How Did The Great Startups Like Airbnb or Instagram Make Pivot Decisions? | VC Remote Jobs & More
How to Decide When To Pivote? | How one can build a conviction over an idea? By Sam Altman | VC Remote Jobs
📢 Today At A Glance
Deep Dive: How Did The Great Companies Make Pivot Decisions?
Featured Tweet: Building A Conviction Oven An Idea By Sam Altman
Major News In Startups: Musk's Neuralink Raised $43M, Berkshire Hathaway Exited Startup With 40% Loss & More
Weekday’s Must Reading on Startups, Venture Capital & Technology
Venture Capital Remote Jobs & Internships: From Scout to Partner
🤝In Partnership With Thunder.vc
Thunder's Team Has Helped Secure $100M+ In Debt and Equity For Startups At All Stages.
Negotiating a term sheet? or Want to learn about VC term sheets?
👉 Download Thunder.vc's free guide on the Top 10 Terms to Negotiate in a Term Sheet for raising venture capital.
Thunder.vc is a tech-enabled investment bank that has helped companies secure over $100M in capital. Try the free tools for founders - VC Finder Tool and Debt Finder Tool.
How Did The Great Startups Like Airbnb or Instagram Make Pivot Decisions?
Pivoting in the business world has become a bit of a buzzword, hasn't it?
It's almost like a shiny badge of honour that some wear proudly. The whole concept revolves around changing course when things aren't going as planned, and there are people out there who actually brag about how many times they've pulled off a pivot. But let's just pause for a moment and really think about what this means.
Pivoting, in essence, is a sign that things didn't go according to plan, in simple words - it’s a failure!
It's a recognition that the initial strategy or idea didn't pan out as expected. And you're right, failure is undeniably part and parcel of the entrepreneurial game. It's important to be tolerant of failure, not holding it against anyone, and certainly not turning it into a celebration.
However, there's a fine line between acknowledging failure and glorifying it as a success. Some entrepreneurs proudly wear the badge of multiple pivots, almost boasting about how many times they've changed direction.
But here's the thing – pivoting a startup is sucks, plain and simple.
The focus should be on learning from it and avoiding the repetition of the same mistakes, rather than treating it as a badge of honour.
Great startups, the ones that truly succeed, don't necessarily see pivoting as a badge of honour. They view it as a learning experience that contributes to building a potentially successful business.
Not all pivots are created equal, and the distinction lies in the reasons behind them.
If you look at some great startups that pivot you will find that - there are two types of pivots that tend to be more successful and make total sense.
First, there's the pivot where the founder ends up building something they were passionate about from the start.
Take Instagram's Kevin Systrom, for example. His initial venture, Bourbon, wasn't working out. During a vacation, he built something he was genuinely passionate about—photography with filters. This pivot worked because it aligned with his true interests.
The second type of pivot that makes sense is born out of necessity.
Consider Airbnb's founders during the financial crisis. They were broke, maxed out credit cards, using plastic sheets to keep track of them—real desperation. In this dire situation, they rented out a spare room to make ends meet. This pivot was out of sheer survival, and it worked. Today, Airbnb is known for more than just spare rooms; it's a significant player in affordable housing.
However, the common type of pivot, where founders sit down, realize their startup isn't working, and brainstorm a new idea on a whiteboard, rarely succeeds.
Why? Well, if you're rushing to come up with an idea, chances are it won't be a good one. Moreover, if you already have investors, you need a plausible-sounding idea to present to them.
It's fine to have a good idea that initially sounds bad, but pivoting into such an idea is tougher.
In essence, while pivoting is a tool in an entrepreneur's toolkit, it's crucial to approach it with a balanced perspective, recognizing that not all pivots are created equal and that the true measure of success lies in the lessons learned and the strategic adjustments made.
🤝 Advertise in The Venture Crew’s Newsletters
Want to promote your startup to my community of 19,500+ entrepreneurs and investors? Reply Advertise, I will send the media kit!
(25% Discount For Existing Subscribers!)
𝕏 Featured Tweet: How Can One Build Conviction Over An Idea?
One of the most common questions that every founder has is how to build a conviction over an idea. In the early stage - it’s extremely important to get a strong idea of whether this thing will work out or not. So Sam Altman shared an interesting perspective on this.
Recently, we shared a tweet On This! Check it out here 👇
📰 This Week’s Major News: Venture Capital, Funding & Tech
Musk's Neuralink Raised $43M Funding Read Here
Berkshire Hathaway Exited Startup With 40% Loss Read Here
Prime Minister of UAE Launched VC Fund To Focus On Tech Startup Read Here
Active Impact Investments, Canada’s largest climate tech seed fund, has raised more than $70M Read Here
Pritzker-backed VC firm 53 Stations launches $190 million fund Read Here
Want to receive Daily Morning Venture Insights, Funding Updates And Startup Stories In Your Inbox? - Subscribed To VC Daily Digest Newsletter and join 7500+ Avid Readers🚀
🗞️ Weekday’s Read On: Startup, Technology & VC
‘Listen To Customer's Problems & Not Their Solutions’ By Weebly Co-founder David Read More (Startups)
Where Do The Great Startup Ideas Come From - Airbnb Startup Story? Read More (Venture Capital)
Autopsy of a SaaS death Read More (Startups & Technology)
Putting Ideas Into Words - By Paul Graham Read More (Startups)
Why Founders Are Afraid to Talk About MOAT? Read More (Startups & venture capital)
Join 12,300+ Founders, VCs and startup Enthusiasts Getting Tactical To Build, Learn and Implement Startups, Technology and Venture Capital.
💼 Venture Capital Remote Jobs & Internships
Investment Operation Associate - Evolution Equity Partner | Swiss - Apply Here
Venture Analyst - Plug & Play | US, Remote - Apply Here
VP Finance - M13 | US - Apply Here
Assistant General Counsel - AI Fund | US Remote - Apply Here
Venture Partner - Mindrock capital | Remote USA - Apply Here
Investment Team Intern - Antler | Remote, USA - Apply Here
Operation Coordinator - Techstars | USA - Apply Here
Investment Associate - Techstars | USA - Apply Here
Join our 100+ VC Enthusiast Community - VC Crafters - To Access the VC Network, Job Opportunities, and Weekly events on understanding the VC Industry!
👉Download Thunder.vc's free guide on the Top 10 Terms to Negotiate in a Term Sheet for raising venture capital.