#carlypso

Who wore it better? Katy Perry Vs This Camaro.

How to get your startup into the hottest accelerator

They don’t like two MBA founders, so try to de-emphasize you went to business school” we were told shortly before our interview with Y-Combinator, the well-known startup accelerator that provides seed money, advice, and connections to entrepreneurs.

It’s no secret that the selective accelerator doesn’t necessarily appreciate the normal MBA mindset. “Write code and talk to customers” are two of the mantra’s of YC, and so it’s tough to see how an MBA better prepares you for either one.

That being said a lot of the normal MBA mindset doesn’t apply to starting a company either. Much of modern MBA programs focus on basic business accumen (strategy, finance, etc.) or people management. As a startup founder, you’ll have to do everything yourself initially. My co-founder and I were lucky enough to go to Stanford GSB, where we could self-select into learning a ton more about startups.

At Carlyso.com we love our cars and we love our customers.

Is it cost-effective to be a student with a car? Or should I sell my car?

We have recently helped a number of college students sell their vehicles, and we noticed a trend: based on their needs and budget, owning and operating a car actually doesn’t make sense for most students. So should you sell your car? Take into consideration the following tips and insights.

It may seem counterintuitive, and a novel perspective in our car-obsessed society, but, in many cases, you could actually save time and money by selling your car and taking advantage of the many available and super convenient modern alternatives like public transportation, car sharing, Uber, Lyft, etc.. The transportation game is changing; sure it’s ‘normal’ to have a car, but does it make sense for you?

I know you’re thinking, but I need my car. That may be true. Even if you don't live very close to school, or your part-time job is off-campus, or public transport is a good walk away, it’s still worth your time to look into whether the benefits of having a car really outweigh the costs. The aim of the post is to help you make an informed decision, whether you’re thinking of selling your car or even purchasing a vehicle.

“At first I would drive home on weekends, but more and more I was paying for a car that just sat there and collected campus parking tickets” - Matt H. ’13 UCLA

One student we recently worked with figured out how much it was costing him each year to own and operate his car and decided to sell it. As a result, we decided to do this post and really dig into the details of what it was costing him to own his car. His situation mirrors many college students’ and should help you to answer the question: “so should I sell my car?”

For the purpose of this blog, we used a used 2011 Honda Civic DX Coupe 2D, with 45,000 miles, which is one of the most popular cars among students. The price, as determined by the Carlypso Pricing Engine, was roughly $8,500, with a $1000 down payment, as purchased by a 26-year-old California resident attending Stanford. 

Taking into account all the costs of owning this particular car, we came out with this data, which we hope will help you reach an informed and confident answer to our dilemma: “should I sell my car?”

Sample Cost of Car Ownership for a College Student:

We’re data nerds, so this table makes the relative costs of owning a car pretty clear to us, but what does this mean for you? Something like, based on this data, a driver of similar age owning and operating a similar vehicle incurs a weekly cost of $140-$165 per week, or $20-24 per day. This cost would be even higher for undergraduate students, who are hit with elevated young driver insurance premiums. As a college student, it’s likely hard to even imagine consistently spending this much money on a combination of public transportation, car sharing, and services such as Lyft and Uber. Considering that this doesn’t even take into account the time wasted fighting soul-draining traffic and hunting for parking, let alone unexpected fender benders that happen to the best of us, selling your car is something that should at least be considered. 

So, maybe this article and our data-crunching has perhaps shifted your perspective, and has you saying, “Yea, I want to sell my car, but what should I do about it?” Many college students are first time sellers, and are way too busy with school to sit around waiting for flakes and weirdos on Craigslist, but don’t want to get ripped off by a dealer who will only give them a fraction of the value of their vehicle. Maybe you have other concerns as well, like worries over the inherent safety risks that showing your car to random strangers from the Internet entails—as a woman, this an important factor for me.

These are issues that we, recent MBA grads from Stanford and MIT, faced and saw our classmates dealing with as well, and that’s why we founded Carlypso. These are the people and problems that matter to us.

In our next blog geared toward students, we will explore the “costs” associated with using your vehicle for one of the multitude of new services such as Uber and Lyft.

Our most recent video interview with Forbes.