Bringing a Disruptive Business to Colorado

Why Carvana decided to expand its offering

Jenni Stanford //April 19, 2018//

Bringing a Disruptive Business to Colorado

Why Carvana decided to expand its offering

Jenni Stanford //April 19, 2018//

Based on the number of businesses and companies choosing the Centennial State, it seems the secret is out. Carvana, a leading e-commerce platform for buying used cars, is one of the newest among them, but certainly not the last.

Here’s why.

Colorado has a way of attracting entrepreneurial thinkers. In fact, my parents were small business owners, and I spent the early years of my career working for entrepreneurs around the state. What I found out – or confirmed – was that the state is full of rugged, adventurous and creative thinkers who have a way of making thing happen. Colorado’s ancestors braved the early years of the Wild West. They were courageous enough to move to the mountains. The local culture has long been considered tough, spirited and marked by a can-do attitude. This all aligns with the dedication, grit and determination one needs to start a company and disrupt an industry. Colorado’s attitude is an entrepreneur’s attitude. This culture of entrepreneurism and the robust business community that exists in Colorado, makes it an exciting and welcoming place for a company like Carvana to set up shop.

I was born and raised among the ranchers and Olympians of Steamboat Springs. My parents started nearly half a dozen businesses in Colorado, and still live in North Routt County. I am a University of Denver alum. I’ve lived on the Front Range, the Western Slope, Capitol Hill and the Denver suburbs. I owned a Subaru. I spent nearly 10 years in the Denver business community. And I will always cheer for the Blake Street Bombers. After leaving the state to join Carvana (headquartered in Phoenix) and help the company expand across the country, I could not be more excited that we are entering the Denver market with our revolutionary way to buy a car.

Launching in Denver means that Carvana quickly expanded its offering not just to Denver proper, but to the increasingly massive population of the Front Range region, as well as the rural communities that are still very much a part of Colorado's lifeblood. Colorado has such diversity of lifestyles – particularly the adventurous kind that require access to transportation – and more importantly, an easy and enjoyable way to obtain said vehicle! From ranchers and cowboys, to Olympians and outdoorsmen, Colorado is full of people with different needs. 

With more than 10,000 vehicles available to shop, finance and purchase in as little as 10 minutes, customers can get as-soon-as-next-day home delivery of the Ford F-150 for the rancher in Greeley, or the Subaru Outback for the young couple in the Highlands.  

Colorado has back roads, mountain passes and beautiful plains that beg to be explored. Now Carvana get to be a part of setting people off on those journeys. With Carvana, we can't save you from spending a Saturday in I-70 skier traffic, but we can save you from a Saturday of drinking coffee from a Styrofoam cup at an area dealership waiting for a salesman to "check with his manager." 


Jenni Stanford is the director of market operations and expansion at Carvana, where she brings Carvana and the new way to buy a car to more and more markets every day. Denver is Carvana’s 56th market to date and the first in Colorado.