[chris@kilter]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know Kilter will be shutting down at the end of the day today. We ran out of capital before I could find the right investment partners to help us grow. I know there are a lot of things I could have done better on the capital-raising front.

I still believe in Kilter and hope we can find a way to bring it back and keep going. I don’t know how long that will take. What you saw was very much a version 1.0 – there are so many things we still hope to accomplish to make buying a new car the best retail experience people have.

In the meantime, I want you to know how thankful I am for everyone who used Kilter, provided feedback, and shared it with others. I’m happy to answer any questions. I could also use any encouragement, support, or ideas – I’m kind of crestfallen right now. My contact info is below if you’d like to reach out.

Thanks!

Chris

[padrino]

Sorry to hear, sending a pm...

[ScullyD]

Sorry to hear that, I honestly thought it was the best car shopping site I've ever used. Did you ever do a friends/family funding round here as a lot of people used the site? Any considerations to bring it back sometime?

[vj123]

Sorry to hear that.

It was a great platform which was used by the community. Hope you are able to find ways in getting it back in the near future.

[50shadesofhockenheim]

It was great when looking for G80s in new inventory while awaiting my allocation. Never found what I was looking for but it made it super simple to search dealer inventory

[kjx]

Do a GoFundMe to buy more time.

People here who value what you bring to the table will chip in. Even people who don't need it here should be able to cop a $20.

You can ask for PayPal donations on the site when people click through to a car - explaining why they need to donate.

I will applaud how very performant your site is. What you need is a good business partner (if you don't already have one). You may even find that on this forum. Just post it in the 8 series forum too to get older, richer people with possibly great business experience to weigh in.

Your problem doesn't seem to be the value you create but on the business model itself and how to be self-sustaining. If things have gotten bad enough that you can't pay for hosting, there's a big unnecessary miss there.

['Cane]

Good luck Chris, I have used your site more times than I could count, and found my G82 after giving up on the indefinite wait for my order. Thank you.

[snareman]

I'm really sorry to hear this. I used the site a bunch. Lots of great info there.

[02M3ForMe]

Burn should be relatively low if the founders are technical, surprised you guys can’t keep it going. Comfortable chatting about the vision, business model, and your envisioned path to profitability (or revenue)?

[Jim B]

Now, everything is out of Kilter.

[Mark Kez]

Originally Posted by Jim B

Now, everything is out of Kilter.

Too soon!!

[chicagofan00]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

Good luck Sean, I have used your site more times than I could count, and found my G82 after giving up on the indefinite wait for my order. Thank you.

Sean, who dat? Chris posted the message.

['Cane]

Originally Posted by chicagofan00

Sean, who dat? Chris posted the message.

[biglilsteve]

Kilter was a fantastic resource. To me, it needed a better name to convey its actual use to consumers.

[gs1403]

Originally Posted by biglilsteve

Kilter was a fantastic resource. To me, it needed a better name to convey its actual use to consumers.

I agree. Loved using it during my search for a G82 as it was by far the best and most comprehensive aggregator. My mind would always draw blanks when trying to remember what it was called though.

[six-n-twins53]

Sorry man

[chris@kilter]

Thanks for the replies and questions. I've been swamped and hope to respond by tomorrow morning. Sorry for the delay. -- Chris

[snareman]

Originally Posted by gs1403

I agree. Loved using it during my search for a G82 as it was by far the best and most comprehensive aggregator. My mind would always draw blanks when trying to remember what it was called though.

I had that same name problem

[FSociety]

Sorry to see it go away, it was exactly what everyone mentioned here!

[HRCsp2]

I loved kilter.com, sorry to hear. Thanks for all you've done.

[chris@kilter]

I’m really sorry for the late reply here. First off, massive thanks to everyone for the replies. Some of my thoughts below. I’d be happy to share more in a conversation if you’d like to reach out. If I missed anything or if there are other questions, please let me know – and thanks again!

Originally Posted by ScullyD

Sorry to hear that, I honestly thought it was the best car shopping site I've ever used. Did you ever do a friends/family funding round here as a lot of people used the site? Any considerations to bring it back sometime?

Thanks, ScullyD. I didn’t ever reach out to the forum community to raise capital. I could write at length about what trying to raise capital was like for me and what I wish I would have done differently. I have a good sense for what I’m good at and not good at, where I need help, why things went the way they did, and what needs to change. Understanding this makes me optimistic we can do what's needed to be successful.

And yes, I definitely want to bring Kilter back and return to growth mode as soon as possible. Way too much to share here and keep it concise, so – anyone – feel free to reach out if you’re interested in knowing more.

I have some near-term financial things to take care of and am looking for additional project-based work. This is my current focus. I’ll post more about this in case any of you know of opportunities at your companies. It would be super helpful.

Originally Posted by kjx

Do a GoFundMe to buy more time.

People here who value what you bring to the table will chip in. Even people who don't need it here should be able to cop a $20.

You can ask for PayPal donations on the site when people click through to a car - explaining why they need to donate.

I will applaud how very performant your site is. What you need is a good business partner (if you don't already have one). You may even find that on this forum. Just post it in the 8 series forum too to get older, richer people with possibly great business experience to weigh in.

Your problem doesn't seem to be the value you create but on the business model itself and how to be self-sustaining. If things have gotten bad enough that you can't pay for hosting, there's a big unnecessary miss there.

Originally Posted by 02M3ForMe

Burn should be relatively low if the founders are technical, surprised you guys can’t keep it going. Comfortable chatting about the vision, business model, and your envisioned path to profitability (or revenue)?

Thanks, kjx and 02M3ForMe. PMs sent. I'd love to chat with both of you at some point. I feel like our monthly burn rate is pretty low for what we’re providing, though there's room for improvement. fwiw, getting vehicle data for every new BMW is our largest cost component – hosting isn’t the problem. I'd love to talk more and get your input about the things you mentioned

[bitcore]

Do you have any plans to bring Kilter back in any way?
Any way to try something that is funded by the users?
Patreon? Subscriptions? Liberapay? Ko-fi? Buy Me a Coffee?

Your site was absolutely critical to locating my 2021 M2 competition after all production orders had been filled and I'm extremely grateful. I'm a big patreon user and would definitely be a supporter.