Episode Details

What does it actually look like to grow a student side hustle into a company worth nearly $2 billion?

John Pestana did exactly that, starting by building websites for $20 an hour out of a college computer lab, and eventually selling Omniture to Adobe for close to $2 billion.

In this episode of How I Started, Connor Boyack sits down with John, an entrepreneur, CEO and Co-founder of ObservePoint, and a seasoned mentor to founders, to uncover the real story behind one of Utah's biggest tech success stories. They explore how John went from DJing church dances and shoveling fire pits to discovering an adjacent opportunity in website analytics to leading a company of over 1,200 employees.

Things You Will Learn

1. How to spot and act on adjacent opportunities that naturally grow out of the work you're already doing
2. How to choose a co-founder whose skill set complements yours and avoid the partnerships that fall apart
3. Why hyper-focusing on one thing early in a business create more success than chasing multiple ideas at once

Tools & Frameworks Covered

1. The Adjacent Possible: a method for recognizing and acting on business opportunities that emerge naturally from your current work and customer relationships
2. Bootstrapping as a Learning Tool: using lean, self-financed growth to stay close to your customer's real problems instead of spending your way past them
3. The Co-founder Compatibility Check: evaluating a potential business partner on complementary skills, shared ethics, and a clear wind-down agreement before committing

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