The Firm
An operating firm for the automotive industry.
Kyzor was founded by Todd Smith to do three things for the automotive ecosystem: incubate the companies the industry needs, invest in the founders building them, and advise the OEMs and dealer groups deciding what comes next.
The Thesis
Automotive is in the middle of a structural rebuild. AI, data, direct-to-consumer pressure, and a generational handoff inside dealer ownership are converging in the same decade. The firms that emerge from it will not be the ones with the best slides. They will be the ones with the best operators in the room.
Kyzor was built to be that room. A senior, independent partner for the OEMs setting the strategy, the dealer groups executing it, and the founders building the infrastructure underneath.
The firm earns its position by being aligned with the operator, not the vendor. Kyzor does not resell software, take referral fees, or carry rev-share with any platform. Capital is invested from the firm. Counsel is paid by the client. The interests stay clean.
Todd's writing, speaking, and thought leadership live at toddsmith.ai. Kyzor is the firm. The two are deliberately separate.
Published Work
The Intelligent Dealership.
How AI and Data Transform Automotive Retail
The #1 best-selling book that frames how dealer groups, OEMs, and the vendors that serve them should think about AI, data, and the next decade of automotive retail.
The thesis behind the book is the same thesis the firm operates on. Technology is not the disruption. The operator's willingness to organize around it is.
Operating Principles
Three rules the firm runs on.
I.
Aligned with the operator.
No reseller margin. No referral fees. No vendor rev-share. The economics of the firm exist to keep the counsel honest and the capital clean.
II.
In writing. On the record.
Every engagement produces a written deliverable that survives the meeting. Boards, CFOs, and successor leadership can act on it.
III.
Senior in every room.
Kyzor stays small on purpose. The firm exists to put the principal in the room, not to staff a pyramid of associates under a brand.
Recognition
5x
Inc. 500/5000 honoree
#1
Best-selling author. The Intelligent Dealership.
30+
Years operating in automotive technology
2018
ActivEngage exit
Bring the real question.
OEMs, dealer groups, and founders engage Kyzor when the decision is too consequential to outsource to a vendor's sales deck.