The Daily Vroom

Good Morning Vroomers!

It’s another special edition of The Daily Vroom!

Meet Dan Harman, the new CEO of Cars & Bids — and a Lifelong Enthusiast Who’s Just Getting Started

There’s a new driver at the wheel of Cars & Bids, and all eyes are on what happens next. Dan Harman steps in at a key moment — following a major reorganization, operational changes, and plenty of speculation around the platform’s future. What direction will it take? What’s staying the same, and what’s evolving?

In this conversation, Harman lays out a clear — and ambitious — vision. From tightening operations and accelerating listings to enhancing content and improving the seller experience, he’s focused on sharpening what works and expanding where it makes sense. That includes exploring new segments (yes, even classics), integrating content more directly into the platform, and deepening community engagement.

And — as many of you know — I’ve been vocal about the importance of Cars & Bids stepping into the real world with events. From the sound of things, that shift may finally be on the table.

Of course, time will tell how it all plays out. But for now, the roadmap is starting to take shape.

After reading the interview, take a second to answer the quick poll below. We want to hear from you — what direction do you want to see Cars & Bids take next?

Dan Harman Interview

Congratulations on your role as CEO of Cars & Bids. Could you tell us a bit about your background and what drew you to join the company? 

Thanks! I’ve been passionate about cars my entire life and am so happy to be back in the industry, especially since I was already spending an enormous amount of free-time engaged in auctions and content. I live and breathe this stuff, so you can imagine when the opportunity presented itself, I quite literally jumped out of my seat. It’s a thrill and an absolute pleasure to be at the helm with a great team, great product, and surrounded by passion.

Who is Dan outside of work? What drives your passion for the automotive industry?

You’ll find me in the shop wrenching and building. Current project is a track-only C6 Z06, but my interest is varied - I’ve restored a 74 GTV, hustled a 7.2GT3, and while it’s been some time - built more STIs and Evos than most. I’m also the only ‘enthusiast’ I know who services a diesel L405 that my wife and kids adore - and that’s also been moderately reliable (it’s definitely the mechanic). What I love about cars is there’s a million different ways to be an enthusiast - my particular flavor is engineer/racer, but I’m here for every expression of the passion.

When you first stepped into the CEO position, how did your vision align with that of the owners? 

I’d say we were highly aligned from the start. There’s so much that makes Cars & Bids unique (content, product, community) and that creates opportunity to build a business that creates enormous value for both customers and investors. It’s easy to forget that we’re not just an auction site - we have a content business that stands on its own and not only drives an enormous engaged audience on the auction site, but also reaches tens of millions of enthusiasts every month. My vision is simple - to double down on what makes us great and to help guide the team in growing the business through smart choices, intense focus and most importantly great outcomes. We’re here to create engaging content, foster community and build a genuinely fun place to day-dream like all of us afflicted do - and we do that by focusing on the needs of our customers and users first.

Operations & Changes

Your tenure began with significant operational changes, including layoffs. Could you explain the reasoning behind these tough decisions, and how it positions Cars & Bids for long-term success? 

That’s very true. Look, it was incredibly difficult to separate with some great people, each of whom had an impact on the company. Ultimately I took a look across the business - where we were investing, where we were being successful, and where we weren’t - and believed that we needed to make significant changes to how we were organized, where we focused our efforts, and how we managed auctions to better serve our customers - not just the bottom line. We are better positioned today than ever before - we have a lean and highly effective team, a renewed sense of purpose and focus, and the runway and discipline to further invest in our products and growth.

Your sell-through rate remains high, and you've maintained a steady number of daily listings. How has your operational approach enabled this consistency, and what’s your biggest challenge for continued growth?

We’ve had a strong quarter and continue to list more great cars across the enthusiast spectrum – and that’s coupled with strong engagement from our 800k+ users and millions of monthly visitors. Operationally, we’ve made thoughtful changes to how we operate – refining our internal processes to be more focused, efficient, and ultimately better for both our customers and our team. As someone who's been operating businesses for a long time, I’ve learned how to cut through the noise, simplify where it counts, and make it easier for our team to do great work. That’s translated into faster, more purposeful decision-making and an even better experience for the car enthusiasts we serve. The biggest challenge for continued growth, in my opinion, is broader category awareness for sellers. We’re incredibly fortunate to have an enormous audience and serious bidders for a broad range of vehicles on the site (thanks Doug!), but many owners of great enthusiast cars aren’t aware that there’s a better way to sell their vehicle than a trade-in or classified listing. Creating broader awareness of the advantages of an auction platform for enthusiast-adjacent sellers can bring more value to both sides of the equation - and ultimately more great cars to the platform.

Marketing & Community Strategy 

Cars & Bids has primarily emphasized digital marketing. Do you foresee expanding into in-person events or other strategies to deepen community connections?

Absolutely. While our past focus has been digital, we recognize the powerful role in-person events have played in enthusiast communities. We’re exploring ways to uniquely engage our audience offline in a way that's true to our brand and community.

What's Doug DeMuro's current role, and how does his influence continue to shape the platform? 

Doug is deeply involved as our Chief Car Enthusiast, providing invaluable insights into auctions, market trends, and content strategy. His unique perspective - and of course, his videos - remain central to our success, and it's fantastic collaborating closely with him. You may think you know a lot about auctions from spending untold hours browsing, bidding and selling - and then you sit down with Doug… humbling to say the least. I think the two of us have very complementary skills and not only would we not be here without him, we’re continually stronger because he’s here.

Product & Offerings 

Cars & Bids currently focuses on modern enthusiast vehicles. Are there plans to expand into classics or other segments as part of your growth strategy? 

Just because we've historically focused on modern cars doesn't limit our future direction. Personally, I love classic cars, and we're actively exploring opportunities that align with our brand and resonate with our community. Cars & Bids has a modern enthusiast audience, but I don’t believe a modern enthusiast is only interested in modern cars. We’re here for unique driving experiences, designs and stories - and cool cars both modern and classic bring those in spades.

What trends are you observing in cars being listed, seller expectations, and the dealer- versus-enthusiast mix on your platform? 

We’re thrilled to host an eclectic mix of enthusiast cars across categories and price ranges and I’m happy to say we’ve seen the most interesting mix of inventory in some time during the past month. Big credit due to our operations and curation teams who have been incredibly open and responsive to changes focused on getting closer to our customers and more efficient and effective in getting listings live. One thing we know is important to our customers is getting quality listings live quickly - and our recent adjustments have allowed us to consistently get cars live in as little as three days. We can’t hit that timeline for all sellers and cars as photos, details, etc. have to be in great order at the time of submission - but we are committed to getting every vehicle live quickly and represented wonderfully.

Regarding seller expectations, they vary wildly - as they should. Properly evaluating a unique enthusiast car isn’t an easy thing to do and I’m proud that we’ve further empowered our team to work closely with sellers to ultimately achieve the best result. Some folks have wildly optimistic ideas, but I don’t knock them for it - these cars are their babies and they have an enormous amount invested emotionally and economically.

We’re here to share our view of the market for your unique vehicle, stay with you during and after the sale, and help you make the best decision given the market and buyers in the room when you list. To that effect, as you’ve pointed out repeatedly in your newsletter, we’re also invested in the post-auction experience. If your car doesn’t meet reserve, we have a dedicated team to help effectuate a sale with the highest bidder - it’s a wonderful value add and a real differentiator for our platform.

Dealers, consignors and power sellers have a home and are welcome at Cars & Bids. We all know you’re buying the seller as much as the car, and so for those who fairly represent their cars, engage in the comments, and invest in presentation, there’s enormous opportunity on the platform. We’ll be launching the Cars & Bids Certified Sellers program in the coming weeks and introducing a host of features to allow repeat sellers to better build their reputations and following on the site, be they dealers or individuals. We’re excited to help the next generation of power sellers grow their business on Cars & Bids.

Future Outlook

What new technological features or services are coming soon, and how will they enhance user experience?

We have exciting updates in the works that will roll out over the next two quarters. One I’m most excited about better integrates our content into the auction experience, enhancing discovery and just making the site all the more engaging. It’s really exciting overseeing a business with two stand-alone properties - auctions and content - and bringing them together in a way that is additive to the experience is something I’m really looking forward to.

We also want to make the site more customized to the interests of each user. Interested in the market broadly? Tracking a specific car? Watching a particular seller? Whatever your use case is, we want to help you customize your experience so you get the most relevant updates while still being able to discover some of the weird/cool you can only find on C&B. We’re fortunate to have an excellent in-house technology team who are as passionate about code as they are cars and we’re about to flex.

How do you see the enthusiast car market evolving, and what is your long-term vision for Cars & Bids? 

I believe enthusiast cars are more relevant now than ever, thanks to automotive culture breaking through mainstream media. New cars are increasingly less exciting, positioning the enthusiast segment perfectly for growth. As I mentioned before, I see us as the home for the modern enthusiast - this is a classification that is not age or era specific - it’s anyone who is passionate for cars and wants to discover and engage with them, be it a purchase, engaging with the community or consuming content. We’re here to make all of those activities a pleasure through technology, creativity and most importantly caring about the community of which we are so honored to be a part.