How This Parking-Spot App Beat Competitors... By Moving SlowUnder pressure to grow fast, the SpotHero CEO insisted on moving slow and steady

Mark Lawrence kept hearing the same thing from investors: If he wanted their money, he'd need to expand fast.

It was 2012 and Lawrence was cofounder and CEO ofSpotHero, a startup that enables drivers to book parking spots in advance — say, at a lot or a garage.Competitorswere spreading across the country, andinvestorssaw a land grab. The company with the biggest footprint seemed likeliest to win. "They said they would invest if we had more scale, and if we were in more cities," Lawrence recalls.