Chris Savage Wistia Growing & Scaling Without the Hassle of the Hustle

Hi!

Three Mistakes thatDefined Our Business

http://wi.st/threemistakes

I was wrong

Things I wish I’d known before scaling from 20 to 100 people

You’ve hired the bestGuiding Assumption

There is no time to think

Big problems are scarier

Communication gets harder

Scaling Challenges

Communication gets harderScaling Challenge

Communicate:New goals for the year

“When are you going to send out the finished goals?”

If it feels unfinished,it is unfinished.

Challenge:All of our teams were on

different schedules

Communicate:Try to get all teams on the same

schedule

The Operating System

Basecamp Summit

Planning

Retros

Form teams

1 week 4 weeks

Execute with your team

Demos to finish so everyone sees progress

“Why are you changing everything? What the F*&K?”

We made the same mistake again!We got the tone wrong.

Mountaineering

Basecamp1 week

Preparing for the next climb:Monitoring the weatherReviewing past climbsLearning from other groupsLetting off steamRevisit overall processes

Summits4 weeks

Goals for summits:Laying ropesAcclimatizingRigging laddersDropping off oxygen for future climbsHike

Ed Viesturs• 1st American to summit all 14, 8,000M peaks• Saved people in the infamous Everest

season of 1996 (Into Thin Air)• Once hiked with Chris & Brendan

œ

Made the communication less serious,which let people try the operating

system

The tone is the message

Big problems are scarierScaling Challenges

As the company grows,so does the impact of decisions

You want the answersBefore you communicate

Problem:Pricing

Pricing Testing

$25/monthUnlimited videos

0

19

37

56

74

Gross Margin

Secretly solve the problem

Eureka!

We have to raise prices

The team hated the solution

We formed anew team to own the

problem.

The solved the problem openly

Problem:Changing how we set strategy

Solve big problems openlyLesson

There is no time to thinkScaling Challenges

It’s my job to be busy

Work Life Unbalanced

I forgot thatthinking is work

Running a companyis a creative endeavor

Solving communication challengesMaking decisions around pricing

Building a more diverse workforce

You need to see thinking as real work

Getting free time is hard

Being busy is a people problemnot a productivity problem

Delegate moreGet better people

Hackathons

Everyone needstime to think and create

Don’t feel guilty having free timeLesson

Focus on tone

Solve big problems openlyDon’t feel guilty having free

time

Thanks!