The Foibles of Pivoting: Why It Fails

The idea of pivoting in startups is almost as entrenched in entrepreneurial culture as the notion of disruption itself. Popularized by Eric Ries in his seminal work, The Lean Startup, the concept of a pivot refers to a “structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, strategy, and engine of growth.” Ries’s articulation of the pivot emerged from his experience as a co-founder of IMVU, and his exploration of the methodology has encouraged countless founders to embrace change when their initial idea falls short.

In the years following The Lean Startup, thought leaders like Steve Blank, the godfather of the customer development model, have reinforced this notion. Blank famously said, “Startups are not smaller versions of large companies; they are temporary organizations designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” That search often necessitates a pivot. Yet, while the pivot is celebrated as a badge of wisdom and adaptability, it is also one of the most misunderstood — and misused — concepts in the entrepreneurial world.

Failure: It’s Not the Product, It’s the People and Marketing

One of the most sobering statistics for founders comes from research conducted by CB Insights (among many) which identified the top reasons for startup failure. Leading the charge is the failure of the team, often cited as the primary cause of failure, followed closely by inadequate marketing. Too often, founders and communities cite that the challenge is a lack of capital, or subsequent cash flow, but both are a consequence of circumstance, not the cause. Together, the team and insufficient marketing account for the majority of startup collapses.

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The Team: The Heart of Success or Failure

The importance of a cohesive, competent, and experienced team cannot be overstated. The Kauffman Foundation and Harvard Business Review have repeatedly highlighted the outsized role that team dynamics play in determining startup success. Paul Graham of Y Combinator also emphasizes this point, stating, “Startups don’t fail because the founders make mistakes; they fail because the founders give up.” But why do they give up? Because of unresolved tensions, lack of complementary skills, or an inability to adapt effectively.

Without the right team, even the best pivot will falter. A startup lacking technical expertise can’t execute, and a team without business acumen can’t sell, pivot, or grow.

Marketing: The Misunderstood Second Failure

When we talk about marketing in startups, too often the conversation devolves into buzzwords like “branding” or “awareness campaigns.” But marketing, in its most fundamental form, is the discipline of understanding your market. This encompasses market research, competitive analysis, and product positioning. Failure in marketing doesn’t mean a failed social media strategy; it means a failure to identify demand, competition, and pathways to revenue.

The myth of “build it and they will come” has left countless startups chasing product-market fit without first achieving market-product fit — a critical distinction we’ll revisit.

Marketing Must Precede the MVP

Startups are encouraged to build Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) as a way of testing hypotheses, but most MVPs fail because they’re created in a vacuum. The narrative often revolves around “talking to customers” or achieving “validation,” but these efforts are insufficient if not grounded in robust market research.

The Case for Market-First Thinking

Market research involves defining a customer profile, analyzing competitors, and understanding macroeconomic trends. Competitive analysis, for example, reveals whether there is a gap in the market and whether the market has a gap for your idea. Without this foundation, your solution is a shot in the dark.

Validation through customer interviews often leads founders astray because potential customers, when asked about hypothetical solutions, are notoriously unreliable. They might say they would buy, but as any founder knows, intent doesn’t always translate to action.

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Yet We Pivot to Try Something Else, Still Without Doing the Work

Instead of addressing these foundational shortcomings, many founders pivot to an adjacent idea, often making the same mistakes that doomed their initial plan. They lack the right team or fail to understand the market—two problems that can’t be solved by changing the product alone.

This brings to mind one of pop culture’s most iconic moments of miscalculated pivoting: the Friends “Pivot” scene.

“Pivot! Pivvvooooot!”

With my love of TV and Film or Music to inspire us as entrepreneurs, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t see this one so kudos to David Jolly of Pangaea for the inspiration. Love or not-so-love the show, in one of the most celebrated scenes in Friends, Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer) attempts to maneuver a couch up a narrow staircase, repeatedly yelling “Pivot!” as he tries to redirect. The futility of his effort, captured in Schwimmer’s comedic timing, has become a cultural touchstone for how poorly thought-out attempts at change often end in disaster.

Odds are exceptionally high that if you’ve been in a startup, and seen the show, you can relate not only to Ross, but the frustration of his team (Rachel and Chandler), exasperated since the team had no vision and no validation of if moving the couch was even going to work.

Marta Kauffman, co-creator of the show, explained in interviews that the scene was a masterclass in the simplicity of comedy derived from frustration and futility. But what makes it resonate for founders is this: Ross never checked whether the couch could actually fit before attempting to move it. Founders often do the same—they try to pivot their product or strategy without first determining whether the new path is viable.

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Product-Market Fit is Backwards

Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist, satirizes the startup world and recently, apparently inspired by me ? with this poignant observation, “There’s frequently a lack of understanding of the Market to guide what to make and how to make it.” The distinction matters. The market — its size, needs, and willingness to pay — should define the product, not the other way around.

When founders pivot without understanding the market, they risk moving from one misaligned idea to another. This cycle of aimless iteration is why so many startups fail even after multiple pivots.

Before pursuing a pivot, critically evaluate your readiness:

• Has comprehensive market research and competitive analysis been conducted to justify the pivot? A hypothesis without substantive validation risks further misalignment with market demands.
• Is the team capable of executing the pivot effectively? This means possessing not only the technical skills but also the strategic insight to navigate uncharted territory.

Pivoting without addressing foundational deficiencies doesn’t resolve the underlying issues. Instead, it compounds them, hastening the path to failure. Which is why, I’m sorry to say, it’s also hilarious when you do it.