Nov 04, 2021 | 2 min read

Turning Adversity into Opportunities for Innovation with Matt DiBari

By: Patrick Emmons

Turning Adversity into Opportunities for Innovation with Matt DiBari

Experiencing a sudden revenue drop is a formidable challenge for any business. When SpotHero found themselves there at the start of the pandemic, the team took it as an opportunity to pause and rethink their business.

In this episode, Matt DiBari, Chief Product Officer at SpotHero, talks with Patrick and Shelli about how creative thinking and a strong team foundation allowed SpotHero to weather the sudden downturn. He also discusses how a culture of looking around corners and reacting with wonder fuels innovation both today and for the company’s ‘horizon 3’ plans.

  • (04:19) - COVID’s influence on parking trends
  • (08:06) - Weathering a significant revenue downturn
  • (13:09) - Transparency to countering uncertainty
  • (16:17) - Looking around corners to maintain an edge
  • (23:17) - Remember to react with wonder
  • (25:21) - Fostering cross-team learning
  • (28:38) - Curiosity and humility as keys to leadership

About Our Guest

Matt DiBari (he/him/his) is Chief Product Officer at SpotHero. He joined SpotHero in 2019 as VP of Product, bringing more than 15 years of experience to the role. At SpotHero, Matt is primarily responsible for product vision and strategy, bringing together his love of product innovation and more than a decade of automotive experience.

Prior to SpotHero, Matt was the Senior Director of Product Management at Cars.com, after having honed his automotive expertise at CDK Global. Matt has a BA in computer science, math, and philosophy from Augustana College and an MS-MIS and MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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About Patrick Emmons

If you can’t appreciate a good sports analogy, movie quote, or military reference, you may not want to work with him, but if you value honesty, integrity, and commitment to improvement, Patrick can certainly help take your business or your career to the next level. “Good enough,” is simply not in his vernacular. Pat’s passion is for relentlessly pushing himself and others to achieve full potential. Patrick Emmons is a graduate of St. Norbert College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Patrick co-founded Adage Technologies in 2001 and in 2015, founded DragonSpears as a spin-off dedicated to developing custom applications that improve speed, compliance and scalability of clients’ internal and customer-facing workflow processes. When he is not learning about new technology, running a better business, or becoming a stronger leader, he can be found coaching his kids’ (FIVE of them) baseball and lacrosse teams and praising his ever-so-patient wife for all her support.

Recent Episodes

We interview leaders from early-stage start-ups to billion-dollar enterprises who distill their lessons from their victories and their failures. Learn how these high-performing leaders organize their teams, establish a growth-minded culture, and leverage new technologies such as DevOps and Cloud.