The David Spisak Show

David Spisak
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What happens when you get access to uncommon conversations with people who achieved the highest levels of success? Join David Spisak as he brings you inside the room where success stories are told by the people who lived them so that you can achieve your definition of success at an accelerated pace. 

  1. 3D AGO

    How Tekion Is Redefining AI in Car Dealerships with Jay Vijayan (NADA26)

    What if the biggest risk in your dealership isn’t AI… it’s using the wrong AI? Live from the Tekion booth at NADA 2026, in what might be the busiest corner of Las Vegas that week, I sat down with Jay Vijayan for a conversation that goes way beyond buzzwords. And trust me… this one matters. Because while everyone is talking about “AI agents,” very few are asking the harder question: What happens when those agents don’t talk to each other? In this episode, Jay and I unpack what real platform innovation looks like, not marketing innovation, not slide-deck innovation, but foundational, ground-up, security-first innovation. We talk about Tekion’s unimaginable growth. From roughly 100 rooftops just a few years ago… to over 3,000 today. That kind of acceleration doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when product, people, and philosophy align. Here’s what we also dive into: Why most AI solutions fail dealers, and why many get turned off just as quickly as they’re turned onThe difference between “AI features” and a true unified data platformWhy disparate systems + AI is a disaster waiting to happenWhat it actually takes to build compliant, secure, responsible AI in a dealership environmentThe real risk of uploading your financials into public AI toolsWhy security certifications like SOC, ISO, and responsible AI governance aren’t optional anymoreThis isn’t a “how much does it cost?” conversation. It’s a “what is it costing you not to evolve?” conversation. Because the future of your store won’t be determined by whether you adopt AI. It’ll be determined by whether you adopt it intelligently. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    38 min

  2. FEB 5

    How Smart Dealers Are Beating the Used Car Shortage (Without the Auction) with Dom Pope

    What happens when a guy from Manchester flies across the pond, challenges how dealerships think about inventory, and casually drops 40% conversion rates into the conversation? You sit him down in the studio, and press record. This episode is different. For the first time, I’m not behind the desk. I’m sitting face-to-face with Dom Pope, founder and CEO of Sell My Ride, who’s been on a mission to help dealers solve one of the most stubborn problems in our industry: vehicle acquisition. Dom didn’t just wake up one day and decide to “try the U.S. market.” He spent five years in the UK helping dealers go direct-to-consumer, scaling acquisition from zero to thousands of vehicles a month, then brought those hard-earned lessons stateside. And what he shares in this conversation will challenge how you think about auctions, marketing spend, competition with Carvana and CarMax, and what it really takes to win locally. We also get into: Why belief is the first competitive advantage most dealers are missingHow smaller dealerships can compete with giants without trying to play their gameWhat successful dealers do differently when it comes to acquisition focus and disciplineWhy stacking acquisition channels beats hunting for a “silver bullet”How direct-to-consumer strategies can dramatically outperform traditional lead modelsThe difference between optimizing for efficiency and maximizing for absolute returnsReal dealer stories, like why acquisition managers are becoming the highest-paid people in the storeAnd yes… we also talk about Vegas hangovers, Manchester vs. America, why Orlando airport carpets spark joy, and whether good fish and chips actually exist in the U.S. (jury’s still out). If you’re a dealer, operator, or leader who’s tired of feeling boxed in by auctions, squeezed margins, and “that’s just how it is,” this conversation will expand your thinking. It’s not about one solution. It’s about building a system that lets you win, on your terms. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    36 min

  3. JAN 29

    How Cars.com Is Using AI to Transform the Way People Buy Cars with Matt McDonald

    Buying a car should feel exciting… so why does it still feel like pulling teeth? In this episode of The David Spisak Show, I sit down with Matt McDonald, Director of Product at Cars Commerce, for a conversation that hits right at the heart of where automotive, technology, and the modern consumer collide. Matt isn’t just another tech leader, he’s a lifelong car guy with deep roots at Amazon and GameStop, now standing at the center of one of the most important inflection points our industry has ever seen. Together, we unpack how consumer buying behavior is shifting, why 70% of shoppers don’t even know what car they want when they start, and how AI is finally poised to turn car shopping from painful into pleasurable. This isn’t AI-for-AI’s-sake. We go deep into Carson, Cars.com’s new AI-powered shopping assistant, and why it’s fundamentally different from generic chatbots. We talk about natural language search, intent-driven shopping, and how dealers can finally meet customers where they actually are, not where we assume they are. In this episode, we cover: Why car shopping is one of the only purchases people want but still dreadMatt’s journey from Amazon’s customer-obsessed culture to leading product at Cars CommerceThe surprising data behind undecided buyers, and why that changes everythingHow Carson helps shoppers go from “I have an idea” to “this is the car” fasterWhat better data means for dealers, without being invasiveWhy AI might finally bridge the gap between online research and in-store experienceIf you care about where automotive retail is headed, how AI can actually create value, or how dealers can deliver a better experience without adding friction, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    46 min

  4. JAN 22

    When Experience Becomes Perspective: Jack Hollis on What Matters Most

    What happens when a professional athlete’s dream ends… and a legendary automotive career begins? In this episode of The David Spisak Show, I sit down with Jack Hollis for a conversation I’ve wanted to have for a long time, one that goes far beyond titles, logos, and resumes. This is about people, purpose, grit, and what it really means to build something that lasts. Jack takes us all the way back, from growing up in a family of elite athletes, to the heartbreak of injuries that closed the door on baseball, to a 30+ year journey at Toyota that shaped dealers, challenged the industry, and ultimately redefined what true partnership looks like. Along the way, we unpack the lessons that only come from adversity, humility, and long-term thinking. But this conversation isn’t just about the past. We dig deep into Jack’s next chapter as Managing Partner at Accrual Equity Partners, why he said yes, why people mattered more than capital, and how purpose, values, and integrity are being built into the foundation of the business from day one. We talk private equity without the buzzwords, leadership without the ego, and growth without losing your soul. We also discuss: Why team sports and grit prepared Jack for a career in automotive leadershipThe real story behind Toyota’s dealer-first philosophy and what other manufacturers missWhy EVs, hybrids, affordability, and China will shape the industry heading into 2026What most people get wrong about private equity, and how Accrual is doing it differentlyThe power of purpose-driven growth, giving back, and creating wins for more than just shareholdersMarriage, faith, road-warrior life, and the relationships that truly sustain long careersThis episode is thoughtful, honest, and deeply human. If you care about leadership, the future of retail automotive, or simply hearing how character shows up over a lifetime of work—this conversation is for you. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    49 min

  5. JAN 15

    What CarMax and Carvana Know About Used Car Acquisition That Dealers Don’t with Brian Kramer

    What if the most overlooked department in your dealership is actually the most powerful growth engine you have? That’s not a hypothetical. That’s the reality—and in this episode, Brian Kramer and I go straight at it. If you’ve ever felt like used cars were treated as “the other department,” or you’ve struggled with acquisition, trade capture, or keeping up with CarMax, Carvana, and a rapidly shifting marketplace, this conversation will challenge the way you think—and the way you operate. Brian doesn’t just talk theory. He’s lived it. From lot porter to GM to executive leadership at Cars Commerce, he’s been in the trenches fixing broken stores, scaling used car operations, and helping dealers rethink acquisition, pricing, and process from the ground up. In this episode, we unpack: Why the used car department is finally getting the respect it deserves—and why that matters now more than everThe dangerous myth of “look-to-book” and why appraising more cars is the real unlock for profitabilityHow CarMax and Carvana rewrote the rules of acquisition—and what dealers still don’t fully understand about why it worksThe counterintuitive truth about risk, over-allowances, and why “playing it safe” is costing dealers millionsHow friction doesn’t disappear—you either transfer it to your customer or absorb it yourselfWhat AI, Carson, and marketplaces like Cars.com are changing about how consumers search, decide, and buyWhy acquisition strategy beats retail pricing strategy every single timeThere are moments in this conversation where you’ll nod your head…and moments where you’ll feel uncomfortable—in the best possible way. Because this isn’t about doing what everyone else is doing. It’s about doing what actually works. If you’re serious about fixing acquisition, building a sustainable used car operation, and future-proofing your dealership in a world of AI agents, marketplaces, and changing consumer behavior—this episode isn’t optional. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    1h 6m

  6. JAN 8

    Digital Retailing Isn’t New — Most People Just Don’t Understand It with Rusty West

    Some conversations age well. Others quietly explain the future before most people realize they’re already living in it. This one does both. In this episode of The David Spisak Show, I sit down with Rusty West, a builder, systems thinker, and one of the most consequential architects of modern automotive pricing, payments, and digital transaction logic,to unpack the ideas that reshaped an industry long before the industry had language for them. This is not a nostalgia episode.It’s a deconstruction of how complex systems actually change. Rusty doesn’t just tell stories, he reveals why things unfolded the way they did: why Lease Profit had to become Market Scan,why September 11th forced a once-dominant business to reinvent overnight,why “penny-perfect payments” were never about payments at all,and why the future of automotive retail was always going to belong to whoever could normalize chaos into certainty.We talk deeply about data as leverage, not as buzzwords. About why digital retailing didn’t fail, it was simply misunderstood. About how trust is built (and destroyed) through consistency, not convenience. And about why Amazon, Carvana, and large marketplaces aren’t scary because of scale, but because of foresight. If you’re a dealer, operator, entrepreneur, technologist, or leader who wants to understand where the leverage is moving, not where it’s been, you’ll want to listen carefully. This is someone explaining how the chessboard actually works. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    1h 21m

  7. JAN 1

    The Used Car Exit Strategy Dealers Ignore—And Why It’s Costing Them Millions (With Dealer Club Founder Joe Neiman)

    What if the most overlooked lever in your dealership… is actually the one that determines your profitability? We talk a lot about acquisition in this business. But what happens after the car hits your lot, and more importantly, how it exits, might be the difference between grinding harder or winning smarter. In this episode of The David Spisak Show, I sit down with Joe Neiman, founder of Dealer Club and one of the sharpest minds in wholesale, to have an honest conversation about the side of the business most dealers don’t want to talk about… but absolutely should. Joe takes us all the way back, flipping cars out of his parents’ driveway, selling on eBay in the early 2000s, building what would become ACV Auctions, and eventually launching Dealer Club with one bold idea: what if wholesale actually worked in the dealer’s favor? And now, with Dealer Club officially part of the Cars Commerce ecosystem, that idea has evolved into something even bigger. In this episode, we unpack: Why exit strategy is the real profit lever in used carsHow reputation, not just price, drives wholesale valueThe hidden costs of “reactionary wholesale” (and why it quietly destroys net)What most auctions get wrong about buyers and sellersHow Dealer Club flips the script by paying dealers to sell carsWhy transparency and accountability create better outcomes for everyoneHow Cars Commerce, AccuTrade, and Dealer Club finally close the inventory loopThere’s a moment in this conversation where wholesale clicks differently, where it stops being the ugly stepchild of the dealership and starts looking like the opportunity it’s always been. If you’re serious about becoming a more disciplined, intentional, and profitable used car operator, especially in a tightening market, this is one of those episodes that will challenge how you think and change how you act. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    58 min

  8. 2025-12-25

    How Hudson Automotive scaled from 6 dealerships to 65 without losing its soul with Adam Cherin

    What if the car business isn’t really about cars at all? In this episode of The David Spisak Show, I sit down with Adam Cherin, Variable Operations Director at Hudson Automotive Group, for a conversation that goes way deeper than rooftops, revenue, or expansion headlines. Adam’s story starts the way so many great automotive stories do, unexpectedly. A 12-year-old kid, a school shadow day, and a grandfather who didn’t just run a dealership… he commanded it. From that moment on, Adam never looked back. And what unfolds from there is a masterclass in leadership, culture, adaptability, and why doing business the right way still wins. What we dig into: How early influences shape lifelong leadership styles (and why Adam’s grandfather still guides his decisions today)Why culture isn’t a slogan on the wall, it’s a daily disciplineHow Hudson Automotive scaled from 6 dealerships to 65 without losing its soulThe real reason “people are the key to success” isn’t just a feel-good phraseThe hidden risks (and massive opportunities) of remote selling and offsite deliveriesHow fraud is evolving, and what smart operators are doing to stay aheadWhy transparency, adaptability, and convenience are no longer optionalAnd how this industry can literally change families, not just paychecksAlong the way, we swap stories, challenge outdated thinking, talk about leadership through empathy, and even revisit first cars, toaster sales meetings, and why the car business remains one of the most opportunity-rich industries on the planet. Connect with David Spisak to Achieve Exponential Growth: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidspisak/Website: https://www.davidspisak.comEmail: david@disruptivegrowthsolutions.comPhone: +1 (510) 604-0308Visit https://linktr.ee/spisakd for all our linksLike this show? Please leave us a rating and review where you're listening right now! 🎧 Subscribe on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-david-spisak-show/id1602552929🔊 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6oPjFeHfnxNXPTHXxNwIsm?si=4fc3f546d07a4679

    52 min
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About

What happens when you get access to uncommon conversations with people who achieved the highest levels of success? Join David Spisak as he brings you inside the room where success stories are told by the people who lived them so that you can achieve your definition of success at an accelerated pace. 

Information

  • Creator
    David Spisak
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    252
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The David Spisak Show
  • Show Website
    The David Spisak Show

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