All of our Pivoting articles

To Learn a New Market, Start by Building Your Product — Tactics From a Twitter PM Turned Healthcare Founder
Color co-founder and CEO Othman Laraki built a billion-dollar company in an industry he had zero professional experience in. Here, he shares four product-building tactics that helped him learn the healthcare industry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.