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Startup Helps Fend Off Car Repair Ripoffs BodyShopBids clears the confusion around disparate car-repair quotes

By Gwen Moran

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Fender Bender Mender

A combination of forces led BodyShopBids founder Brad Weisberg to start his business. In July 2011 he lost his job at social travel app WhereIveBeen.com. He had access to Lightbank, a Chicago incubator and VC firm launched by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. And he finally had time to work on an idea that had been percolating since he walked out of a restaurant in 2005 to find a dent in his silver Infiniti G5.

To fix it, Weisberg collected repair estimates ranging from $300 to an inexplicable $1,200. He figured if drivers could use smartphones to send photos to reputable body shops, they could save time and get the best deal.