Turning Abandoned Cars into a Seven-Figure Exit
“Stan Markuze co-founded joyride Auto, an on-line auction of abandoned cars. Within two years Stan and his partner sold their company for seven times revenue,” shares Sam Thompson, a Minneapolis business broker and the president of M&A firm Transitions In Business. “In this episode Stan talks about his experience selling to private equity and building the marketplace without raising capital.”
Most cities have a problem: what to do with cars that get towed and never picked up. They pile up in impound lots—taking up space and tying up cash. Stan Markuze helped solve that problem by co-founding Joyride Auto, an online auction platform where repair shops, scrap dealers, and car enthusiasts can buy those abandoned vehicles directly from the lot.
In this episode, Stan shares how he and his co-founders built a cash-flow-positive business that turned a clunky, paper-based process into a digital marketplace—and sold it to a private equity firm for seven times revenue in just two years.
You discover how to:
- Spot “forgotten” industries ready for digital disruption.
- Build a profitable marketplace business without raising capital.
- Navigate the imbalance between buyer and seller acquisition.
- Structure equity fairly when one co-founder brings the idea and the cash.
- Sell your company to a private-equity buyer even without a formal process.
- Manage life as a minority shareholder when you’re not in the negotiating room.
- Avoid complex deal structures that dilute simplicity and control.