Chris Savage

Early days of Wistia, I was just constantly posting. I said before we had this portfolio site, I was like, what can I do? I was like, I can build a blog. And I posted twice a day and made this creative arts blog. And I, again, had no idea how successful it was. I thought it sucked. And I had thousands of people subscribing to the newsletter, reading all the stuff. I was like, oh, okay.

Early days of Wistia, I was just constantly posting. I said before we had this portfolio site, I was like, what can I do? I was like, I can build a blog. And I posted twice a day and made this creative arts blog. And I, again, had no idea how successful it was. I thought it sucked. And I had thousands of people subscribing to the newsletter, reading all the stuff. I was like, oh, okay.

Like Lynn Heights, I was like, that was, I didn't realize that that happened there. And then when we figured out Wistia, I was basically sharing the story on Twitter all the time. Like we did this thing today, that thing, you know, it started with like what I had for lunch and it turned into, here's this product feature. We're thinking about XYZ.

Like Lynn Heights, I was like, that was, I didn't realize that that happened there. And then when we figured out Wistia, I was basically sharing the story on Twitter all the time. Like we did this thing today, that thing, you know, it started with like what I had for lunch and it turned into, here's this product feature. We're thinking about XYZ.

And that worked, I thought, but I wasn't really sure how well it was working. And at some point I stopped doing it, probably like 2019. I was like, I don't really feel like this is worth my time as much anymore. So I stopped investing in it. And then COVID happened and I really stopped doing it. And then in 2022 or so, I felt like, wow, we are executing really well.

And that worked, I thought, but I wasn't really sure how well it was working. And at some point I stopped doing it, probably like 2019. I was like, I don't really feel like this is worth my time as much anymore. So I stopped investing in it. And then COVID happened and I really stopped doing it. And then in 2022 or so, I felt like, wow, we are executing really well.

We have set off on this bigger, broader strategy. Wistia is no longer just this hosting and analytics platform. We're building editing tools. We're building creation tools. We're building a webinar platform. We're building group recording. We have all these things now, but we're building them then. What can I uniquely do? What can I do that just I can do?

We have set off on this bigger, broader strategy. Wistia is no longer just this hosting and analytics platform. We're building editing tools. We're building creation tools. We're building a webinar platform. We're building group recording. We have all these things now, but we're building them then. What can I uniquely do? What can I do that just I can do?

And I started thinking, I can tell the company's story in a different way. I can tell the company's story from my perspective. And I used to do that. And I think it was working and I just didn't keep doing it.

And I started thinking, I can tell the company's story in a different way. I can tell the company's story from my perspective. And I used to do that. And I think it was working and I just didn't keep doing it.

And so in 2022, I started posting a little bit on LinkedIn and posting about Wistia, posting about my life as an entrepreneur, posting about what it's like to be a parent as an entrepreneur, posting about some of my other interests. And a lot of stuff took off. And I was like, whoa, look at these interactions.

And so in 2022, I started posting a little bit on LinkedIn and posting about Wistia, posting about my life as an entrepreneur, posting about what it's like to be a parent as an entrepreneur, posting about some of my other interests. And a lot of stuff took off. And I was like, whoa, look at these interactions.

And then over time, I've invested more and more in it and realized some really interesting things about building a personal brand. It's shifted how I think about brand building, where I still think there's a place to be building a company brand. I think you're crazy not to be building a company brand. But the expectations for startups for those brands keeps getting elevated.

And then over time, I've invested more and more in it and realized some really interesting things about building a personal brand. It's shifted how I think about brand building, where I still think there's a place to be building a company brand. I think you're crazy not to be building a company brand. But the expectations for startups for those brands keeps getting elevated.

Distribution is free, but that means you're competing with everybody. So you're competing with Netflix. You're competing with viral YouTube videos. You're competing with games. You're competing with everything as a company brand. And we're also, as a society, being trained to trust company brands less.

Distribution is free, but that means you're competing with everybody. So you're competing with Netflix. You're competing with viral YouTube videos. You're competing with games. You're competing with everything as a company brand. And we're also, as a society, being trained to trust company brands less.

And actually, if you look at how we're spending our time, we're spending our time on social media where we trust individual people. And I think this is rooted in something that's always been true, which is if you have a group of friends and you have your techie nerd friend, you ask them tech advice. You have your friend who's learning soccer, you ask them soccer advice. That's how it works.

And actually, if you look at how we're spending our time, we're spending our time on social media where we trust individual people. And I think this is rooted in something that's always been true, which is if you have a group of friends and you have your techie nerd friend, you ask them tech advice. You have your friend who's learning soccer, you ask them soccer advice. That's how it works.

You have friends, you ask word of mouth. But now it's possible to build these relationships with people in kind of a parasocial way online. And so we have our friends in person and we have our online friends who we trust on different topics. But... On the B2C side, this has become a tremendous way of how we discover and learn about products. It's becoming the dominant way.

You have friends, you ask word of mouth. But now it's possible to build these relationships with people in kind of a parasocial way online. And so we have our friends in person and we have our online friends who we trust on different topics. But... On the B2C side, this has become a tremendous way of how we discover and learn about products. It's becoming the dominant way.