Peter Sisson, CEO and Cofounder of Yaza, has been in tech for a long time. He fell in love with computers back when we called the internet the worldwide web.  

From building successful companies to losing millions, Peter’s learned a thing or two about business. One of those lessons being that products don’t always turn out the way you plan, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“You’ve got to get something out there, but expect it not to be right and architect it to iterate.” With his current company, Yaza, Peter is leaning into that notion of iteration, as you’ll hear in his conversation with Austin. Instead of reinventing, Peter is pivoting his product towards something he couldn’t have predicted. 

Takeaways:

• Hone your product after getting feedback
• Persistence always pays off, often allowing you to create something better than you initially planned
• Timing is is pivotal to success, you have to listen to the marketplace 

Things to Listen For:

• [01:20] Where Peter’s fascination with tech began
• [03:03] The beginning of Peter’s entrepreneurial journey 
• [04:07]Peter’s first big idea 
• [06:52] osing millions from Jeff Bezos’ investment 
• [09:19] Understanding the  differences between being a founder CEO and a recruited CEO
• [10:47] What is Yaza today 
• [11:41] How Yaza is pivoting 
• [16:40] Navigating a double-sided marketplace 
• [19:06] Bringing products to market the right way
• [20:05] Timing as a predictor of success
• [21:51] The need to iterate a product based on feedback
• [23:47] Why Peter thinks investors are stifling creativity 
• [25:49] Reasons to not give up on a product too soon