The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

236: Bootstrapping a $300M Cinema Company, With Grant Petty of Blackmagic Design

02.05.2019 - By Foundr MediaPlay

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“I don’t think CEOs should be able to be CEOs if they can’t code,” says Grant Petty, founder and CEO of Blackmagic Design.

That’s a bold statement, but Petty is a bold guy. Working as an engineer in the television industry, he realized the technology was overpriced. So he started a company that cut costs and put power into the hands of creators.

“Really what I was doing was a protest against the way the TV industry was,” he says.

And soon, Petty began to challenge the status quo of business in general. He runs his company a little differently: There are no spreadsheets, very little planning, and to him, metrics hardly matter.

“In the Western world, business culture becomes so rigid and so inflexible,” he says. “If you’re a creative person, you can get destroyed by that because they don’t allow you to exist.”

Today, Blackmagic Design boasts nearly $300 million in annual revenue and is still 100% bootstrapped. Its technology is used by 80% of modern day feature films. We sat down with Petty to discuss what he’s learned about how to run a meaningful business in the face of opposition.

Key Takeaways

How his frustrations with the TV industry inspired him to start Blackmagic

The story behind Blackmagic’s first product and how he got it off the ground

The challenges with getting funding and the struggles he faced when he decided to self-fund

The “wave of hatred” that can come when you try to disrupt an industry

How long it took to become an industry leader

How to know when it’s the right time to add a new product to your line

Balancing his creative side with the operational duties of being CEO

One common thing that’s destroying creativity in businesses

Blackmagic’s culture and how it fosters creativity

What’s next for the company

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