Thread by @csavage

1/ A few years ago, entrepreneurs and investors would frequently advise me that Wistia was “too profitable.”

One of the biggest mistakes I've made was believing them.

2/ The argument does make sense. If your startup can grow faster by spending more, that can give you a competitive advantage and help you seize opportunities in some markets.

But that model just doesn't work for every type of startup. bit.ly/2Mlb3VC

3/ When we switched our focus to growth at Wistia, everything broke.

We started running at a loss, spending way more on advertising, discounting more (despite the consequences), and hiring faster. We tripled our headcount within the span of two years.

4/ At the same time, high-impact projects were constantly being set aside in favor of short-term projects that could immediately drive growth. There was a constant state of stress all across the team. People said it didn't feel like the Wistia they knew. wistia.com/learn/culture/…

5/ That was when we realized that running at a loss wasn't what was going to enable us to take more risks and go bigger. Being profitable was. hub.uberflip.com/content-market…

6/ About 5 years into running Wistia, we were spending less than we were making.

We started investing in content. We got creative with advertising. We improved the product in ways we couldn't prove would pay off—and it did. And we made videos for fun. wistia.com/learn/culture/…

7/ Having money in the bank gave us something more powerful than VC money or runway.

It gave us "profitable confidence."

That confidence, and the risks it has allowed us to take, has been the most powerful driver of our growth by far.

8/ Success in tech is often measured not in terms of how much money you make, but how much money you spend.

But that isn't the only way to run a business, and for many businesses, it's not the right one at all.