pivotingThe pivot has become a popular idea with startups. Many successful pivots such as twitter and groupon have helped fuel this. I get the impression that many founders are expecting at least one pivot. Based on this they may see the initial idea as a throwaway, just a placeholder used to discover the pivot idea. Does this mentality exist and can it cause a dangerous lack of enthusiasm for the first iteration of the product?
Should a business be enthusiastic about the product more than they are about the problem they are solving?
On the first iteration of a product you are testing how well that product solves a problem and you have very little learning/feedback to go on. There is obviously the expectation that you are going to need to change your product to respond to this feedback.
What's perhaps less obvious is that you're also testing your business strategy when you first release your product. The business model, as much as the product itself, should be liable to the same testing process and feedback loops.
Eric Ries defines a pivot as "A change in strategy without a change in vision". In this video, he discusses pivoting vs persevering. He talks about pivoting as an inevitability:
"We know we're going to have to pivot. Every successful startup had to pivot along the way." (2:57)
It seems what he's really saying is that a "pivot" is where a business implements strategic changes following feedback/learning.
A culture that sets itself up to pivot is one that is intentionally tracking anything that helps it validate the assumptions made in the business' strategy. I think what this culture does is re-emphases the centrality of the vision of the business and focuses people on the problem to be solved: what Ries calls the "vision".
You're right to some extent - a pivot culture can cause a lack of enthusiasm for the first iteration of a product. The product and the business strategy are both liable to change. What it also does is inspire enthusiasm for creating a business that solves problems. These cultures don't get hung up on their own assumptions. They are less likely to cause that product to ossify and they are way more likely to build something that people actually want.
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