How Wistia Turned Video Hosting Into a Profitable SaaS Business
Chris Savage is the co-founder and CEO of Wistia, an internet video hosting and analytics company that enables marketers to track and analyze web video viewers. Chris and his co-founder Brendan founded Wistia in 2006. In 2009 they were finalists in BusinessWeek’s 25 Most Promising US entrepreneurs under the age of 25. Today, over 100,000 companies use Wistia for their video hosting and analytics.
Key Talking Points
- How the original business idea for Wistia was completely different from the business that it is today.
- Why the two co-founders moved into a 10-person house for a couple of years when they launched their business.
- How Wistia was able to position itself and charge customers for hosting video in a market dominated by Google/YouTube.
- How it took one year for Wistia to get their first customer and what kept Chris and Brendan going.
- How Wistia kept growing despite the fact that people couldn't even signup on the Wistia website for years.
Success Quote
- “If you make the work interesting enough and the culture strong enough, you can get to things you'd never expect” – Chris Savage
Book Recommendation
- “Masters of Doom” by David Kushner
Links & Resources Mentioned
Contact Information
Recommended Podcast Episodes
- SaaS Idea Validation: How to Ask Customers Good Questions - with Rob Fitzpatrick [206]
- How Vishal Sunak Took His SaaS From Zero to $10 Million ARR - with Vishal Sunak [281]
- From Struggling Bootstrapper to $10M+ SaaS CEO - with Ryan Fyfe [294]
- How a High-School Teacher Earned $5 Million With Online Coding Courses - with Rob Percival…
- Mode: How 3 First-Time Founders Built an 8-Figure SaaS - with Benn Stancil [307]
- Bootstrapping a SaaS from Zero to $55K MRR in 2 Years - with Arvid Kahl [259]
- Bootstrapping a SaaS in a Market with Well-Funded Competitors - with Michael Cooney [282]
- Flow - How to Turnaround a Struggling SaaS Company - with Daniel Scrivner [275]
- How to Build a SaaS Brand Without Doing 'Branding' - with Paul Campillo [270]
- What to Do When No One Will Pay for Your SaaS Product - with Ryan Born [228]