Pivoting is More Common Than Expected

We’ve all heard the term pivot by now. When a startup isn’t working out, it’s time to try something different, thus the concept of pivoting to a new idea. What most people don’t know is that a large number of successful startups became successful after doing a pivot. I was reminded of this again a few days ago when Alan Dabbiere, chairman of AirWatch, spoke at the (co) lab summit. Both of Alan’s huge successes were pivots:

• Manhattan Associates (NASDAQ:MANH – Market cap of $1.8 billion) – Started out as a solution for printing packing slips in warehouses and eventually pivoted into supply chain software
• AirWatch (raised a $225 million series A round in early 2013) – Started out doing WiFi management for a restaurant chain (Panera Bread) and eventually pivoted into mobile device management software

On the personal front, Pardot started out as a pay-per-click lead generation service before pivoting into marketing automation software. Pivoting is a normal part of the startup process and more common than expected.

What else? What are your thoughts on pivots being more common than expected?