How Dreams Become Reality: Isaac Peiris - The Founder of Pistachio who Grew The Daily Aus, Mamamia & More

Hey, quick note before we get to the Q&A - I’ve launched a podcast!

Every Q&A (including this one) now comes with a podcast episode, where you can watch and listen to the guest yourself.

If you want to skip straight to the podcast, here’s the link: https://linktr.ee/ex.vicarious

Otherwise, back to the Q&A!

What to expect

• The intersection of tech companies and media
• Experiences at KPMG vs high-growth startups
• How to balance ambition and appreciation for what you have

Meet Isaac

If you’re into growth or marketing, you’ve probably seen Isaac Peiris .

He’s a LinkedIn Top Voice for growth strategy and has led:

??? audience growth at The Daily Aus ,?

?? subscription growth at Mamamia , and?

?? user growth at a Clipboard

This includes gaining 140k IG followers for The Daily Aus, growing the customer base by 8x at Clipboard, and developing the ‘Move by Mamamia’ fitness app to go with Mamamia’s subscription.

Wait - a fitness app for a media company!?

Yes. It’s because Mamamia’s user insights (which no one else has access to) revealed how much their audience would value a home workout platform.

Though content is everywhere (and mostly free) nowadays, the app made the subscription worth paying for.

Isaac was so fascinated by this clever move that he’s now started his own growth consultancy - Pistachio , where he can?

1. Help more media brands launch a product or service from audience insights only they have
2. Help more businesses build a media arm to compete for attention in a content-driven society

But founding Pistachio was nowhere near intentional. It was a response to the constant demand for his expertise while he was actually unemployed.

I was fortunate enough to delve into Isaac’s story on the podcast this week to learn about growing newsletters, growing companies and growing as a person.

Watch the full episode in comments, or skim my favourite talking points in the Q&A below (est 3 min read)??

Q&A

Are there any media brands that come to mind with surprising product launches?

“Maybe not the best example because I worked on it, but I'm fascinated by what we did at Mamamia. They have a content subscription, which can be tough, asking people to pay for content. Media companies are so connected to their audience needs, giving them an unfair advantage in identifying product opportunities. We found that in the crowded fitness app space, our audience didn’t feel served by existing players.

We did more research and built a home workout platform called Move by Mamamia, bundling it into the subscription. Launching a fitness app might not make sense on paper, but it was clever—using audience insights no one else had and leveraging brand trust. Mamamia didn’t launch from scratch; it used its media entity’s advantage and existing audience attention to promote its own product.

It's a huge opportunity for other businesses. Products can be anything—software, courses, templates—capturing attention, understanding audience needs, and developing solutions.

It's a simple but powerful model that many media businesses are just starting to experiment with.”

You interned at KPMG, right? How did that internship and your startup experiences help you pinpoint where you wanted to go with your career?

“Yeah, it was towards the end of university when I did the internship. I saw many friends and classmates going into grad programs, and that was what everyone was doing. I had a gut feeling it wasn’t for me because I enjoyed having an impact, and going into a big company would mean fewer opportunities to have an outsized impact on the business.

But I wanted to try it for myself, so I gave it a go. Honestly, it was a fantastic experience. I was incredibly fortunate to work with Nathan Baird, a partner for design thinking at the time. He’s written a book and runs design thinking workshops. Learning from him was fantastic.

At the same time, I proved myself right. I found that the bigger consulting business wasn’t the environment for me.

Although I enjoyed the work and the concept of working across industries, I realised I would enjoy myself more working in startups and smaller businesses on more specific challenges.”

You have this side of you that stays ambitious, where the goalposts keep moving, but also a side that appreciates where you’ve gotten to. How do those ways of thinking interact to help you hit your goals? Is it better to lean on one side, or is there a nexus where you can be both appreciative and ambitious?

“Honestly, it's something I’ve struggled with throughout my career. It’s tough because many people have this intrinsic ambition to do big things.

As kids, you're told you're going to achieve great things, and that builds up an expectation to keep exceeding. It’s a never-ending loop, which is really challenging.

I haven’t perfected this and still struggle daily, but the way I think about it is you want to have a big goal or ambition you're working towards. I find that a big motivator. It doesn’t work for everyone, but I find it exciting to have something bigger I'm working toward. However, your happiness can’t be tied to achieving that goal. You have to be excited about the journey.

If you’re dissatisfied and don’t enjoy the work, by the time you achieve the big thing, you’ll feel empty. No one works hard, achieves a huge goal, and then says, “Now I’m happy, content, and can relax.” It's a hamster wheel where you keep running.

For me, having a bigger, ambitious goal is motivating and energising, but that’s broad and long-term. Day by day, you need to appreciate everything else—friends, fun stuff, and life outside work. That’s what really matters, whether or not you reach the big goal.”

Thanks for reading my Q&A with Isaac Peiris.

You can connect with Isaac here:?

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

You can check out Pistachio.so here:

• Pistachio website

If you enjoyed this Q&A, click subscribe to get a Q&A with a founder, creator or gamechanger sent to you each Wednesday (AEST)!

But if you want to experience the full podcast with Isaac, listen here:?

• Youtube: https://youtu.be/J7wRzKVtRMQ
• Spotify:?https://open.spotify.com/episode/0IJHzqpWjnjoxEgCvcbrL4?si=2f102db694c04ffa

And as always,

Keep dreamaking.