What is a Pivot?
A pivot is a significant change in business strategy based on learnings from the market. Unlike random changes, pivots are strategic decisions informed by data.
Types of Pivots
- Zoom-in Pivot: One feature becomes the whole product
- Zoom-out Pivot: Product becomes one feature
- Customer Segment Pivot: New target audience
- Customer Need Pivot: Solve different problem
- Platform Pivot: Product to platform or vice versa
- Channel Pivot: New distribution method
- Revenue Model Pivot: New monetization approach
- Technology Pivot: New technical approach
When to Pivot
- Lack of product-market fit
- Consistently missing growth targets
- Better opportunity discovered
- Market conditions changed
Famous Pivots
- Slack: Gaming → Communication
- Instagram: Check-ins → Photos
- YouTube: Dating → Video sharing
- Twitter: Podcasts → Microblogging