startup-pivoting
Help users decide when and how to pivot their startup. Use when someone is questioning their current direction, seeing poor traction, considering a major strategy change, or stuck in the pre-PMF stage.
- Installs
- 1.6K
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/refoundai/lenny-skills --skill startup-pivoting- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads startup-pivoting automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Startup Pivoting
Help the user decide when and how to pivot their startup using frameworks and insights from 2 product leaders.
How to Help
When the user asks for help with pivoting:
- Assess the current state - Ask about their traction, how long they've been trying, and what they've learned
- Evaluate if possibilities are exhausted - Determine if they've truly tried everything or just one version of the idea
- Challenge pivot magnitude - Most founders pivot too little; help them consider if they need a 200% pivot, not 10%
- Apply the Four Ps framework - Evaluate changes across Problem, Persona, Product, and Positioning
Core Principles
Have you exhausted the possibilities?
Stewart Butterfield: "The decision is about have you exhausted the possibilities?" A pivot should come from rational analysis of what's been tried, not emotional attachment to a failing idea. Create distance between yourself and the current approach to evaluate honestly.
Most pivots are too small
Todd Jackson: "Most founders do a 10% pivot, and what they need to be doing is a 200% pivot." When stuck in pre-PMF, small adjustments rarely break through. Consider whether you need to fundamentally change your approach rather than tweak the existing one.
Use the Four Ps framework
Evaluate pivots across four dimensions: Problem (are you solving the right problem?), Persona (are you targeting the right customer?), Product (is your solution the right approach?), and Positioning (are you framing this correctly?). Often the issue is not one but a combination.
Maintain rational distance
Emotional attachment to an idea can prevent founders from seeing clearly. The best pivot decisions come from treating your company like an outside investor would evaluate it.
Questions to Help Users
- "What have you tried so far, and what did you learn from each attempt?"
- "If you were an outside investor looking at this company, what would you conclude?"
- "Is this a tweak to your current approach or a fundamental rethink?"
- "Which of the Four Ps (Problem, Persona, Product, Positioning) might be wrong?"
- "What would a 200% pivot look like compared to what you're considering?"
- "Have you truly exhausted the possibilities, or just gotten tired of trying?"
Common Mistakes to Flag
- Pivoting too small - Making 10% changes when 200% changes are needed to find PMF
- Emotional attachment - Continuing because of sunk cost rather than evidence of potential
- Pivoting too quickly - Changing direction before truly learning why the current approach isn't working
- Only changing one P - Often multiple dimensions (problem, persona, product, positioning) need to change together
- Pivoting without a thesis - Random pivots don't help; you need a specific hypothesis about what was wrong
Deep Dive
For all 2 insights from 2 guests, see references/guest-insights.md
Related Skills
- Startup Ideation
- Measuring Product-Market Fit
- Defining Product Vision
- Customer Research
FAQ
What does the startup-pivoting skill do?
Help users decide when and how to pivot their startup. Use when someone is questioning their current direction, seeing poor traction, considering a major strategy change, or stuck in the pre-PMF stage.
How do I install startup-pivoting?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/refoundai/lenny-skills --skill startup-pivoting in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/startup-pivoting/ (personal) or .claude/skills/startup-pivoting/ (project).
Which AI agents can use startup-pivoting?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is startup-pivoting safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains startup-pivoting?
It is published by refoundai in refoundai/lenny-skills. It has 1,643 recorded installs.
More from refoundai/lenny-skills
personal-productivity
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users manage their time and tasks more effectively. Use when someone is overwhelmed with work, struggling with focus, trying to balance multiple responsibilities, or asking how to get more done.
writing-prds
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users transform abstract ideas into actionable project specs that align engineering and design teams on the problem and success metrics.
ai-product-strategy
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users decide where to apply AI effectively, manage the transition from deterministic to probabilistic software, and build long-term defensibility through verticalization and proprietary data.
competitive-analysis
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users understand and respond to competition. Use when someone is positioning against competitors, evaluating market threats, running competitive war games, or deciding how much to focus on competitors versus customers.
founder-sales
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users master the transition from product development to active selling by leveraging their unique status as founders to bridge the trust gap and define a scalable sales motion.
analyzing-user-feedback
refoundai/lenny-skills
Help users convert massive volumes of qualitative and quantitative feedback into high-confidence product decisions through rigorous synthesis and internal immersion.
Popular business & finance skills
sales-enablement
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants to create sales collateral, pitch decks, one-pagers, objection handling docs, or demo scripts. Also use when the user mentions 'sales deck,' 'pitch deck,' 'one-pager,' 'leave-behind,' 'objection handling,' 'deal-specific ROI analysis,' 'demo script,' 'talk track,' 'sales playbook,' 'proposal template,' 'buyer persona card,' 'battle card,' 'battlecard,' 'competitive one-pager,' 'win-loss analysis,' 'why are we losing deals,' 'loss reasons,' 'how do I respond to this objection,' 'prospect just said,' 'help my sales team,' 'sales materials,' or 'what should I give my sales reps,' 'cold call script,' or 'voicemail script.' Use this for any document or asset that helps a sales team close deals. For public competitor comparison pages, see competitors. For running buyer interviews or churn research, see customer-research. For marketing website copy, see copywriting. For cold outreach emails, see cold-email. For the offer being sold (bonuses, guarantees, pricing structure),
revops
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with revenue operations, lead lifecycle management, or marketing-to-sales handoff processes. Also use when the user mentions 'RevOps,' 'revenue operations,' 'lead scoring,' 'outbound pipeline stages,' 'lead routing,' 'MQL,' 'SQL,' 'pipeline stages,' 'deal desk,' 'CRM automation,' 'marketing-to-sales handoff,' 'data hygiene,' 'leads aren't getting to sales,' 'pipeline management,' 'lead qualification,' or 'when should marketing hand off to sales.' Use this for anything involving the systems and processes that connect marketing to revenue. For cold outreach emails, see cold-email. For email drip campaigns, see emails. For pricing decisions, see pricing.
sales-funnel-blueprint
autonnel/autonnel-skills
Turn an offer into a concrete multi-step sales funnel spec - page-by-page structure, price ladder, copy outline and the metrics each step must hit. Use when asked to build a sales funnel, marketing funnel, landing page flow, lead magnet funnel, webinar funnel, tripwire or VSL funnel, when planning a product launch page flow, or when someone asks "what pages do I need" for selling something online.
pricing
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' 'should I offer a free plan,' 'pricing page teardown,' 'pricing page audit,' 'is my pricing page AI-readable,' or 'can AI read my pricing.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge, how to structure their plans, or wants to audit a pricing page (for humans and for the AI agents that shortlist tools). For in-app upgrade screens, see paywalls. For offer construction (bonuses, guarantees, value framing, naming) on services/courses/coaching/high-ticket B2B, see offers.
cross-border-ecommerce
nexscope-ai/ecommerce-skills
Cross-border e-commerce expansion advisor. Scores target markets on 8 weighted dimensions (market size, ecommerce penetration, competition, regulatory complexity, logistics infrastructure, payment ecosystem, cultural distance, IP protection), compares 5 fulfillment models with cost and transit data, provides country-by-country tax/duty compliance guides (EU VAT/IOSS, UK VAT, US sales tax, CA GST, AU GST, JP consumption tax), maps local payment preferences by market, and builds a phased expansion roadmap. No API key required.
pricing-strategy
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' or 'should I offer a free plan.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge or how to structure their plans. For in-app upgrade screens, see paywall-upgrade-cro.