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Microsoft's BASIC evolved into Visual Basic and still exists as the .NET platform. Amazon still sells books. Netflix still operates their mail order DVD company
by Hasu 4y ago
Microsoft's BASIC evolved into Visual Basic and still exists as the .NET platform. Amazon still sells books. Netflix still operates their mail order DVD company. All three do a bunch of other things now, but those products allowed the companies to grow and expand.
I don't think expanding to other verticals is the same thing as a pivot, a pivot (imo) is when you entirely change your business strategy and product because the thing you were doing wasn't working. If you expand the definition of a pivot to any change in business strategy, then every company pivots all the time, and the term loses its meaning.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- 015a 4y agoYeah, and also; Amazon knew (or, at least, Bezos says he knew) from Day 1 that books were only the beginning. They started with books because they're an extremely broad category (hard to stock one Barns & Noble full of every book), easy to ship, and they have a practically unlimited shelf life (versus clothes/technology, which experiences seasonal trends, or even food; all of which Amazon now does). Big difference between "we think this is The Business, ope its not lets pivot" and "we think this is a good place to Start the Business and grow out of".