674: Ryan Wenger | How to Know When to Pivot

As an entrepreneur, you know that the key to the success of any venture or project is knowing when it’s time to pivot and being intentional about it. Ryan Wenger, LA Magazine featured ‘superlawyer’ turned travel business innovator, is the Founder and CEO of WhereTo, a travel business manager for travel business managers.
Ryan is on a mission to make traveling cheaper and easier for all people. He has raised over $10 million in venture capital, brought together a team of world class engineers and executives, and helped build two platforms used by millions, one of which was acquired by Flight Centre.
Let’s dig into this episode and learn more from Ryan about how to know when it’s time to pivot, and how to do it effectively. 
Things you will learn in this episode: 
[00:01 - 07:12] Opening Segment  

I introduce today’s guest, Ryan Wenger

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Ryan gives us some background on his story

Growing up in Woodstock, New York

Parents’ career and lifestyle

High School experience

College experience 

Going into Law

[07:13 - 18:04] How to Know When to Pivot

Ryan shares about his experience transitioning from law

Always experimental at heart

The inspiration to go into ‘travel’

Getting investors through telling stories

Building a new platform 

Building and launching process 

Getting passed the learning curves 

The story of going viral and getting millions of users

Getting key partnerships 

How to know when to pivot 

A glaringly obvious point 

Put your problems into perspective

A word from our sponsors 

[18:05 - 26:44] How to Pivot Well

Getting into uncomfortable positions to move forward 

The key to success 

Playing the numbers game 

How relationships come into play 

Being a good networker 

Ryan’s partnership experience 

The levels of investors 

How to know when to hand over leadership

Knowing when someone can do a better job

[26:45 - 34:34] Closing Segment

What’s next for Ryan?

Getting acquired by Flight Centre 

Merging strengths 

Seeing it all stand on its own 

Who you know or what you know?

Your network is what helps or hurts your company 

It’s ok to start from zero if you put in the work

ThE RanDoM RoUnD

How to engage with Ryan

Links below 

Final words 

Tweetable Quotes: 
“I loved jumping into ideas and seeing if I could bring them to light.” - Ryan Wenger
“You have to take an honest look at your problems and think about the pivot opportunity and weigh the cost and the benefits.” - Ryan Wenger
Resources Mentioned: 

WhereTo

WhereFor

The Lean Startup

The Art of the Start

Connect and engage with Ryan on LinkedIn and Twitter. Check out https://ryanwenger.com/ to get your hands on some more awesome content and tips.
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