What do the founders of Instagram, Shopify, Slack have in common?
They all decided to make major business / product pivots in the early days of their businesses.
As an early stage founder yourself, you may be considering a similar decision.
Perhaps recently, your business idea hasn’t been gaining as much attention in the market as you hoped, or your competitors are catching up with you. Is pivoting on the table?
The hardest part is figuring when the right time is to transition to something new.
In this recap of Conscience’s AMA with Shivaas Gulati unicorn co-founder of Remitly, Shivaas explains the two biggest hesitations that startup founders have when looking to pivot.
Hesitation #1: not knowing if you’re seeing the right signals for a pivot.
In this situation, rely on your customers as your feedback loop. Tighten your marketing processes and information channels so that hypothetically, your customers should know everything they need to know in order to make a purchasing decision on your product.
If they’re still not choosing to buy, there is a disconnect between your customer and your product.
This is an early indicator for a multitude of hidden problems that you should further investigate, including:
Your product didn’t identify the right problem to solve for your target audience.
Your product is actually meant for a different target audience.
Your customer base is too small or diverse for them to resonate with your specific product.
You could have overestimated how much your customer loves what you built. In reality, it’s only in very rare cases that customers will go to extreme lengths to keep their products.
As you try to diagnose these problems, keep in mind that a pivot does not necessarily mean a radical change. Pivots can also include a clear shift in marketing strategy, business model, or technology capability.
Hesitation #2: fear of losing your existing users.
When you finally choose to pivot, don’t shy away from being transparent and vulnerable with your users about your decision.
Be upfront that your current stage hasn’t been sustainable.
You can acknowledge that reason for being why you’ve chosen to take your business in a new direction, and encourage them to still come along.
If they don’t choose to stick with you, that’s okay. Users stick with products that solve their problems, and your pivot means that your modified product may no longer match their needs.
Through this process, you’ll find new users (and existing ones who stayed) who are enthusiastic about your new offering. These early believers are your strongest allies. Invest in those few and learn as much as you can about them, instead of chasing after the majority.
Founders who’ve recently pivoted or are going through a pivot—what’s your biggest tip?
