RichardOz

Thanks a lot for this. I guess the fact we're starting with a completely clean slate rather than a legacy system helps as long as we make the right decisions to start with. Yes I've spoken to a few of the DMS providers here and many have their feeds in CSV via FTP. It did seem somewhat archaic to me...but not being super tech, I just took it as standard. Do any of the systems over there share data between aggregators and advertisers in real time? I would have thought in this day and age that could be possible?? Thanks again...all very helpful.

Thanks again. Yes we don't underestimate the fact this will require sizeable investment. We're looking in the hundreds of thousands as our initial requirement...which will obviously increase over time.

Thanks for that. Yes that would be a good start. I've received a couple of bits of advice that we should start by hiring a senior developer first who ould be able to help map out the project. I wasn't sure whether we should hire a PM type first...but a senior Dev makes sense.

First off, I have to clarify I am in Australia...but this is a general type question. I'm involved in a startup that has spent about 18 months refining a sustainable business model before we actually started development. We'll be at the dev stage shortly...so we need to allocate sufficient resources to get this thing off the ground. So it's basically a site that lists cars for sale. Fairly straightforward...but we also need to work in with the APIs of a number of dealer management software packages...so data is fed from these systems into our platform. It also needs to handle and direct leads from customers etc etc...pretty much what most auto sites do these days. So w're looking at keeping the dev in-house probably using contractors. Perhaps using external people for graphic design...but the rest within a team. So just looking for a bit of a heads up as to the resources required to build an MVP...not necessarily the complete bells and whistles as I know most of the big players employee hundreds of people. We're very much looking to do the initial work on the smell of an oily rag...but it still needs to be good. Also, any advice with respect to what platforms, languages etc we should look at would be very much appreciated. And just on the idea itself, we're not just a carbon copy of all the other new players looking to undercut the entrenched businesses. We have a unique business model (yeah, yeah I hear you say!) and have researched this with Dealers across the country...so it has been validated. Thanks in advance.