EP47 Private car ownership is dead with Vilhelm Hedberg, Founder at ekar

Does it *really* make sense to own a car if it's parked for 95% of its entire lifetime? Will car-sharing trump car ownership over the next few years?That's what our guest asked himself while relaxing in a pool back in 2016 - when an idea of car sharing popped into his head. He grabbed the opportunity to what we know today as the Middle East's first and largest carshare operator.Vilhelm Hedberg is the Founder of ekar, a fast-growing company that provides users on-demand access to a network of thousands of car-share and subscription leasing vehicles. Or in Vilhelm's words - it's the Netflix of cars.His competitor isn't Uber, the competitor is the car owner himself.In this conversation, Vilhelm brings us a fresh perspective of the car rental industry and the future of the transportation industry in general.In this episode we cover:- How to balance growth and profitability in the mobility services business- How customer data can help fuel innovation in the car industry- Bypassing the distributor and selling directly to customers- Putting the right team together when starting a business.Host: Vuk Zlatarov Guest: Vilhelm HedbergProduction: Creitive (https://www.creitive.com) & Evans Media (https://evansmedia.net) Follow our guest: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vilhelm-hedberg-82a27b9/?originalSubdomain=aeInstagram: https://instagram.com/vilhelm_hedberg?igshid=1o7dmzj1zqxciFollow ekar on:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ekar/Instagram: https://instagram.com/ekar.uae?igshid=cfh4xggdld1eTwitter: https://twitter.com/myekarLISTEN TO THE PODCAST:SoundCloud - http://bit.ly/SC_TheChangeOfficerApple Podcast - http://bit.ly/Apple_TheChangeOfficerGoogle - http://bit.ly/Google_TheChangeOfficerSpotify - http://bit.ly/Spotify_TheChangeOfficerCONNECT WITH US:Website - https://www.thechangevlog.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thechangeof...LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/TheChangeOff...Twitter - https://twitter.com/changeofficer_TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Highlights00:42 - Intro01:35 - What are mobility services04:03 - Look on mobility services before and today09:45 - Value change in the car industry12:03 - Impact of 202015:40 - How did ekar take advantage of the situation17: 38 - What ekar does today20:21 - What is a car subscription21:59 - Importance of customer data in the car industry25:04 - How is data security managed26:10 - Region specific opportunities28:08 - How is ekar taking advantage of these opportunities29:31 - How to build a profitable mobility services business33:23 - Strategy for future36:50 - Tipping moment for becoming an entrepreneur43:09 - The hardest thing about building a successful business45:23 - Failure that set Vilhelm for greater success later49:42 - Vilhelm's business and personal principles52:45 - Question that no one asked Vilhelm before53:57 - What is the one thing that Vilhelm would change in the world