From live-recording on Wistia’s new (beta) platform to reframing “failure,” funding, and mental fitness, Wistia cofounder/CEO Chris Savage shares how creative optimism and long horizons build durable companies: pick problems worth working on for years, listen hard, ship again, and design recovery so you don’t burn out.

Key Takeaways
• Failure vs feedback: crickets → quit; caring feedback → iterate.
• Choose a winnable game: align funding with your tempo (not “triple-triple-double”).
• Small + patient can be an edge; timing is often slower than you think.
• Recovery is a strategy: daily workouts ↑ stress capacity; delegate to protect energy.
• Lead (and parent) by modeling—behavior ripples through teams.
• Honesty compounds trust: own mistakes publicly and flip them into loyalty.
• Use customers’ language; expect spike-drop-rebuild post-launch.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro / “What makes you you?”
02:00 UX tips: Stage view, pop-out, device-switch quirks
05:20 “What makes you you?”—optimistic, excitable, pathfinding
08:30 Failure vs. feedback; when to persist vs. walk away
10:45 Webinars pivot: acquire → rebuild → months of low trials/no retention
15:10 Funding fit & expectations: bootstrapped + debt buyback; different game
18:30 Near-sale (2017) → “pretend we sold”: vacations, delegation, balance
22:40 Stress & recovery: daily workouts, capacity, team leverage (oxygen-mask rule)
26:00 Modeling at home & work; radical honesty (“we messed up” email)
29:30 Wistia's success: right macro shift, patience, culture; be your own best customer
33:00 Launch reality: spike → drop → compounding touchpoints
34:30 Where to find Chris

Links
Learn more about Chris Savage
Learn more about Jolie Shapiro
Learn more about Revenue Mind

Make a Game You Can Win, Chris Savage, Co-Founder & CEO of Wistia