Episode 165: The Story of SpotHero & Breaking into Product Management with Matt DiBari, Chief Product Officer

In this episode of Product Thinking, Matt DiBari joins Melissa Perri to discover the secrets of product management in high growth companies. Together, they discuss effective user research, the different mindsets in B2B & B2C, essential skills in high growth companies, and breaking into product management.

Matt DiBari is Chief Product Officer at SpotHero, over in Chicago. He joined SpotHero in 2019 as VP of Product, bringing more than 15 years of experience as a Product specialist in the world of automotives. At SpotHero, Matt is responsible for product vision and strategy, combining his love of product innovation and extensive automotive experience.

Before SpotHero, Matt was the Senior Director of Product Management at Cars.com, where he led product management teams working across Cars.com’s marketplace and technologies. Matt also honed his automotive expertise at CDK Global, where he was responsible for a global team developing automotive retail and accounting systems with product revenues of up to $100 million annually. 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.

You’ll hear them talk about:

5:25 - Matt explains whether there is a clear distinction between product managers and user researchers. The process of user research at SpotHero is handled by the product designers. Product managers collaborate closely with the designers and take notes during research sessions. The insights are then shared with the engineering team to ensure everyone understands the customers' needs.
13:02 - SpotHero has 125 people in the product and design teams. Managing both B2B and B2C marketplaces has challenges as the needs and time horizons differ. Matt explains B2B and B2C teams share goals that benefit both sides, such as increasing ratings and reviews. SpotHero ensures both teams understand the importance of collaboration and how their work impacts each other.
19:29 - High growth companies have a unique perspective, decisions and rules are up for debate. Matt reveals this differs from big established companies in that rules are unchallenged. The key difference is an attitude shift, in a high growth company people are looking to make things faster and more efficient without too much reflection. To find people who thrive in high growth environments, Matt looks for candidates who are curious, self-starters, and have a track record of influencing others. He asks questions about their messiest projects, their ability to learn and teach themselves new things, and their experience in influencing higher-ups.

36:54 - Matt encourages individuals trying to break into product management to start showing an early interest and start spending time with product managers. Candidates that shadow and proactively seek mentorship tend to perform better during recruitment processes. Demonstrating initiative is key, successful candidates have previously asked for recommendations of podcasts or books that’ll aid with their deep dive into product management.

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Previous guests include: Tanya Johnson Chief Product Officer at Auror, Tom Eisenmann of Harvard Business School, Stephanie Leue of Doodle, Jason Fried of 37signals, Hubert Palan of Productboard, Blake Samic of Stripe and Uber, Quincy Hunte of Amazon Web Services

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