Episode 2: Brendan Schwartz and Chris Savage, Wistia

In this Second Acts episode, Krish is joined by Wistia’s co-founders, Brendan Schwartz and Chris Savage, as they thoughtfully recount lessons from a path-altering decision (buying out their investors) in Wistia’s exemplary, 18-year history. Brendan: “The other thing that’s surprising is, how hard and how much work it is to build great software at scale…We’re super psyched right now that we have started back on this path and we’re shipping a lot faster and the product is getting faster, and I will say it gives me a lot more respect for really enormous companies who make great products.” Chris: “I just think that that’s like a mistake that’s very — and a surprise — it’s very easy to make as an entrepreneur: to see your journey as the journey of the market. And the truth is the market doesn’t care one leg. It doesn’t matter at all.”— Chapters:(02:08) The unaddressed scaling phase (03:33) What Brendan and Chris realized the one time they decided to sell Wistia(07:26) Overscaling and the storied, clarifying buyback(10:55) How Krish has learned to think about past mistakes(12:49) Deploying speed as a tool to deliver quality(19:09) The midwit meme and how Wistia hires execs(25:16) Trillion Dollar Coach(26:07) The long game and seeing what others don’t(28:32) How Wistia’s market has evolved (dramatically) over the years(32:26) Going from aiming for the “best damn point solution” to an all-in-one approach(35:50) Two scaling lessons that have surprised Brendan the most (37:38) Why the market doesn’t care how long you’ve been at it— Mentioned/Resources: How an Offer to Sell Wistia Inspired Us to Take On $17M in DebtSavage Mindset: Secrets to Moving FastTrillion Dollar CoachI’m Brendan Schwartz, Co-Founder and CTO of Wistia. AMA 💞—Connect with Brendan: XLinkedInConnect with Chris:XLinkedInTalking Too LoudConnect with Krish:XLinkedIn—About Chargebee: Chargebee is a revenue growth management platform that helps thousands of subscription businesses unlock second acts of scale. Learn more.