Chris Savage

And the only reason we could survive is we were living in a 10-person house, and it was so unbelievably cheap. My girlfriend and I split a room, and we split food with everyone in the house. This is real. My total expenses on food per week at that time were $15 a week. So I spent $60 on food a month, and my rent was $320, and I bought nothing else. So basically, I was living on $400 a month.

And the only reason we could survive is we were living in a 10-person house, and it was so unbelievably cheap. My girlfriend and I split a room, and we split food with everyone in the house. This is real. My total expenses on food per week at that time were $15 a week. So I spent $60 on food a month, and my rent was $320, and I bought nothing else. So basically, I was living on $400 a month.

And my co-founder, Brennan, was basically in the same spot. And that is the only reason we were able to start the business. We got our expenses so low, but we still were going to run out of money. And so we had the portfolio site. We're like, oh, if we put ads on this, how much money could we make? And we'd had a thing go viral that we put ads on and we made very little money.

And my co-founder, Brennan, was basically in the same spot. And that is the only reason we were able to start the business. We got our expenses so low, but we still were going to run out of money. And so we had the portfolio site. We're like, oh, if we put ads on this, how much money could we make? And we'd had a thing go viral that we put ads on and we made very little money.

And we're like, hmm, this might not be the way. We tried to talk to the people who were building the portfolio and they're like, this site's cool. Like, what am I going to pay for? You already gave me the thing. I was like, hmm, this doesn't seem good.

And we're like, hmm, this might not be the way. We tried to talk to the people who were building the portfolio and they're like, this site's cool. Like, what am I going to pay for? You already gave me the thing. I was like, hmm, this doesn't seem good.

The one thing we were doing that I would highly encourage anyone who's at the early stage to do is we're just going to a lot of meetups and meeting a lot of people. And so every month, we're going to a couple of these things, at least. And just getting out there and talking to people and saying, everyone has their business card and says what they're doing. And we're like, oh, we're the video guys.

The one thing we were doing that I would highly encourage anyone who's at the early stage to do is we're just going to a lot of meetups and meeting a lot of people. And so every month, we're going to a couple of these things, at least. And just getting out there and talking to people and saying, everyone has their business card and says what they're doing. And we're like, oh, we're the video guys.

We're trying to do video stuff. And then people would be like, can you help my business with video? And we'd be like, no, we help artists. We're not in this to help businesses. Let me tell you, when we were like three months from running out of money, we started talking to the businesses pretty quickly.

We're trying to do video stuff. And then people would be like, can you help my business with video? And we'd be like, no, we help artists. We're not in this to help businesses. Let me tell you, when we were like three months from running out of money, we started talking to the businesses pretty quickly.

And what we discovered was that some of the things we had built were actually quite valuable, but not in the way they were packaged. So we built the video hosting. We'd built a private way for people to share videos. And that was so that I used to edit movies and I'd send ship DVDs every night and didn't make sense. Why can't you just put it online? So we solved that problem.

And what we discovered was that some of the things we had built were actually quite valuable, but not in the way they were packaged. So we built the video hosting. We'd built a private way for people to share videos. And that was so that I used to edit movies and I'd send ship DVDs every night and didn't make sense. Why can't you just put it online? So we solved that problem.

And people saw that and they're like, that's interesting. Just this private, secure way to share stuff. But they weren't filmmakers. They were companies. And so we went into our first potential customer, told them we could give them this thing to privately share video, made up a price. And they said, if you can give this to us, we'll pay you. And so we did it and they paid us.

And people saw that and they're like, that's interesting. Just this private, secure way to share stuff. But they weren't filmmakers. They were companies. And so we went into our first potential customer, told them we could give them this thing to privately share video, made up a price. And they said, if you can give this to us, we'll pay you. And so we did it and they paid us.

And that's how it started. And it was like one new customer each month at the beginning, which again felt painfully slow. But looking back on it was actually kind of fast.

And that's how it started. And it was like one new customer each month at the beginning, which again felt painfully slow. But looking back on it was actually kind of fast.

And the thing that opened our eyes was... we were quickly talking to huge brands. Our first customer was a medical device company. Then we started talking to PBS. And we started talking to a production company as our second customer. Our fifth customer is Cirque du Soleil. And they were using us to share videos privately of people who apply to be in Cirque.

And the thing that opened our eyes was... we were quickly talking to huge brands. Our first customer was a medical device company. Then we started talking to PBS. And we started talking to a production company as our second customer. Our fifth customer is Cirque du Soleil. And they were using us to share videos privately of people who apply to be in Cirque.

So it's like fire breathers and gymnastics would upload it to Wistia and then their team would look at it. And it was like, it's so crazy to me in hindsight. I mean, I remember so vividly doing the demo to them. sitting on the foot of my bed in this 10-person house. Brendan's upstairs in his bedroom. There's no video. You can't see anybody at this point.

So it's like fire breathers and gymnastics would upload it to Wistia and then their team would look at it. And it was like, it's so crazy to me in hindsight. I mean, I remember so vividly doing the demo to them. sitting on the foot of my bed in this 10-person house. Brendan's upstairs in his bedroom. There's no video. You can't see anybody at this point.