Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Nehamen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Craig. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I never thought I’d have the opportunity to co-found a disruptive company. In fact before Fair, I was a mom-and-pop founder of an oil and gas trading business which my wife now runs and an intrapreneurial venture or two. Then while at a large auto finance company out of Southern California, I met a captivating entrepreneur who walked me through an idea I knew would transform the automotive world. He was planning to start a new business in the automotive space and looking for a partner who could marry auto and finance and bring innovative thinking to financial problems in auto. I took the leap and joined him in early 2016. A powerful catalyst to our disruption has been our deep knowledge of how things traditionally work and resulting ability to turn that on its head through technology and innovation.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
What we’re building here at Fair is far from intuitive. It took us 12 months to build a subscription model (a term we were far from using at the time) that stood a chance of making economic and regulatory sense. And to be completely honest, we had no idea whether we could offer a true end-to-end digital retail experience where customers can shop by their all-in monthly payment. We ended up having to build our own limited warranty, routine maintenance and roadside assistance products from day one to get there, and ultimately be the principal in the transaction.
Shortly after, we acquired Uber’s Xchange leasing business in January of 2018. We won the bid for the business and alongside it an exclusive partnership for long-term vehicle solution with Uber that dramatically scaled our business overnight. It became a forcing function for growth and execution at a rate we had never envisioned.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Fair story. Tell us more about the business.
Fair offers a new way to get a car in response to consumer demand for more freedom. Fair gives customers the flexibility to drive the car they want for as long as they want and lets them walk away any time, eliminating the long-term commitment of traditional financing or leasing.
For most customers, regardless of whether they have perfect income or credit, our payments are the same or lower than their financial alternatives on that car. Consumers pay a “Start Payment” before every subscription that they can toggle up or down depending on their needs. The process is all through an app with no physical paperwork. Users shop by all-in monthly payment, including routine maintenance, limited warranty, and roadside assistance and can even add month-to-month insurance with just a couple of clicks. And then sign for it all on their phones.
What makes Fair unique is that we offer a new and significantly better way to get a car, without any physical paperwork or long-term commitment. We’re also unique in that other subscription models, which are limited in number, give customers access to a small selection of cars, while we let you choose from thousands. It’s truly a better option for the car you want. Many dealerships now also offer their customers Fair as an option outside of a loan. We provide dealers a link to do so seamlessly and check them out in minutes as opposed to hours.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
It’s the little things that I am most proud of. I recall sitting at a family holiday meal in 2018 and mentioning Fair. For the first time family and friends turned to me and said, ‘I’m actually considering Fair’ing a car now.’ Suddenly this thing we’d conceived and built, this little idea, was real. And people out in the real world were aware of it and independently considering it – it seemed surreal at the time.
Pricing:
- Most customers pay between $300-400 per month – with a Start Payment that is around three times their monthly payment upfront.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1540 2nd Street, Suite 200, Santa Monica, CA 90401
- Website: www.fair.com
- Phone: 424-372-5018
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @fairtheapp
- Twitter: @fairtheapp
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