Piston Labs - Pitch Materials

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Last Updated: 2026-01-12
Purpose: Investor and collaborator networking reference
Version: 1.1 (Canonical Messaging)

Quick Reference Card

The 10-Second Pitch

"We build connected vehicle infrastructure for the independent automotive aftermarket. One device, three products: retention tools for shops, maintenance apps for drivers, and fleet tracking for businesses."

The 30-Second Pitch

"Piston Labs builds connected vehicle infrastructure for the $130B automotive aftermarket. Our OBD-II device tracks real mileage and powers three products: a shop dashboard for customer retention, a consumer app for proactive maintenance, and a fleet dashboard for business vehicle tracking.

Same device, same backend, three revenue streams. Shops get automated mileage-based reminders that feel helpful instead of spammy. Drivers get one place for all their service records. Fleets get real-time tracking without enterprise pricing.

The driver controls what they share and with who - we just make sure their preferred shop is one tap away. We're raising $500K pre-seed on a $5M cap."

The 60-Second Pitch

"The automotive aftermarket is a $130B industry, and independent shops are losing to dealers with connected car services. Shops lose 60% of customers after their first visit - the relationship just breaks. Meanwhile, vehicle owners have service records scattered across a dozen shops, and small fleets are priced out of GPS tracking.

Piston Labs solves all three with one device and one platform. Our OBD-II device tracks real mileage and powers a three-product ecosystem: Shop Dashboard for automated customer retention, Consumer App for proactive maintenance and unified records, and Fleet Dashboard for real-time tracking at SMB pricing.

Here's what makes us different: there's no platform connecting vehicle owners to independent shops. We're that platform. The vehicle owner controls what they share and with who. When they need service, their preferred shop is one tap away.

Same hardware, same cloud, three revenue streams. Privacy-first architecture - we don't store location data, so we can't sell it. I'm Tyler. I own Era Automotive and achieve 80% retention through intensive manual work. Piston automates what I do. We're raising $500K on a $5M cap."

The Four Pillars (Canonical)

These are locked messaging pillars - use them consistently:

1. Retention Is the Outcome

"We keep customers returning to independent shops."

The entire system exists to solve retention. Everything else is a means to this end.

2. Accuracy Builds Trust

"Timing, not frequency, creates credibility."

Calendar-based reminders feel like spam. Mileage-based reminders feel helpful. Accuracy is why vehicle owners engage instead of ignoring.

3. The Reminder Drives the Relationship

"Who sends it stays top-of-mind."

The shop that sends the service reminder is the shop that gets the business. We make sure it's the independent shop, not the dealer.

4. It Must Not Add Work

"Operates automatically in the background."

No campaigns. No CRM workflows. No manual outreach. Shops upload repair orders and the system handles everything else.

Approved Taglines

• "Maintenance, based on how you drive"
• "Service reminders you can trust"
• "Stay ahead of maintenance"
• "Drive. We'll handle the timing."

Company Snapshot

The Problem

For Shops

• 60% of customers never return after first visit
• The relationship breaks after the visit - no connection between appointments
• Calendar-based reminders feel like spam and get ignored
• Dealers dominate with OnStar, Toyota Connected, etc.
• Zero existing solutions send mileage-based reminders for independent shops

For Vehicle Owners

• Car maintenance is reactive by default - "Your car is due for service right now"
• No time to plan, sudden stress, worrisome uncertainty
• Service records are a mess:
  • Papers stuffed in the glovebox
  • Records scattered across tire shops, alignment shops, oil change places, mechanics
  • Want your history? Call each shop individually and hope they kept it
  • Carfax? Pay $40/month and still get incomplete records
• Vehicle owners have already paid for the service - why should accessing their own records be this hard?

The Solution (Three Components)

1. PISTON DEVICE        2. CLOUD DATABASE         3. SHOP DASHBOARD
   (in vehicle)            (our IP)                  (automatic)
        |                      |                          |
        +-----------> VIN = Universal Key <---------------+
                    (connects everything)

1. Piston Device - OBD-II telemetry device (Teltonika hardware), tracks real mileage
2. Cloud Database - Stores mileage + service history + vehicle owner profiles, all VIN-linked
3. Shop Dashboard - Runs automatically, shops upload repair orders, system handles the rest

Result: When a car needs service, the owner gets: "You've driven 4,800 miles since your last oil change. Schedule with your shop?" One tap. Booked. No added work for the shop.

Business Model

Revenue Streams

Unit Economics

Infrastructure Costs

• $2.26/device/month (Cloudflare + Soracom cellular)
• Scales efficiently - infrastructure never bottlenecks growth
• At 100K devices: variable cost is ~1.3% of subscription revenue

Shop Dashboard (B2B Product)

Free tier gets shops in the door. Pro tier unlocks revenue.

Consumer App (B2C Product)

Free to vehicle owners. Complete records. Owner-controlled.

• Proactive notifications: "You have 500 miles until your next service" (not "Your car is due NOW")
• One-tap scheduling: Swipe to schedule with your preferred shop
• Complete service history: All records tied to your VIN, accessible forever
• No gatekeeping: No Carfax subscription, no calling shops for records
• You control your data: Share with shops you choose, private by default

Fleet Dashboard (B2B Product)

Enterprise fleet management for businesses with 5+ vehicles.

Pricing: $25/device/month (same device, higher value for fleet operators)

Target customers: Delivery companies, service contractors (HVAC, plumbing), construction, rental agencies

Platform Strategy: One Device, Three Markets

This is not scatter - it's leverage.

The Insight

The same $110 device and the same cloud infrastructure serves three distinct markets at three different price points. Each additional market is incremental revenue without incremental R&D.

Shared Infrastructure

Three Markets, One Platform

Why This Is Strategic, Not Scattered

1. Same hardware - Volume discounts, simplified supply chain, one device to support
2. Same backend - One engineering team, shared development costs
3. Network effects - Shops service fleet vehicles, fleet drivers become consumers
4. Price discrimination - Fleet pays 67% more for same underlying tech
5. TAM expansion - $130B aftermarket + $34B fleet management = larger opportunity

Development Status

Current Traction

Devices

• 9 devices deployed for internal testing
• 30 devices on order for private beta
• 3 beta shops ready: Tyler's shop (Era Automotive) + 2 additional shops

Infrastructure

• Cloudflare infrastructure: <50ms processing, 0% error rate
• Dashboard functional: PDF upload, VIN parsing, automatic linking

Distribution Strategy

Wholesale Partners (In Discussion)

• WorldPac - National auto parts distributor, interested in bulk device purchases
• SSF - Auto parts wholesaler, exploring co-branded distribution program

Wholesale model: Discounted device pricing for bulk purchases, partners resell to shops at margin. We retain subscription revenue.

Additional Channels

• Partnerships with automotive colleges for shop onboarding and training
• Local shops engaged as platform champions for peer referrals and device sales

What This Proves

• We can execute - Team delivered production infrastructure
• Tech risk is de-risked - Architecture works, scales, secure
• Go-to-market started - Beta shops ready, distribution partnerships forming

The Ask: $500K Pre-Seed

Use of Funds

Terms

• Instrument: YC Post-Money SAFE
• Valuation Cap: $5,000,000
• Dilution: ~10%
• Floor: $350,000 (won't close below this)

Seed Milestones (12 Months Out)

What Hitting Target Unlocks

• Seed round: $750K-$1.2M at $10-11M cap
• Valuation support: 300 devices + 85% retention + 15% growth = solid up round

Competitive Advantage

Why We Win

The Moat

1. Mileage-based accuracy - Calendar reminders feel like spam; ours feel helpful
2. VIN-based data model - Simple but powerful architecture
3. No added work - Runs automatically, unlike CRM-based solutions
4. First mover - No existing solution sends mileage-based reminders to independent shops
5. Privacy-first architecture - Can't steal what doesn't exist

Privacy as Competitive Edge

"Can't steal what doesn't exist."

We don't store GPS location data. GPS is processed in real-time for mileage calculation, then immediately discarded.

• Reduced breach risk: Ephemeral data model minimizes exposure and liability
• Regulatory advantage: Not classified as a data broker, avoiding heightened scrutiny
• Law enforcement: Can't comply with location data requests - data isn't retained
• Competitive moat: Competitors (Bouncie, Zubie, Hum) monetize location data - we don't

Privacy and functionality aren't mutually exclusive. This is a structural advantage.

Cap Table

Post Pre-Seed ($500K @ $5M)

Vesting

• Tyler: Immediate (founder)
• Ryan: 2 years, 6-month cliff
• Tom/Eli/Marisa: 4 years, 1-year cliff (base grants from option pool)

The Team

Founders (Equity Defined)

Tyler Porras - CEO (52%)

• Owner/operator of Era Automotive (independent shop)
• Achieves 80% retention - 2x industry average
• Built production infrastructure
• Founder-market fit: Tyler IS the customer

Ryan Morris - CTO (23%)

• Technical co-founder, full-stack + design
• Building dashboard and vehicle owner app
• Long-time collaborator with Tyler

Core Team (Equity Based on Beta Deliverables)

• Noah - Chief Systems Officer, Full-Stack Engineer & Designer
• Tom - DevOps & IoT (device management, Soracom, provisioning)
• Eli - Sales Engineering (beta shop onboarding, demos)
• Marisa - Marketing & Content (website, sales collateral)

Growth Trajectory

FAQ / Objection Handling

"Why haven't shop CRMs built this?"

They send calendar-based reminders - "It's been 6 months." That feels like spam. We send mileage-based reminders - "You've driven 4,800 miles." That feels helpful. Accuracy requires the device. They don't have it.

"What about OEM connected car apps?"

OEMs route to dealers - conflict of interest with independent shops. We're the only solution that routes to the shop the vehicle owner actually wants.

"Isn't this just marketing software?"

No. Marketing software adds work - campaigns, segments, workflows. We run automatically in the background. Shops upload repair orders and we handle everything else. The pillar is: it must not add work.

"300 devices seems small for seed."

Retention and growth rate matter more than absolute count. 300 devices with 85% retention and 15% MoM growth is more fundable than 1,000 devices with 60% retention and flat growth.

"Pre-revenue is risky."

Infrastructure is operational today. We're not building from scratch. The technical risk is de-risked. We're validating go-to-market, not technology.

Founder Story

"I own Era Automotive, an independent repair shop. I achieve 80% customer retention - double the industry average. But I do it through brutal manual work: texting customers, tracking mileage in spreadsheets, calling to remind them at the right time.

Most shop owners can't do this. They don't have the time. So they lose 60% of customers after the first visit. The relationship just... breaks.

Piston Labs fixes that moment. We automate what I do manually - mileage-based reminders that keep customers connected to their shop. It runs in the background. No added work. Just retention."

Language Guidelines

DO Use

• "Mileage-based" or "usage-based"
• "Vehicle owner" (not "consumer" or "user")
• "The relationship breaks after the visit"
• "Accuracy builds trust"
• "Runs automatically in the background"
• "No added work"

DON'T Use

• "Otto" (deprecated product name)
• "Vehicle health" (too vague)
• "Marketing software" (we're not that)
• "CRM" when describing our dashboard (implies work)
• Don't over-explain the technology
• Don't frame as a marketing tool

Key Phrases to Repeat

• "We fix the moment where the relationship breaks: after the visit."
• "Calendar reminders feel like spam. Mileage reminders feel helpful."
• "Who sends the reminder stays top-of-mind."
• "Maintenance, based on how you drive."

Revision History

Core Value Props (Networking Quick Reference)

Memorize these for quick conversations:

The Ecosystem (One Device, Three Markets)

Same device. Same backend. Three revenue streams.

For Vehicle Owners

"Proactive maintenance with complete records. 'You have 500 miles until your next service - swipe to schedule.' All your service history in one place, tied to your VIN."

For Shops

"Automated customer retention. The shop that sends the reminder gets the business. No campaigns, no CRM work - it runs in the background."

The Insight

"Whoever sends the reminder gets the business. We make sure it's the independent shop, not the dealer."

Why It Works (Pick One)

• Proactive vs Reactive: "'You have 500 miles' beats 'Your car is due NOW.'"
• Accuracy builds trust: "Calendar reminders feel like spam. Mileage reminders feel helpful."
• Records access: "Vehicle owners already paid for the service - why is their history locked away?"
• Zero work for shops: "Upload repair orders. We handle the rest."

Why Us (Pick One)

• Founder-fit: "I own a shop. I achieve 80% retention manually. Piston automates it."
• First mover: "No one else does mileage-based reminders for independent shops."
• De-risked: "9 devices deployed, 30 on order, 3 beta shops ready."

The Ask (Casual)

"We're raising $500K pre-seed to get 300 devices in cars and 20 shops using the platform."

Conversation Starters

• "Ever notice how your dealer app knows when you need service, but your local shop doesn't?"
• "Where do you keep your car's service records? ... Exactly. That's the problem."
• "We flip maintenance from reactive to proactive - for both shops and drivers."