↪️ The Art Of The Pivot
Hello! Adam Thornhill here. ‘The Podcast Guy’ saving you 10 hours a week.
Enjoy the 118th Podup, with special thanks to ChatGPT Consulting.
Today, we’ll dive into the best insights and ideas from Lenny’s Podcast.
I’m no stranger to pivots. Medicspot is on its third in as many years. At times, the journey has been brutal, with 100+ layoffs, unclear direction, and 8-figure revenue swings. Yet, we emerged stronger, more focused, and ready for the next challenge.
A pivot can either breathe new life into your venture or serve as its last rites. Fortunately for us, it’s been the former. Eric Ries, author of “The Lean Startup”, and Lenny Rachitsky delve into the seldom-discussed realities behind successful pivots.
The prevalence of pivots
I’ve done a bunch of research on consumer and B2B startups. Around 1/5 of consumer startups end up pivoting to a completely different product, while 40% of B2B companies do the same.
Lenny Rachitsky
When should you pivot?
If you’re asking whether or not you should pivot, you know the answer already. People call me to ask if they have product market fit (PMF). The fact they have time to call tells me the answer. There’s no time for navel-gazing when it’s working.
Admit when you don’t have PMF. If you can do that, then give yourself a fixed period of time to make it work. Spend 100% of your time on the thing that matters to see if you can move the needle. If that doesn’t work, start something new with a set deadline.
Eric Ries
Why it matters
Founders lie to themselves as much as they do publicly. Zuckerberg didn’t initially aim to “bring the world closer together”. Instead, 19 year old Zuck said “Who knows where we're going next … maybe we can make something cool.”
The truth about a startup’s journey is more complicated than what’s portrayed. The founder’s vision usually evolves while they build, not beforehand. However, this isn’t as good of a story. We prefer to glorify visionary, almost prophetic founders.
My take? We need more discourse about the truth - that pivots are normal and that visions evolve. The more this is celebrated and normalized, the more the rest of us accept pivots rather than spending years stubbornly pushing water uphill.
Next steps
If you can’t work on what you’re doing now, what would you want to work on instead? If your current business isn’t working and you have your eyes set on something else, do that. Pivot, and don’t look back.
Self-assessment. Collate your learnings. Why did you miss the milestones you set? What will you do differently next time around?
Market research. Before making a pivot, research alternative markets or customer needs that align with your core competencies.
Financial analysis. Assess the financial implications of the pivot. How much runway do you have left? Will you need additional funding?
Governance review. Do you have the right board and capital structure for your pivot to succeed? If not, you may need to start from scratch.
Commit fully. Once you’ve made the decision, execute the pivot with full commitment. Continuously monitor core metrics to assess if the pivot is moving in the right direction.
Your thoughts?
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