When Do You Decide It’s Time to Pivot?

Question

Sometimes, the product vision doesn’t align with market feedback. How do you decide when it’s time to pivot, and what factors influence that decision? Have you had to pivot before, and how did you handle it?

Delia Wu · Accepted Answer

When you are not making enough money to cover your cost. Here's our pivot story: https://www.producthunt.com/disc...

Ivelin Kozarev · Answer

One of the YC Partners quoted - 'you pivot when you run out of ideas to grow'

Nathan Covey · Answer

I think it's after you've tried really hard for months and there just seems to be no end in sight. You shouldn't be pivoting after one week of average effort

Charlotte Elise Sinclair · Answer

It really depends on your runway and metrics. If you're burning through cash with no revenue growth and usage isn't improving after multiple experiments/feature releases, it might be time to seriously consider a pivot. But if you still have decent runway, engaged users, and signs of product-market fit, keep pushing! A week definitely isn't enough to throw in the towel. Give it a solid few months of focused effort iterating on your core value prop before entertaining a major strategy shift. Pivoting prematurely is a common mistake.

When Do You Decide It’s Time to Pivot?

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