Want 20 hours back? Let Motosaic Buy Your Car for You.

Mike Calcara spent over a decade solving billion-dollar problems for the banking world. Then three job offers fell apart in 45 days, including one from Silicon Valley Bank, just before it collapsed. So, he turned a weekend favor for a friend into a business.

Now he runs Motosaic (formerly The Driveway Concierge), a car-buying concierge that works on behalf of the buyer, not the dealership. It’s like having a consultant, instead of a salesman, handle the process for you.

1. Hey! Who are you and what business did you start?
I’m Mike Calcara, founder of Motosaic, a car-buying concierge that flips the traditional process on its head. Most folks in the car industry work for dealerships. I work for the buyer. Think of me like a mix between a matchmaker and an advisor.

2. What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I spent 15 years in consulting, mostly with Ernst & Young, advising massive banks after the financial crisis. I was essentially a professional firefighter, helping C-suites clean up regulatory messes. When I left, I had no desire to become a traditional car salesman. But I did want to bring that same level of professionalism and structure to the car-buying experience, which is famously chaotic and frustrating.

My last role was at Wells Fargo. When they sold off our group, I lined up a new gig at SVB… but the bank collapsed the same week I got my welcome package. Then came an offer from Ford, but they put all their hiring on hold after months of interviews. So I decided to bet on myself instead.

3. Take us through the process of how you got your first customer.
It started as a favor. A former boss of mine was about to buy a Range Rover. I asked if he’d ever considered a Porsche Cayenne, and offered to line up both cars for him to test drive. I called the dealers, coordinated the appointments, and made sure he was in and out in 40 minutes. He went to his kid’s softball game, and I handled the rest.

On Monday, he looked at me and said: “That was incredible. There’s something here.”

4. Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Referrals are huge. My biggest challenge isn’t brand awareness, it’s service awareness. Most people don’t know you can outsource this process. Social has helped a ton too. X (Twitter) in particular has been a powerful channel.

I recently rebranded from The Driveway Concierge to Motosaic. A lot of people thought I was a concrete business or built driveways. Motosaic is a play on the idea that every car purchase is made up of dozens of small decisions… budget, timing, lifestyle, trade-ins, interest rates, and more. It all has to click together like a mosaic.

5. How are you doing today and what does the future of the business look like?
The rebrand took almost six months. But within a few days of launching it, I’m busier than ever.

Now I’m building out verticals like MotoMatch (a more high-touch matching service), fleet management support, and recurring telematics services. That recurring revenue piece is what I’m really excited about.

6. Was there ever a moment that you thought the business wasn’t going to work?
Actually, not really. I came into this with a consulting mindset; if something breaks, I fix it. I didn’t have an “oh shit” moment, just problems to solve.

I don’t hold inventory, so my overhead is low. And I’ve worked to build stronger relationships with brokers and dealers to improve pricing access. Once I started building systems around that, it became repeatable.

7. What do outsiders typically not understand about your industry?
People think buying a car just means getting a good price. But there are 100 decisions packed into the process: financing terms, trade-in value, the right model, dealer incentives, fees, logistics, etc. Any of those can ruin the experience if you get them wrong.

I had one client go rogue after a discovery call because she thought she could do it herself. So she did… but then the dealership canceled her first appointment. The replacement salesperson was rude. No one followed up. The car she wanted was nowhere to be found. A week later, she called back and said, “I’m sorry, I was wrong. Can you help?”

8. What platforms and/or tools do you use for your business?
PipeDrive for CRM. Anchor for proposals and invoicing, it has great ACH options and lets me pass on credit card fees while still offering a free alternative. Those two have been game changers.

9. What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
Simon Sinek’s Start With Why was my early inspiration.
Dan Koe’s content helped me connect my personal interests to a real-world problem worth solving.
And I like Alex Hormozi’s stuff. It’s polarizing, but useful if you contextualize it the right way.

10. If you started a new business today, what would it be?
I think I’d get into coaching. I loved that aspect of consulting. Helping small business owners or new entrepreneurs avoid mistakes and get clear on what they actually want to build.

11. What’s your best piece of advice for other entrepreneurs or business owners?
Take the first step. Most people stay in idea mode forever. Just build the landing page. Make the phone call. Send the invoice. That’s what separates people who want to do something from the people who actually do it.

Takeaways:

1. Your most valuable business might be taking what you did in corporate and offering it directly to clients.

2. If you want to scale, build infrastructure. If not, you’ll always be stuck hunting.

3. Content takes time to compound, but it’s a flywheel once it starts turning.

4. The car-buying process is painful, and that’s the opportunity. The best businesses start by finding a big pain, and then sell the pain reliever.