PaintScratch

PaintScratch was founded in 2000 by Collin Harris, before most people even knew shopping online was an option.

Collin accidentally dropped a pair of skis on his new car and they left a deep paint scratch on the hood. After trying a number of autobody shops, Collin was dismayed by the extremely high prices they were quoting to touch up the scratch. And that was just the shops that actually could track down the color - several said they were unable to match the formula for his paint. Collin thought that there just had to be a better solution out there.

Earlier in Collin's entrepreneurial career, he had spent time buying, repairing, and selling used cars in the Bay Area of California. He developed a great relationship with a local paint shop there, San Leandro Color, and relied on their expertise to formulate and mix paint for him.

Fast forward to the skis being dropped on his new car and no good options to fix the scratch, and Collin had an idea: let people buy inexpensive touch up paint kits online, mixed with the exact paint to match their vehicle. Collin reconnected with his friends at San Leandro Color, worked out the details, and the first orders were shipped in April 2000!