I’m David Gruhin. I connect business, technology, and people to build things that work. And keep working.
Different disciplines. One connected perspective.
EXPLORE THE NODESDifferent industries. Different challenges.
The same instinct to figure it out
and build something better.
I co-founded Hrizn and serve as CEO. The platform helps dealership and agency teams produce VIN-specific vehicle descriptions, localized SEO pages, research-driven articles, and social posts.
I co-founded Cheddar Auto and served as chief operating officer. Sellers started with a license plate and got an offer, which gave our buying center a way to source used vehicles directly from the public.
I came into automotive retail from software as a dealership marketing manager, was promoted to general manager, then led digital marketing across a multi-rooftop group and co-founded the agency SearchDRVN.
I was a senior developer at the publisher behind Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, leading development of off-platform websites for internal teams and external clients, including sponsored experiences sold by ad sales.
I’ve been the person writing the code.
And the person running the business
that depends on it.
That changes the questions you ask.
Listen to the people doing the work. Question the assumptions. A software problem is often a process problem in disguise.
Bring business context, operational experience, and technical thinking into the same conversation. Design for the whole system.
Turn the idea into something people can use. Put it in front of them. Let what happens next inform what gets built next.
A working prototype is the beginning. Think through the permissions, the people, the maintenance, and the day after launch.
Notes on AI, operating businesses,
and the space between what’s possible
and what’s actually useful.
I argue that dealerships have an operating problem rather than a software shortage. AI can automate a process, but it cannot decide what that process should be or make an inconsistent one consistent.
The riskier case is the experiment that succeeds. I trace how a prototype quietly gains permissions and connected systems until a dealership is running production infrastructure nobody has acknowledged as such.
Working code is one layer. Ownership, monitoring, permissions, and incident response are the rest. I make the case that "can we connect it" is the wrong question to ask first.
I didn’t set out to work in automotive. Restoring pinball machines led to a chance conversation with a dealership owner. That conversation changed the direction of my career.
Before that, I was building digital experiences in publishing. Since then, I’ve run a dealership, co-built automotive businesses, and returned to software as the co-founder of Hrizn.
The thread through all of it? I like understanding how things work—and figuring out how they could work better.
With a deep background in software development, David understands data driven decision making and applies it's principles to all aspects of dealership operations.
His intimate knowledge of technology and digital development has enabled him to help dealerships and dealer groups completely revolutionize their digital retailing.
Dave possesses the invaluable traits of being a terrific problem solver, extremely reliable, and a clutch performer when a high value project is short on precious time.