Read the original at Lenny’s Newsletter ↗lennysnewsletter.com · subscriber post
By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn
Lenny Rachitsky introduces a two-part series on startup pivots, drawing on research into 30+ successful pivots. The post points to a companion spreadsheet covering why each company pivoted, how long it took, how the new idea was found, and what was retained. It highlights surprising patterns, such as B2B startups rarely pivoting to consumer and many pivots keeping nothing from the original idea.
Subscriber post — summary only01Key takeaways
- Roughly one in three B2B and one in five consumer startups pivot before finding their big idea.
- Pivots are among the most consequential founder decisions, second only to choosing the original idea.
- Median time to pivot was about one year, though some took several years.
- Most pivots came from narrowing focus to a single feature or technology that showed user pull.
- A notable share of successful pivots emerged from internal tools built for the team's original business.
Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.