8 Crazy Startup Pivots That Really Happened

It’s hard to believe that the most popular platforms in the world used to be something else.

Startup pivots are one of the hardest things to pull off.

But these 8 companies saw massive success once they shifted their focus from what they were to what they are now:

1. When Twitter first launched in 2005, it was known as Odeo and focused on podcast discovery and subscription. But with Apple dominating the podcast space through iTunes, Odeo had to pivot.

In just 2 weeks, employees were tasked with pitching new ideas, and it was then that Jack Dorsey proposed a microblogging platform where users could share and read real-time status updates from their contacts.

2. YouTube began as a dating site where singles could upload videos describing their ideal partner. The concept did not take off as expected, and the founders decided to pivot and allow users to upload any type of video content. A game changing strategy.

3. Instagram was originally called Burbn. It included a variety of features such as check-ins and point-earning options. Co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger realized that the app was too cluttered and decided to focus solely on photo-sharing, commenting, and liking features.

4. Groupon, a popular online platform for collective bargaining, actually started out as The Point, a website that focused on supporting causes.

The team soon realized that their new feature, Groupon, was gaining more traction than their original cause-based functions. A successful pivot move.

5. Netflix started as a mail-order DVD rental service before transitioning to online streaming. As the demand for digital content grew, Netflix offered both access to movies and TV shows online, and began producing its own original programming.

6. After selling Flickr, Stewart Butterfield turned his attention to a game called Glitch, but soon realized it wasn’t going to work. But the internal communications platform his company, Tiny Speck, had created for the game turned out to be the real opportunity.

This led to the creation of Slack, a messaging app that launched in 2014 and quickly became a unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion.

7. Shopify’s initial foray into the world of e-commerce was as a niche online store for snowboarding gear, under the name Snowdevil. The founders quickly realized that the platform they had built had potential beyond just selling their own products.

They pivoted their business model to become a platform for other online retailers to sell their goods.

8. Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake’s Flickr startup began as a video game called Game Neverending, but they faced financial difficulties in getting it off the ground.

Butterfield suggested shifting the focus to a photo-sharing app that would allow users to interact with each other. This pivot proved to be a success, and the platform was acquired by Yahoo just a year later.

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