This has been the decade of financial hassles. It's become harder for vast swathes of consumers to afford that bright shiny object they want to buy, in order to feel they have achieved some success in life. For many that's a house. For some it's a jacuzzi. Maybe it's a trip to Disneyland with the kids. For others still, it's a car. One of our BizSpark members has been working on a solution for this specific issue. John Morgan has built Motozuma, a platform that he says, "provides consumers with a customized savings page" that helps them save money to put down that deposit for their new car.
According to John, after they create a Motozuma account, consumers have all the tools they need to save their own money, such as -- $5/week, $50/month -- form a checking or saving account and also reach out to family and friends and ask them to contribute into their car fund for a birthday, holiday, graduation or any gift giving occasion.
"We can then transfer their down payment money into the dealership of their choice when they’re ready to buy their next car,"says John.
Motozuma users will receive a matching incentive on their savings, essential free money, if they buy from a Motozuma partner manufacturer or dealership.
We interviewed John recently. Here's what he told us about building this solution.
BizSpark: Tell us who you are and your role in the company
John Morgan: I’m John Morgan, CEO and Founder of Motozuma. My role is working every day to grow our business and help consumers have a positive experience when saving for and purchasing their next vehicle.
BizSpark: What is your company’s mission?
John Morgan: Our mission is to be a helping hand to consumers through the, often difficult, car buying process.
BizSpark: In 140 characters or less, tell us what your company does:
John Morgan: Help consumers save money for a down payment on a car & bring them exclusive purchase incentives from auto partners as a reward for saving
BizSpark: How is Azure implemented in your solution?
John Morgan: We converted our existing Motozuma.com system to utilize the Azure platform, which has been a great help to us.
BizSpark: How did you get excited about Azure?
John Morgan: Our lead architect originally learned about Azure from a local .Net user group and attended an Azure Boot Camp. We loved the idea of a high availability scalable environment. The biggest selling point for us was the ability to utilize high powered dependable servers powered by Microsoft without having to worry or spend time managing server security, permissions, or maintenance.
BizSpark: What were the Azure features that prompted you to decide to build on Azure?
John Morgan: The simplicity of code migration and the visual studio integration made Azure the clear choice in cloud solutions. Azure’s high availability has given us a reliability that would be difficult to achieve in our own data center.
BizSpark: What specific value are you getting from BizSpark beyond the technology?
John Morgan: BizSpark has given us the ability to fully utilize and benefit from so much of what Microsoft has to offer. We are honestly just starting to scratch the surface of the value that BizSpark offers and are excited to have a partnership like this that can grow with us as we scale our business.
BizSpark: What has been your biggest “aha” moment since founding your company?
John Morgan: Our biggest aha moment was our first survey we did to consumers after they purchased a vehicle with their Motozuma funds and a partner matching their savings. I was amazed at the positive things they had to say about us, our platform, the free money and even the dealership experience. It was described as that true win-win-win which we are very proud of and excited that those positive testimonials have continued.
BizSpark: What advice do you have for companies that are thinking about building in the cloud?
John Morgan: The cloud is the best place to build you enterprise software, we have seen great value in it and I think you will too.
BizSpark: What is the one thing that you would like readers to take away about your Azure app?
John Morgan: Our Motozuma.com platform provides great value if you’re ever going to buy a car. As a consumer you need a down payment to buy a car, so you should be saving for it today. Why not let your family and friends kick in if they want and then leverage your purchase power by getting a match on your hard earned money to buy your next vehicle. It’s simple and powerful – that’s what we do at Motozuma to help consumers every day.
