Chris Savage Wistia Growing & Scaling Without the Hassle of the Hustle
70
Hi!
Transcript of Chris Savage Wistia Growing & Scaling Without the Hassle of the Hustle
Hi!
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!
