He is the CEO and co-founder of Qualtrics, one of the leading platforms that help gather and analyze data from customers and employees to use for market research — which he started out of his father’s basement with his brother and his father.
In this episode, we discuss why you should stop chasing money, how to balance priorities in the pursuit of success, how hitting rock bottom in a new country all by himself transformed Ryan’s life forever, the most underrated skill to have in life right now, and how he became the owner of the Utah Jazz NBA team, and so much more.
Ryan Smith is the CEO and co-founder of Qualtrics, one of the leading platforms that help gather and analyze data from customers and employees to use for market research, which he started out of a basement with his brother and father. It’s not every day you have the opportunity to speak to a billionaire, so I was curious to know what’s been harder for Ryan in his journey from his dad’s basement to now — scaling a business from zero to $1 million, $1 million to $10 million, $10 million to $100 million, or $100 million to a billion dollars.
“If I look at a company that’s gone from zero to $1 million, and then gone from a $100 million to $500 million — the company is like a band in the basement in high school [that compared to] the time they hit it big has only one person that’s the same. I love Ryan’s honesty in saying that he probably wanted to quit 20 times too, but being able to build a company with his dad and brother gave extra special significance to success.
One of the best rules Ryan heard shared with people working at Google or Facebook was: Don’t do anything for a year. Ryan gives an example about living this quote and seeing young families working for him paying off their houses and cars — which felt far more impactful than Qualtrics hitting another business milestone.
They were responsible and successful, and I decided, ‘I want to be like them.’ And that’s when I decided, ‘I’m going to go do a church mission.’ … I got called to Mexico City.” – Ryan Smith. As Ryan explains, Korea forced him to grow up quickly and decide what kind of life he wanted to live. Had he never been through the challenges he faced in Korea, he may never have made the life-changing decision to spend two years in Mexico serving as a missionary.
After two years of serving, Ryan changed his whole outlook, going from a high school dropout to wanting to get a college degree. When Ryan lived in South Korea and taught English, he was trying to survive and was forced to figure out his own problems. Things didn’t always work out the first time, forcing Ryan to innovate.
“Our thesis and our model was right, but the way to get there was three years off.” – Ryan Smith. “It started out with an idea that was directionally right, but the execution had to be different, and it’s no different than putting the flyers in the box.” – Ryan Smith
Why You Should Listen to This Ryan Smith Podcast Episode Right Now… If you want to make a difference in someone’s life today, you can also start your own campaign in the fight against cancer. I want to leave you with this quote from Albert Einstein who said, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” I believe that’s what this life is all about.
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