Car Collision Takes PickupTruck.com Founder From Boredom to Boardroom
28 March 2000
Car Collision Takes PickupTruck.com Founder From Boredom to Boardroom
CORTE MEDERA, Calif., March 28 Michael Levine knows he is
a pretty lucky guy. The founder and president of PickupTruck.com has combined
his passion for computers and pickup trucks into one of the Internet's fastest
growing and most popular niche Web sites.
But, he also knows he is lucky just to be alive.
In 1994, Levine was a typical student at the University of Arizona. He
was about to graduate and take a position selling business forms. It was not
a glamorous job, but Levine saw it as a foot in the door to a solid future.
All that changed in the blink of an eye and the crunch of sheet metal.
Levine and his mother, father and sister were involved in a side impact
collision with another vehicle that crashed into their sedan traveling at
around 50mph -- on the way to dinner for Father's Day. Everyone was fine --
but for Levine, it was an epiphany. Life is too short to spend time doing
something you don't really love.
"When you see your life flash before your eyes, it has a powerful effect,"
Levine said. "I knew I didn't want to take the job I had lined up. It just
wasn't the way I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I wanted to do
something that was truly a passion."
Levine went back to school in 1995 and discovered a knack and a love for
computers. As the Internet was just beginning to gain mainstream attention,
he developed a Web page devoted to an interest in pickup trucks to prove that
the World Wide Web was easy to work with. Just two days after the site went
live, it was listed on "Cool Site of the Day," an unofficial guide to the best
of what the Web has to offer.
But, in 1995, the Web was in its infancy and Levine still had to pay the
rent.
Landing e-commerce consulting positions with two of the top business
organizations in the world -- IBM and Ernst & Young -- Levine honed his
Internet skills and management savvy. At night and on the weekends, Levine
kept updating PickupTruck.com . The site continued attracting a small, but
loyal grass-roots following of pickup truck owners and enthusiasts.
"Early on, we registered with a number of search engines, and people who
shared a passion for pickup trucks became regular visitors to the site,"
Levine said. "The site developed a true sense of community. Pickup truck
owners are fiercely loyal to their vehicles and the category and they came
back again and again to see what new information we had added."
In January 1999, Levine went to the North American International Auto Show
in Detroit and provided daily updates to the site. Traffic soared, and Levine
knew it was time to turn his passion for pickup trucks and the Internet into a
full-time career.
Today, PickupTruck.com features an e-commerce section where owners and
enthusiasts can purchase repair manuals and aftermarket parts and accessories;
a link to CarsDirect.com allowing community members to configure, order and
purchase a new pickup truck; a weekly diary from NASCAR truck racer Terry
Cook; new product information; industry and product news; chat rooms and
online forums.
The PickupTruck.com online community is attracting nearly 200,000 visitors
each month and has grown by nearly 400 percent in the past 18 months. Levine
believes the site will continue to realize triple digit growth as it adds more
services and word of mouth spreads PickupTruck.com to other loyal pickup truck
owners and enthusiast.
"The site has evolved into the best place on the Web to find pickup truck
information, and we are starting to mature as a business," Levine said.
"Every day is an adventure and we've added an entire management team and staff
that has a passion for trucks, as well. As long as we keep that enthusiasm,
our community members will keep coming back."
Now, the only things on a collision course for Levine and his team are fun
and success.