The Startup Pivot Playbook (Ebook): How to Pivot a Startup
The Startup Pivot Playbook (Ebook): How to Pivot a Startup
IncludedThe Startup Pivot Playbook Toolkit is in the download, with 30 worksheets and calculators. Other ebook stores sell the book without it.
- Instant download
- EPUB, PDF and toolkit in one ZIP
The author is interviewed on NYSE TV · Nasdaq · CNBC TV18 · Forbes Councils
You finish with
- A quarterly pivot scorecard: one traction test and five signals, each with a threshold, an owner and a data source
- Your pivot score from 0 to 18 and its hard load, so you know if the CEO has to lead the move
- The order of moves for your pivot, product first and brand last, and the KPIs to track each one
EPUB and PDF in one ZIP, toolkit PDF included · 272 pages in print
The Startup Pivot Playbook ebook is a step-by-step guide to pivoting a startup, with the toolkit included.
Use it when growth has stalled and your board is asking about direction. The EPUB, the PDF and the toolkit arrive in one ZIP the moment you pay, and only copies bought here include the toolkit.
For print, the paperback is $29.99 with the toolkit free.
From 75 scored pivots
Move the product first and the brand last
Companies that changed the product first succeeded almost four times as often as those that made a halfway move. The book walks you through your pivot in that order, with a worksheet for each move.
- 64%of pivots that moved the product first succeeded, 21 of 33
- 17%of halfway moves, such as a new tier or a feature, succeeded, 2 of 12
- 0 of 8companies succeeded when they changed the brand before the product was ready
Included in the download
The Startup Pivot Playbook Toolkit
Each chapter ends with a worksheet you fill in with your own numbers. Worksheet 5 scores the IT operations software company from Chapter 2 at 12 points, a hard pivot that the CEO has to lead.
- 30Worksheets and calculators
- 75Scored pivot cases
- 63Tables and figures
- 24Chapter checklists
The author
Nitin Kumar
Global multi-scale CEO · Startups to multi-billion-dollar P&L · 2x exits
As CEO he pivoted two companies to exit, an IT operations software company and a legal technology company. CEO World Awards named him Top CEO of the Year in 2020 for the IT operations pivot, and The CEO Views named the brand it created a Top 10 Hot Brand of 2020. The first-hand cases in the book come from his three most recent pivots.
About Nitin Kumar
About the book
The Startup Pivot Playbook: How to Pivot a Startup by Nitin Kumar is a 272-page guide to pivoting a startup in the right order. It draws on about two dozen pivots he has worked on as a CEO, operator, consultant and advisor, and a database of 75 scored pivots, Wrigley in 1892 through the AI pivots of 2024. The paperback comes with a free toolkit of 30 worksheets and calculators and 24 chapter checklists.
Look inside
Contents
See the full contentsHide the contents
- Part I, Pivot fundamentals. Most pivots fail in the order of their moves · Pivot or transformation · Signals and timing · Product first, promise last · Pivot execution and KPIs · Failure and recovery
- Part II, Pivot types and their consequences. Product-market fit pivots · Product pivots · Service to product pivots · Target market and ICP pivots · Route to market pivots · Positioning pivots · Pricing pivots · Business model pivots · Capital pivots · Talent and organization pivots · Brand pivots · M&A as a pivot tool
- Part III, Pivot to AI. Add, pivot or hold · SaaS to AI · Pivot out of an AI wrapper · AI workforce · AI-enabled services · Finding alpha from a pivot
- Reference. Method and limits · Glossary · Sources · Index · The pattern in 75 pivots
From the book
The renewal that changed how I read a business came from a large bank. At the IT operations software company I ran as CEO, the bank’s operations head kept our monitoring. He sent his expansion budget to a vendor that promised to cut the number of incidents his team touched. Our churn stayed at zero while that money went to a rival. From that renewal on I read lost expansions as the pipeline report and renewals as history.
From the preface, The Startup Pivot Playbook
Questions
Ask your own through the contact page.
When should a startup pivot?
Pivot when a quarterly scorecard tells you to. The Startup Pivot Playbook by Nitin Kumar sets a traction test and five signals, each with a threshold, an owner and a data source. Reviewed every quarter, it moves the decision onto evidence instead of one bad month. The earliest warning is zero churn beside a falling win rate, because revenue holds flat while the pipeline drains.
What is the difference between a pivot and a transformation?
Pivot when the company keeps an asset buyers value and can show first evidence in 18 months. Transform when that asset is losing value or the new position needs years of new capabilities. In The Startup Pivot Playbook, Instagram is the pivot. Fujifilm, whose photographic products made up about 60% of sales in 2000, is the transformation.
In what order should a startup pivot?
Product first and brand last. In Nitin Kumar’s database of 75 scored pivots, product-first pivots succeeded 64% of the time and halfway moves 17%. None of the eight companies that changed the brand before the product was ready succeeded.
Does The Startup Pivot Playbook come with a toolkit?
Yes. The Startup Pivot Playbook Toolkit is a PDF of the worksheets behind the method. It goes into your cart free with the paperback and costs $0.99 on its own.
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