one appreciating the strengths that
somebody has, but giving them opportunities that they might not otherwise ever think that
they were qualified for. And then throwing them in the deep end, but keeping a close eye on them
to lend a helpful hand only if and when they need it.
So who were the more of those people to you?
I think it starts with my mother, right? My mother, who I'm going to see here in a couple
of weeks is still up in Canada. And she probably had the biggest imprint on me. But like I say,
my first boss that hired me at that first role at Mannheim, Toronto, the Toronto Auto Auctions,
the location up there, he had the faith in me to say when there was an opportunity for me to go
to the US, he could have easily said, nope, we want to keep them here, et cetera. But he encouraged
me to take the role in the US where I didn't know I was moving into a new country. I didn't know
anyone in Atlanta. I had no idea if I was going to be able to do the role, but he had faith in me.
And then a number of bosses that I had throughout my career who saw how hard I was willing to work
and said, okay, look, if you're willing to work this hard, let me give you some guidance in terms
of what success might look like and offer me up the next role ahead of me. When I didn't think
I was prepared. So I appreciate all these people in my life. And trust me, not all my bosses were
great. A lot of them would be more than happy to keep me in my role because I was performing well
and never give me an opportunity to expand and expand my wings. But there were enough of them
that gave me the opportunity. And when I saw those opportunities, I said, what do I have to lose?
Let me go seize on the opportunity and grab it and go for it and just make sure they over-performed
whatever that next role was. Because the end, you still have the people that are mentoring you.
Even if you lose the opportunity, even if you miss the shot, you still have them there still
with you. And that is a key piece for those of you that are listening and considering your mentor.
And is this a person, a mentor in my life? And can they be sometimes? And I love that you highlighted
we learned so much from the bad bosses or the bad. Because there is, there's so much of our style
that we attain in the way we do things from you brought up mama, from the way that our parents
raise us, whether we incorporate that, those traditions, those disciplines into the way that
we raise our children, or we completely abandon some of them, right? Whatever the case is, we're
using everything that gets grinded and put inside of the filter, right? And then the heat of life
extracts the different things out of it that gives us that quality of who it is that we are.
The specific taste that makes us is the good and the bad. Everybody don't waste any of that.
But when considering a mentor, they have to be more concerned about your well-being and your
growth than they are their reputation. They have to be more considering about whether you're going
to succeed and whether you believe in yourself, then they need to be about whether you as the
mentor believe in them. Too many times I see too many mentors try to convince the one that's already
following them why they should be following them. And they're already following them, right?
You should be teaching them how to march out. The Bible says train your child up in the way that
they should go, right? Not in the way that you chose to go, not in the way that you're
necessarily going, but in the way that you should go. And I absolutely love that you
highlighted that. Alana jumps up in here and she says, I feel very lucky to get to be managed by
my biggest mentor in the world. This is so important. I absolutely love that. That blesses our heart
because we got our girls in our life. And that's her father is the owner of the dealership and is
a great mentor to her. And we do definitely honor that. And we got a few other people in here that
mentor us from afar. Jim Fitzpatrick is up in here saying the best podcast in automotive. Thank you.
Thanks, Jim. I appreciate you, brother. CBT News, the place that you get all your news in automotive.
Let's go CBT. Love you guys over there, man. Jim's amazing. And again, I'm going to keep talking about
he's a great dancer too. I'm going to take him out on a dance floor. Canadians are so nice. And
that's the facts. That is the truth. Every Canadian I know is a great person, right? Just so kind to
us and just so kind to the world. And I appreciate you again for being here talking about mentors.
It is big. I'm glad we struck on that. Shout out to mamas around the world that are great mentors.
I know my mother is a great one also. I'm very blessed. Jim put some laugh and faces. Thank you,
Jim. Love you, brother. But yeah, but it's big to have those mentors, Lou. But that also leads
to the very next question. The mentors in our life help us to guide through some of the victories,
help us to stay grounded inside of some of those victories because that's sometimes our success
is the thing that cuts out our legs from underneath us, right? And it's so very important.
What's up, Alan? Love you, brother. One of our favorites. Oh, gee, in the business and
the U.S. absolutely love it. So of course, we're crossing many ponds here and we're international
today. International show. Love it. Love it. You got to get that international brew. Once again,
Cargai Coffee is available at CargaiCoffee.com. You can get the Guatemalan or you can get the
Italian Euro roast. Get you some of that. Get you some of that. As we learn that those mentors
are in our life for the good times, they're also there when things absolutely implode,
blow up, whatever the case is, and things fall apart. And usually we second guess ourselves.
We second guess the direction we're going in or we don't take the next leap or we get,
or we chicken out or we just lose that confidence because of these things that
happen in our life. But for you, Steve, what would you say up to now? What has been the hardest
lesson you've had to learn? Wow, that's a tough one. I think it's self-doubt, right? I think it's
self-doubt. I think that as we go through life, the challenge is, and Alan and I who just commented,
I've had this conversation recently, right? It's like, it's quite often in life,
you get these stages where it's pretty lonely and you feel all alone and you have a lot of
self-doubt. Am I worthy for this role? Am I failing at this role? And I think the self-doubt is hard
and a lot of people just feel like, oh, I just got to grind through it and push through it,
right? That's the healthiest thing. Suck it up. We'll work harder or whatever. I don't think
that's exactly right. I think that we're all human and we crave connection. And I think that I read
a book recently that said, there are three things that matter to humans. Survival, connectivity,
and status. Survival, connectivity, and status. So I think a lot about that and saying, okay,
hopefully we aren't worrying any longer about our survival. Day to day, I don't worry that I'm going
to die. I will die one day and I've accepted that, but I don't worry that someone's going to break
into my house and kill me or that a meteorite's going to land on my roof and kill me or whatever.
So I don't worry any longer about survival, but the other thing is connectivity and status,
I think about a lot, right? And the human nature is that we crave connectivity with other humans.
I think that with social media and COVID and everything else, it's far too easy to retract
into our isolation and not interact with folks. So I think it's very important to either have
conversations like this or go to conferences where you meet other folks, etc. And I think to
answer your question, it's more about the self-doubt that I've had in life. And I think, like I say,
it's not healthy to sit there and say, I'm going to figure it out myself. It is important to have
people in your life like Alan and you guys and others within the industry to be able to reach
out and have a sense of community. And I think that's probably the most important role that you
guys are playing is the fact that all of your followers over time feel the sense of connectivity
to you guys, but also maybe more importantly to each other. Because when you have those moments
in life where it's hard and you have self-doubt, who do you turn to? Because sometimes you can
turn to your spouse, right? Or other people, family members, but quite often they can't really
understand. And the one thing that's good about the community with an automotive is everyone
understands, they understand what we're dealing with. So I think it's very important, especially
like I said, at this day and age where it's far too easy to become isolated into your echo chamber
of staying at home and watching social media to make sure that you've got connective tissue
to other people who are in the industry with you, who hopefully have been on the same journey that
you've been on maybe further along. So they've got perspective that you can reach out to at those
moments in your life where you've got the most self-doubt. And I think that's the important part
of the community, the automotive community that you guys are building. Wow. What a really deep
thing to get into right there. And it's the truth. And I absolutely love what you just said. That's
a really amazing answer. And that's something that we need to talk about more. And matter of fact,
Alan, if you're still watching, we need to get you on the show to talk about your cause more too.
That just reminded me of that. You should. You should definitely do that because he's got a great
story to tell. He does have a great story. We've been blessed to have many conversations with him
more recently, his really open conversation about life. And we definitely want to make sure that
gets shared because us men, especially we're so proud, we don't ask for that help. Like you said,
we tend to try to do it all ourselves, put all that pressure on ourselves way too much.
And when we have the network, when we have friends that are willing to jump in and help,
we just sometimes forget that. And we need to be reminded of that. And it's really important
that we do that, especially a good old tough Australian like Alan, right? He doesn't. And
I love that that he's out there cheering that on right now and spreading that news. So we're
going to make sure that happens. But thank you for bringing that up very much. So with that,
there is a small tension, which is good. Tension is very good inside of two seemingly opposing
ideas, right? So you brought up how important it is in a mentor stepping aside and letting you
figure it out yourself, letting you come up with the answers. Of course, a lot of times,
even those of you that interview your customers, when you let them speak, a lot of times they
start to say the solution right in front of you, you just package it up right back in front of them
the way that they said it, right? They'll tell you how to tell them. It's the same thing for
somebody that you're leading, even your kids as you're leading them, asking them what would they
do? What do they think before you answer that for them? That's a critical piece of building somebody
up and making them become better as a professional and just better as a person that handles problems
because we all deal with problems, right? And we are convinced as certified solutionaries that when
problems find us, that's because we're supposed to bring the solution. But then on the other side,
there's the part of, you don't do this alone, right? And we don't do this alone. We are not made to
be alone. We are designed to have companionship and we are designed to have people that refine us,
add to us and yes, also take away from us. Those mentors and those people inside of our life are
also there to rub out some of those rough edges that don't belong and don't help you be the shiniest
you should be. So I want to make sure that you guys do notice that yes, we are walking in attention
of two seemingly different ideas, but actually it's designed for us to be able to have a path to
getting better. Yes, we need to figure out things on our own, but there's something about
knowing when you're crossing that tight rope that there's a net underneath you, that there's something
that can catch you, that there's somebody there for you. And so I want to encourage you all with
that. Remember that your mentor sometimes being silent is just hoping you figure out how to get
through the test. And sometimes you're going through a test and you need to reach out to a mentor
because you don't have an answer. A lot of times the mentor knows when it's the time to tell you,
it's no different than mama, when they would tell you, I know what you're doing and I don't do it.
You're like, gosh, no, truth. And that's what's going down, right? So remember that and understand
the silence isn't forgetting. That's right. Gotta love Steve's tilt it. No doubt about it, right?
We're getting it there, right? And I'm sure I have a symbiotic relationship with Delta Delta
loves me and I love Delta. There you go. That's a beautiful thing to have that type of relationship.
I guess so. Travel. That's for sure. We've talked about some really awesome stuff here. We've talked
about your why, which is huge. We've talked about what brought you to automotive. Thank goodness for
the automotive industry and thank you for being part of it. That we talked about mentors and what
it means to be a mentor and to be mentored. Right? We talked about literally just how hard
is lessons. Now our very final question is what's been your greatest reward for everything you've
done up to this point? I'm sure there's something in your heart that makes you very happy for why
you're here where you're at. Yeah, I think it's the flip side of the last question, right? I appreciate
very much the opportunity to come. You guys reached out to me to come on the segment today, right? I
don't take that lightly. It's an honor to be here. It's an honor to be asked to go speak on stage in
front of a group of folks, et cetera. And I think that it's in some ways full circle for me, right?
I remember early in my career looking at people on stage and saying, wow, interesting and thinking
if I ever get a chance to speak on stage, like bosses we talked about, how do you want to present
yourself and what do you want to be when you get up on stage? And I really appreciate the fact now
that I'm asked to speak at various things. This segment with you guys, it's an honor to be here
today. It's not taken lightly. I know you guys could pick from a lot of different guests today.
The fact that you reached out to me means a lot to me. So I'm just very indebted and honored to
be taken into this industry. The industry's been very good to me. And at this point, I just feel
like I need to give back. And we're giving back by trying to identify those entrepreneurs that
have a dream that want to go solve some of these big problems and help them along their path to
greatness. Mentoring, going to these conferences, connecting with guys like you, I think is probably
the greatest honor right now. So it gets me up every day. Every day, I got to say that I get up
very excited to work. Whether I'm tired or I'm traveling or whatever it is, I can't wait to get
in, check my voicemail, check my email, see what's going on in the industry, see what's going on in
the news. And I don't expect that's ever going to stop. It's just such a vibrant, fast changing
industry that we're in. It looks so dramatically different. Forget 25 years ago. Look even to
last year, how quickly things have changed. And it's hard to stay on top of, but it's an exciting
industry to be in. I'm just honored to be here. I'm honored to be connected with guys like you.
And I think that let's keep building the community together.
Car guys, car guys, you hear it here in so many different ways from so many different voices.
And today, that quest to brew with the best absolutely came through. You hear the passion
in his voice. You hear the concern and the care that he has for those of you that are listening,
watching, and those that he knows in the future who'll be able to connect to. You hear the joy
that he has waking up every day to see the opportunity to invest in. And of course, hearing
the stories and hearing some of the mixture that has created what is this solutionary right here
in front of you, Steve Greenfield, folks, you can't help but to be inspired. And we want to make
sure that you do stay inspired and reach out. He'll be able to answer any questions or comments
that you put in here. We'll make sure that they get to him, but reach out to him and let him know
that you have been inspired. And if it hasn't been from this show, it's been from another stage,
let him know, be an encourager to the encouragers. If there's anything that I do know firsthand
experience, it's not just the investments that he makes into the industry that, of course,
yield a harvest. It's also the granting and the giving nature that he has. We had the opportunity
at this last NADA to present a check, which ultimately was him surrendering his speaking
honorarium. For those of you that don't know, it's basically his speaking fee that he gets paid to
go and do this. People live off of that, right? He took that and he handed it to a dealer that
was being sponsored by Wokan to be able to say, here, go to NADA, get your hand off of the plow
and get what it is that you need to invest back in your own business. We're granting you this
money. He surrendered what was given to him for his expertise that is worth spending the money for,
folks. I can't stress that enough. His honorarium wasn't enough, if in my opinion. And he donated
that directly to somebody that wanted to figure out how to make their business better when they
went back home and did that right there at NADA for the whole world to see, but not for that sake,
for them to be able to know that somebody is putting some wind in their sail, for them to educate
themselves and get better for their business. That inspired me and I'm so thankful for.
We can't wait to return the favor and do something similar ourselves. And when we do,
we're going to be thinking about you like, hey, he lead the way there and we're going to just follow
the lead on that because that's was a great thing to be able to do. And we look forward to be able
to do that ourselves. People should follow the lead on that. If you have an opportunity to do,
that's just a gracious of his heart, be able to honor some people and do something really great,
do something like that. It doesn't have to be even something that big. It could be something
even smaller. That's just doing something matters. And we have somebody that said,
I'm going to already answer this question. If you go to LinkedIn, Alana, I promise you,
if you look up his name, Steve Greenfield, you'll find him. He's right there in automotive. If you
have any questions, reach out to me, not to get a hold of me, Alana. That's right. But if anybody
wants to get a hold of you in any other way, Steve, how can they do that if they want some more of
what it is that you're brewing? Yep. My email address is website is automotiveventures.com.
Yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn, Steve Greenfield. My email address is Steve
at automotiveventures.com. And my mobile phone, if you want to text me, is 678-576-9972.
678-576-9972. Just let me know. Happy to have a conversation anytime. Wow. There you go, folks.
You put the digits out there. Reach out. You have no excuse now. You have a direct connect
to this solutionary. And again, Steve, thank you so much for taking the time to spend with us.
If there's anything that we want to be able to make sure that people do get from us,
it is an application of a switch of words. And that is instead of dropping the F-bombs that do
offend the moms, we want to be able to make sure that we do drop three F-bombs that are to forgive,
to focus, and to fly so that we can't keep growing all the time. If there's anything
that we want, our audience, that we want our community to remember, it's that if you wipe
off the weight of unforgiveness and you block out the distractions and get focused on what you can
do, then you can achieve some things that may have once been seemingly impossible to you,
and you can go to crazy heights. And then once you're up there, you just got started,
you keep growing, growing. So help us out, Steve, and go through the motions
with us, hands on the shoulders. Let's forgive, focus, fly on 3123 forgive.
Focus, fly, and keep growing. That's right. You take so much for joining us on that.
And yes, I got to say something here. We did have a last comment pop up, and this is the
truth. Steve is the heart and soul of the industry. And I second that. Bam. That's the truth. Thank
you, Alan. You guys are too kind and Alan hats off to you. Let's get Alan on this show as soon
as possible. Let's go. Let's talk to Alan. See you all. And for those of you that are listening,
that are watching, replay or live, if there's somebody that you know we need to grind out a
great conversation with, please drop their names inside of the comments, email us, reach out to
us, let us know you want us to interbrew somebody that inspires you. With that said, everybody,
I am Lou Ramirez and I'm sipping my last sip right there. Fred Lynn arts and we are brewing
solutions on the car guy coffee podcast. We're to the last drop. That's somebody else's line,
but we are brewing solutions, everybody. Meet the one, the only Steve green.
You can ruin solutions on the car guy coffee podcast. We'll see you soon. We're out.
About this episode
Steve Greenfield joins Lou Ramirez and Fred Lynn Arts for a “5 liner” chat focused on what drives him in automotive and mobility. With 25+ years in the industry and a shift into early-stage venture investing, he explains why he’s grateful the industry “found him,” emphasizing automotive’s human-to-human importance and constant problem-solving. The conversation also highlights how Steve speaks with fresh, thought-provoking ideas at conventions and backs inspiration with action—investing in entrepreneurs tackling big mobility challenges.
Original notes
Car Guy Coffee Podcast Presents #5Liner feat. Steve Greenfield
Welcome to The #5Liner, the show dedicated to the individual journeys that power the automotive industry. It's not about the company; it's about the individual, their career, mindset, and personal story. In each episode, we sit down with a high-quality selection of Car Guys and Car Gals to get beyond the title and into the hard earned wisdom they've gained. Join us as we uncover the wins, challenges, and #5Liner takeaways that have shaped today’s top talent.
In this episode of The Car Guy Coffee Podcast, hosts Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz welcome Steve Greenfield, a 25-year automotive veteran and founder of Automotive Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs across automotive and mobility. Steve shares his “why,” emphasizing the industry’s human-centric importance and constant opportunity to solve problems, and explains how a 1999 phone call led him from Toronto into automotive through selling Manheim’s early internet tools. He discusses preparedness meeting opportunity, the impact of mentors—especially bosses and his mother—and how great leaders create growth by giving people chances before they feel ready.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Welcome to The #5Liner, the show dedicated to the individual journeys that power the automotive industry. It's not about the company; it's about the individual, their career, mindset, and personal story. In each episode, we sit down with a high-quality selection of Car Guys and Car Gals to get beyond the title and into the hard earned wisdom they've gained. Join us as we uncover the wins, challenges, and #5Liner takeaways that have shaped today’s top talent.
In this episode of The Car Guy Coffee Podcast, hosts Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz welcome Steve Greenfield, a 25-year automotive veteran and founder of Automotive Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs across automotive and mobility. Steve shares his “why,” emphasizing the industry’s human-centric importance and constant opportunity to solve problems, and explains how a 1999 phone call led him from Toronto into automotive through selling Manheim’s early internet tools. He discusses preparedness meeting opportunity, the impact of mentors—especially bosses and his mother—and how great leaders create growth by giving people chances before they feel ready.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Car Guy Coffee
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