Definition

A strategic change in business direction that's celebrated in Silicon Valley but called failure literally everywhere else. It's the entrepreneurial equivalent of missing your exit on the highway and announcing you meant to take the scenic route.

Example Usage

"We pivoted from a dating app to a supply chain management platform, which was a natural transition because both involve connecting things that don't want to be connected."

Related Terms

Beginner

Scale

The startup obsession with growing bigger, faster, and more unsustainably, as if a company were a goldfish and the market were an ocean. Everyone wants to scale, few know how, and most just end up spending more money to lose money at an impressive rate.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

founder-market fit

The degree to which a founder's background, skills, and experience uniquely position them to solve a particular problem. The startup equivalent of being born for this moment, or at least having a plausible narrative for why you were.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

deployment pace

The speed at which a VC fund invests its committed capital. Deploy too fast and you look desperate; too slow and your LPs wonder if you can actually find deals.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

down-stack

Moving to build or sell products at a lower layer of the technology infrastructure, typically where margins are thinner but the market is larger. Often happens when companies realize their original niche is too small.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

founder mode

An operating style where founders maintain deep involvement in company details rather than delegating everything to managers. Popularized by Paul Graham as a counterpoint to conventional management wisdom that says CEOs should stay hands-off.

🚀 Startup / VC
Beginner

pay-it-forward mentality

The cultural expectation in startup ecosystems that successful entrepreneurs and investors should help newcomers, supposedly creating a virtuous cycle. In practice, it's often networking disguised as altruism.

🚀 Startup / VC

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