Chris Savage, Co-founder and CEO, Wistia
Chris Savage is the CEO and co-founder of Wistia, a video marketing and analytics platform that helps businesses host, customize, and measure video content. After graduating from Brown University, Chris and his co-founder, Brendan Schwartz, started Wistia in Brendan’s living room in 2006.
What has been your proudest career accomplishment to date?
I’m proud of the culture I have built at Wistia. The advantage of leading a startup is the ability to pick your team and work closely with them. As a company, we believe that if you can find a way to make the work you’re doing more fun, you’ll be able to do it for longer, and better.
What’s the best piece of advice you can give to future 40 under 40 honorees?
Get comfortable running straight towards what scares you most. The difference between succeeding and failing all comes down to how you handle your fears, whether it’s the fear of failing or making the wrong decision, or even being afraid of success itself.
What do you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years?
In the next five years, I hope to continue making headway in achieving the central mission of Wistia: make business more human. I hope to continue developing Wistia’s technology as the industry evolves and build relationships with brands excited about using video to make long-lasting, personal connections with their audience.
What is one interesting fact about you that few people know?
I studied Art-Semiotics in college with a focus on the theory of filmmaking, and as an intern helped produce an Emmy award-winning documentary called Buddy, about the former mayor of Providence.
