Some of the biggest products ever built didn’t start the way you think. And if these products didn’t decide to change, they would’ve probably died a long time ago.
Before Slack was Slack, it was Glitch, a massive online multiplayer game. When Glitch wasn’t working, the team pivoted into communication, something that was indeed working inside Glitch. This re-focus allowed Slack to be sold to Salesforce for $27B.
Before Shopify was Shopify, it was Snowdevil, a snowboard shop. When the founders of Shopify couldn’t easily get an e-commerce set up to sell their snowboard gear, they decided to build their own tools, which would become a platform for millions of future businesses. This re-focus allowed Shopify to hit $200B market cap.
Before Twitter was Twitter, it was ODEO, a podcast search engine. When ODEO wasn’t gaining traction, (in large reason due to Apple’s Itunes), the founders decided to experiment in a new field of social content: text. This re-focus allowed Twitter to be sold to Elon Musk for $44B.
Before Instagram was Instagram, it was Burbn, a social check-in app (remember Foursquare?). Even though check-in was growing, the founders saw that the most engaged users were mostly posting real-time photos of places. This re-focus allowed Instagram to be sold to Facebook for $1B and now estimated to be worth more than $100B.
Every single one of these pivots share a common trait: they simplified their product based on something their users (or the founders) did above all else.
And in a time where resources are scarcer, and the clock is turning faster every day, re-focusing your product strategy could be the way into something much bigger (including surviving).