37-year-old Aaron Tan uses the word “drive” a lot, and we aren’t even talking about his car platform, Carro, yet. He candidly admits that he relishes the ecstasy of victory, which is why he actively seeks out individuals who are as driven, if not more driven, than him. In 2021, Carro was named fastest-growing company in Asia Pacific by the Financial Times and its valuation exceeded $1 billion, conferring it ‘unicorn’ status.
In November 2021, Tan was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year – Digital Automotive Solutions. This new feather in Tan’s prolific cap came just three months after the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, highlighted his company in his National Day Rally. Might these lofty accolades persuade him to rest on his laurels? The tireless disruptor, straight-talker, and go-getter seems unlikely to shift down a gear.
“Think of Carro as Amazon.com for cars,” describing his brainchild like a proud father. Like Bezos’ baby, Carro is an online marketplace where anyone can browse, buy, and sell cars. However, it’s definitely not your grandpa’s car dealership – its processes are future-ready and have been optimized by modern tech.
“In Southeast Asia, there aren’t that many of us, not many of this scale. Needless to say, we’ve attracted many copycats.” He matter-of-factly discusses a few setbacks that Carro has braved. “I think we’re quite blessed as a company. Other companies have tried to slow us down or kill us by accusing us of alleged copyright infringement (pending lawsuits can impede company growth and important applications), but we otherwise haven’t had many big lows.”
Tackling each speedbump as they come, Carro is currently present in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Tan brims with pride as he reveals that his start-up will soon be announcing its debut in new markets like Japan.
(Related: Steering the future of healthcare)
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Coat and sweater by Loro Piana, track pants by Ermenegildo Zegna
“I started Carro because I felt that buying a used car was a very broken experience. Buyers can only browse pictures in classifieds. Sometimes, they can’t see the interior, which is why we spent time and effort to engineer things like 360-degree views, so that the interested party can have a more complete experience. Instead of making a decision based on just pictures and a bunch of text, customers on Carro have a better understanding of what they are buying. ‘I cannot get this wrong’ is something all buyers tell themselves, which is why I wanted to take the anxiety out of car purchasing.”
Tan also places emphasis on after-sales services and has set up a large chain of workshops to service Carro customers. To justify this huge investment, Tan quotes the ancient Chinese saying: “The monk can run, but the temple cannot”.
“Robust, complete, differentiated” is how Tan describes the temple that he has built. “It’s about how the customer feels. If a buyer sees a car today and wants it, they should be able to get it tomorrow. Covid accelerated this, because many people have become more receptive to buying online,” notes Tan, who vouches that the key to success lies in the happiness of consumers.
“Our NPS (Net Promoter Score, which grades customer satisfaction) has been nearly 100 week-on-week for many weeks. This is very important to us as this score means customers are very likely to recommend Carro.” This impressive score too was optimised by Tan’s digital processes.
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
Carro leverages data science and machine learning to maximise productivity and scale business, while keeping overheads low. Vehicles added to the platform are priced by algorithms that factor in market forces. Carro also has customized algorithms in place that predict Certificate of Entitlement prices.
Tan explains that humans might grade wear and tear relatively because it is subject to individual perception and can result in inconsistent ratings. To circumvent this limitation, Carro employs artificial intelligence that can be taught what scores to give specific car conditions.
“Self-annotation saves us a lot of time and money. Our cars are still inspected manually, but this process is heavily assisted by A.I.,” he discloses.
Carro’s cars are priced by internal algorithms and Tan has equipped Carro with its own customised integrated management system and credit management system.
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Tan remembers his mother buying him a computer when he was 12. Upon discovering the World Wide Web, Tan vividly recalls that the first website he visited was Yahoo! The second, Alta Vista. His fascination with how these search engines were built motivated him to learn programming languages. He even remembers learning how to program from books in his local library in Chua Chu Kang. By 13, he had registered a network hosting business under his grandmother’s name.
Throughout secondary school, Tan built websites for companies, to the point where he didn’t see the point of attending junior college. Most accounts tell of Tan dropping out of junior college to focus on programming in polytechnic. Tan shares with me that the truth is, he was just “too busy building websites and making money” to attend junior college.
“When I dropped out of junior college, I didn’t feel like I was hiding anything. My mom didn’t ask too much either. In earlier phases, I would ask myself if I had made the right choice. I felt a little bit of uncertainty, but I had a lot of fun making websites for clients, building stuff and running companies.”
After polytechnic, Tan was enlisted into National Service, but continued to run companies during his service. By age 19, he was a national programmer for government agencies and represented Singapore in the WorldSkills Competition. He recounts selling his first company before he turned 21 and was offered a scholarship at the Singapore Management University and Carnegie Mellon University around the same time. After graduating summa cum laude, Tan was taken into the Singtel Innov8 programme where he helped start BLOCK71, which is an incubator and ecosystem for tech companies.
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
“I recently said on stage that I run one of the largest recycling companies in the world. Carro finds a home for used vehicles so that they aren’t left to rust.”
Tan is conscious of the peaking demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs) and shares that Carro is accruing fleets of EVs. Carro will also be financing EVs at lower interest rates.
“Internally, we have developed the right tooling and we are equipping green workshops that are EV-ready.”
Tan emphasises that today’s car workshops need the equipment and staff who can address common EV issues, in socially and environmentally responsible fashion.
(Related: The future is electric with Lexus)
“I recently said on stage that I run one of the largest recycling companies in the world. Carro finds a home for used vehicles so that they aren’t left to rust.”
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
THE ROAD AHEAD
“I don’t think I’ve made any sacrifices, because I think of all this as fun,” Tan says. “There will always be trade-offs, but I treat this as a learning journey.”
Tan and his management took pay cuts when the Circuit Breaker period impacted Carro’s revenue. Tan discloses that he was drawing less than $5,000 per month during that period, but shares that he did so in the interest of his employees and their dependants.
Now that Singapore’s economy is back on its feet, Tan is rolling out a new initiative called Carro Anywhere, which enables customers to receive their purchased cars quickly and without need for human interaction. This modern process is made possible by remote locking and unlocking technology, and will help Carro save on real estate and labor costs. Tan and his team are also working to incorporate this new system with facial recognition technology, which will better ensure that only the real buyer can open their car.
- JUST ENJOY THE JOURNEY
- MAN COMPLEMENTING MACHINE
- OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- ON THE UPCYCLING PATH
- THE ROAD AHEAD
- HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION
Seven years on, Tan is still having fun. Besides enjoying his learning journey, he reveals that his biggest satisfaction is seeing the people around him grow. Carro currently has over 2,500 employees, which will increase to 3,400 employees by the second quarter of 2022.
“We hired many of our current employees early in their careers and they have since risen to management roles. I like to win and that’s a quality that I don’t take for granted. My family nurtured me to be very driven and I look out for that fire when I hire people. Hunger is one of the most underrated employee traits.”
“How do we make our experience great, consistent, and scalable, not just in Singapore but globally?” is a question that this ambitious entrepreneur reveals he frequently asks himself. Carro managed to double its revenues last year, and Tan is striving for the same growth this year. His goal for 2022 is $1.4 billion in revenue.
What legacy does he want to build?
“When people buy and sell vehicles, I want them to immediately think of Carro the same way people think of McDonald’s when fast food is mentioned.”
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