Scott Painter Scott Painter ( " b . 1968 " ) is an American investor and entrepreneur in the technology and automotive industries . He is the founder and CEO of TrueCar , an automotive pricing information and analysis company that creates a better buying experience for dealers and consumers . Painter is a serial entrepreneur having incorporated 37 companies and having raised over $ 1 . 25 billion in debt and equity capital for those businesses over the last 20 years . His primary focus is auto - retail and he was the founder and CEO of CarsDirect . com and Build - To - Order as well as having been an early adviser to numerous automotive businesses including Tesla motors . Painter regularly attends TED , All Things D , and is a member of the World Economics Forum , where he has both attended and spoken at Davos . Painter is one of the first customers to reserve a seat on Virgin Galactic , the sub - orbital spaceflight company owned by Sir Richard Branson . Early life and education . Scott Painter was born in Seattle on September 30 , 1968 and grew up in Placer County , California , near Sacramento . He started his first company , a car - detailing service , at the age of 14 . After high school , he joined the United States Army and trained to become a Spanish interrogator . He attended West Point , where he studied military strategy and systems engineering . While at West Point he served as class president before transferring to UC Berkeley where he studied political economics . Career . Prior to graduating Berkeley , Painter dropped out to sell his first auto - related startup company , AUTOAccess , an electronic database of used cars for sale . Painter was also an IdeaLab CEO and an eCompanies CEO . His other ventures include Advertise . com , SharesPost , PriceLock , CarsDirect . com , US Digital Gaming , Zag . com and Brighthouse . Painter was also an early advisor to Tesla TrueCar . Scott Painter is the founder and CEO of TrueCar , Inc . , headquartered in Santa Monica , California . TrueCar is an automotive pricing information and analysis company that creates a better buying experience for dealers and consumers . As an online publisher of new and used car transaction data , TrueCar . com provides price reports that enable dealers and consumers to agree on the parameters of a fair deal by supplying a transparent understanding of what others recently paid for identically equipped new cars in their geographic area . TrueCar also owns ALG , the benchmark for vehicle value information to the automotive industry , and has been forecasting residual values for nearly 50 years in both the U . S . and Canadian markets . TrueCar was founded in 2005 and through its dealer partners has sold over 600 , 000 vehicles . It has a national network of more than 5 , 000 certified dealers . " Inc . Magazine " ranked TrueCar as one of 5 , 000 fastest growing companies in the United States in 2010 and 2011 . In 2012 , TrueCar was named by the " Los Angeles Business Journal " as the # 1 fastest growing private company based in the Los Angeles area and has been listed at # 99 on Deloitte ' s Technology Fast 500 , a ranking of the fastest growing technology , media , telecommunications , life sciences and clean technology companies in North America . TrueCar grew 1193 percent during this period . In 2011 , Painter launched TrueCar Racing , an all - female racing team , co - sponsored by Penske Media Corporation and Virgin Group . The racing team supports high - potential women aspiring to become premier race series race car drivers . TrueCar and its partner s provide full sponsorship support , professional coaching and training , marketing exposure , and top - tier racing team opportunities throughout the U . S . with the goal of winning races and championships . Disruption with the auto industry . In late 2011 , TrueCar raised significant debt and equity capital ( > $ 200m ) which enabled it to advertise nationally on television . Response from consumers and dealers was strong . Consumer usage increased in response to the television campaign that was developed in conjunction with TrueCar investor Guthy - Renker , but dealer and industry criticism was immediate and well documented in a series of Automotive News articles . Painter , who is commonly associated with vehicle pricing transparency , up - front pricing and the value of big data in auto retail was nearly boycotted by auto dealers and manufacturers over the fear that TrueCar was responsible for massive discounting . The industry resistance lead to nearly a dozen states launching investigations into the companies practices and policies . As a result , Painter and TrueCar underwent a nine - month overhaul to ensure national compliance and cooperation with the industry . It has been widely published that TrueCar went through a business turnaround in 2012 that resulted in a return to profitability after having lost nearly $ 40mm in the first half of the year . In November 2012 , Painter spoke directly to the industry about the current status of TrueCar in an Autoline TV interview and Painter was recently featured in Forbes . In November 2012 , TrueCar went back on television with new commercials and a completely new version of its web experience for both dealers and consumers . Honors . The Technology Council of Southern California named Scott Painter its 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year . He was also listed as a Worth Elite Automobile Innovator in 2009 - 2010 . In 2011 , he was a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Greater Los Angeles Area . In 2011 , Scott became a member of the Swiss non - profit organization known as the World Economic Forum . In 2012 , Painter was named a Technology Pioneer by the WEF . Philanthropy . As part of the " Women Empowered " initiative , Painter and TrueCar pledged to help fund six female professional racecar drivers . Painter also serves on the boards of several public , private , and nonprofit organizations . , including Save Cal Rugby . Painter was one of the youngest members to join of the Board of Governors at Cedar Sinai Medical Center . Personal life . Scott Painter is married and lives in Los Angeles with his four children .