All of our Pivoting articles

Product

The Pivot to Product-Market Fit: How Plaid, Clay, Lattice & Other Startups Broke Out

For many startups, the secret to finding product-market fit lies in the pivot. Here’s how these founders knew it was time to change directions.

Product

Alma’s Path to Product-Market Fit — How to Pivot and Succeed as a Solo Non-Technical Founder

Alma founder and CEO Harry Ritter sits down with First Round partner Todd Jackson to tell the story of how he tackled a huge pandemic pivot that turned his initial startup idea on its head and found product-market fit twice.

PR & Marketing

A Founder’s Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your First 1,000 Community Members

Pivots, MVPs and Community: How Joseph Quan, Founder & CEO of Knoetic, got his startup back on track by making community his wedge. He shares his hard-won wisdom and his six-step guide for building a community like a product.

Starting Up

Advice for the Pre-Product-Market Fit Days — This Founder’s Playbook for Pivoting with Purpose

CEO Tara Viswanathan shares her biggest lessons from the early years of building Rupa Health — including how to pivot your way into the right product and build the winning team.

Management

I Asked 100 Founders, CEOs and VCs About Career Transitions — Here’s What I Learned

After founding and scaling LendUp for seven years, Sasha Orloff decided to step down as CEO. He shares his journey and his illuminating takeaways about career transitions, structuring time off and founder life after the startup.

Management

Pivot Survival Tactics from Kabam's 3 Near-Death Triumphs

Kabam executed three tough about-faces to eventually sell for $800M. CEO Kevin Chou shares the keys that made this possible.

Management

Leslie’s Law: When Small Meets Large, Small (Almost) Always Wins

Longtime entrepreneur and investor Mark Leslie on the inevitable truth that when small companies meet big ones, small usually wins out. Here's why.

Management

How Squarespace’s CEO Pivoted to Scale for Millions

Squarespace CEO Anthony Casalena explains how the company pivoted several times before discovering the recipe for success.