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Nice story, but how is this a pivot exactly? What's the difference between a pivot and moving on with something else? My gut feeling is that when you start some
by joelhaasnoot 16y ago
Nice story, but how is this a pivot exactly? What's the difference between a pivot and moving on with something else? My gut feeling is that when you start something totally, completely different without using the knowledge or product you built/gathered/accumulated before, it's more of a start over.
- roel_v 16y ago'Moving on' sounds like failure, but 'pivoting' is hot startup jargon, so to make sure to sound successful, you need to 'pivot' and not 'move on' :) (Disclaimer: I caught myself saying 'pivot' in a pitch last week, and literally cringing in my chair when I realized it - luckily it was on the phone so I don't think anyone caught it ;) )
- pdenya 16y agoI regularly read things like this. Why is saying 'pivot' detrimental?
- roel_v 16y agoIt's not really 'detrimental', hence my smiley and wink; it's more that I feel it's a fashionable word which will lose it's cool next year when the next buzzword shows up. It's a bit the startup equivalent of 'synergy', the much-maligned MBA word. (I recognize that it's a perfectly valid word (both 'pivot' and 'synergy', actually), and conveys lots of information in a simple word, which in general is good; it's just that it has become the epitome of MBA-speak which is sometimes scoffed at for its perceived vapidness or attempt at sounding important).
- hugh3 16y agoIt is, as Bernard Wooley would say if he were still around, one of those irregular verbs. I pivot, you change your mind, he flip-flops.
- evan-arm 16y agoI was using it in a tounge-in-cheek way, but it didn't really come through in the title. I couldn't tell you what the difference is between "pivoting" and "starting over" either. Except that if "starting over" discourages you, try "pivoting" instead!