SpotHero's Mark Lawrence on Building a Marketplace Business, Meditation, & Why If It's Not a Fuck Yes, It's a Fuck No

This post originally appeared on Tech In Chicago. Visit Tech In Chicago to listen to more interviews with Chicago’s top startup founders and venture capitalists. 

Mark Lawrence is the CEO and Co-Founder of SpotHero, an on-demand parking app and website that makes drivers’ lives easier by helping them find and reserve a parking for up to 50% off. Mark along with his co-founders started the company after managing to rack up thousands of dollars in parking tickets. SpotHero is now one of Chicago's bigger consumer startup success stories. They raised $20 million in Series B funding last year, are in 15 cities, and have a team of 120 now. 

In This Episode You Will Learn:

• Why Mark and his co-founders started SpotHero
• How the product has evolved from the initial idea
• How they got their first customers
• What was going through his head when competitors were raising massive rounds
• Keys to growing a marketplace business
• How SpotHero approaches launching in a new city
• Why "If it's not a fuck yes, it's a fuck no" when hiring
• The benefits of meditation and floatation tanks
• Keys to keeping the culture as company grows

Selected Links From The Episode:

• TechNexus
• Ezra Galston, VC at Chicago Ventures

Favorite Books:

• Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Schultz
• Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way by Richard Branson
• The Virgin Way: If It's Not Fun, It's Not Worth Doing by Richard Branson
• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman
• Shogun by James Clavell

Sponsored By:

• Propllr: a Chicago public relations firm that helps startups and innovators build credibility and awareness for their companies, people, products and services.