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Why Wistia Said No to HBO
Imagine you’re Chris Savage, a young co-founder/CEO in the early stages of building a company. You’ve just closed your very first customer — ever — and you’re wondering if you’ll be able to repeat the process. Your goal: Steady growth. Keep closing these deals and you figure that by the end of the year you’ll have about $60,000 in annual recurring revenue.
But then something unexpected happens.
HBO calls. They’re interested in your tech. Very interested. And they want to make a massive deal that will end up being worth $750,000 per year. With just one customer on the books, your fledgling tech startup is suddenly poised to become a lucrative business. The only caveat: In order for the deal to work out, you’ll need to move your entire operation 3,000 miles across the country, from Boston to L.A., to be closer to HBO headquarters.
If you were CEO, could you have said no to HBO’s offer?
As you’re about to discover, this is more than just a fun hypothetical. Chris Savage, co-founder and CEO of the video hosting and analytics company Wistia, actually faced this decision. The full story, which you can read below, was recently featured on The Growth Show podcast’s “The Power of No” episode.
(Note: You can find the iTunes link and SoundCloud embed for the episode at the…