Market-Proof Your Startup: How Wistia Thrived Through Change

When a startup survives nearly two decades, you pay attention to how. 

That was the energy in the room during Startup Boston Week’s session Market-Proof Your Startup: Thriving Through Shifts and Trends. The conversation paired David Chang, founding member of TBD Angels, with Chris Savage, co-founder and CEO of Wistia, a Boston-born company known for raising venture capital, and then purchasing the startup back from investors to scale independently.

Savage and Chang unpacked what it means to build a business that withstands market volatility, shifting technology, and the all-too-familiar near-death moments along the way. 

You can watch the full session in the embedded video below to catch every lesson in their own words - or keep reading for an overview.

A Startup Built to Last, Not to Flip

Savage described Wistia’s early years bluntly: two founders, minimal runway, and a Cambridge house shared with eight or nine roommates. Their first plan? Give it six months, and either sell to Facebook or pretend it never happened.

Instead, it took a year to land their first paying customer. But when big names - Cirque du Soleil, PBS - began using their product before any venture firm took their calls, the founders realized something important: “We were onto something…It was such a shock that these companies trusted us.”

Rather than chase fast-burn growth, Wistia protected independence. Even their eventual $17M debt-funded buyback was a strategic move to regain full control of the company, not scale faster.

Searching for growth vs. serving growth

Savage framed startup capital decisions into two camps:

• Searching for growth - when you don’t yet know how to scale

• Serving growth - when you do know and funding becomes fuel

Raising money while still searching, he warned, can trigger short-term, fear-driven choices: “We were running at a loss… everyone became short-term focused. And that changes people’s mentality.”

Once they committed to profitable growth, the company swung $9M in EBITDA in a single year - a financial realignment fueled by a newly galvanized team.

Change Isn’t the Threat, Misalignment Is

Wistia has survived multiple waves of technological disruption - from DSLR cameras transforming video production costs, to smartphones making video accessible to everyone, to today’s AI-driven automation. Through it all, Savage has held a consistent stance: innovation isn’t optional.

“If we don’t embrace this aggressively early…we are not going to be relevant as the transition occurs.”

But he emphasized something even more critical: innovation alone doesn’t keep a company alive. Alignment does.

When Wistia turned down acquisition offers during its debt-funded buyback, it created a defining moment. People had to decide whether they were committed to the long-term vision. Some chose to leave. Others leaned in harder than ever.

And that was exactly the point. “If you can be clear and turn some people on and others off, you’re doing everyone a favor.”

That clarity sparked cultural momentum:

• Teammates literally cheered for cost-savings wins

• People proactively stepped up to solve problems

• Ownership wasn’t theoretical — it was felt

Savage kept returning to one core belief: “Alignment follows results.”

Instead of long debates or endless prioritization exercises, Wistia pushes to ship, learn, and let real outcomes guide the next move. Even a scrappy experiment (like a humorous video calling out early AI video tools) can become the signal everyone rallies behind.

Because in a company built for durability, belief isn’t declared. It’s earned in motion.

Leadership by Gut, but Not Blindly

One audience member asked how leaders make high-stakes decisions amid uncertainty. Savage’s answer: intuition counts, when it’s earned.

He described the danger of ignoring instinct in favor of elaborate plans:

“Most of the decisions I regret are when I didn’t follow my intuition.”

He shared a practical framework:

• Act fast - most decisions are reversible

• Adapt even faster - if you’re wrong, change direction

• Don’t confuse analysis with accountability - movement matters most

As Chang added, “the worst decision is no decision.”

What Founders Can Take Forward

Savage’s personal motivation (still intact after 20 years) comes down to solving real problems and working with people who feel like teammates, not passengers.

“When the vibes are amazing… I feel like I can run through walls for them.”

His takeaway for the entrepreneurs in the room?

• Build profitably whenever you can

• Let your vision be a magnet for the right people

• Stay close to your customers’ problems

• Treat change as a competitive opening, not a threat

• Measure success by longevity of impact, not speed of hype

Because a startup isn’t “market-proofed” by prediction, but by resilience.

Watch the Recording

If you want to dive deeper into the strategies and founder wisdom behind their journey, you can watch the full recording embedded above or right here on YouTube. It’s packed with hard-earned lessons every startup leader should hear firsthand.