Pivotingとは何ですか？

The concept of pivoting was formalized by Eric Ries in 'The Lean Startup' as a structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the business. A pivot is not a minor product update or a sales tactic change — it is a significant strategic shift in one or more of the key dimensions of the business model: the customer segment targeted, the problem being solved, the solution offered, the channel used, the revenue model, or the underlying technology.

Ries categorized pivots into distinct types. A customer segment pivot means keeping the product but targeting a different customer. A problem pivot means keeping the customer but solving a different problem for them. A platform pivot means shifting from a product to a platform (or vice versa). A channel pivot means distributing the same product through a fundamentally different sales channel. A revenue model pivot changes how the business captures value — switching from one-time sales to subscriptions, for example, or from B2C to B2B.

The most successful pivots in startup history illustrate how radical the change can be: Slack began as a gaming company (Glitch); YouTube started as a video dating site; Instagram was originally Burbn, a check-in app; PayPal started as a cryptography company for Palm Pilots. In each case, the founding team identified a specific behavior or insight in their early user base that pointed toward a different and larger opportunity.

Pivots are most effective when driven by systematic learning rather than panic or investor pressure. The lean methodology prescribes building a minimum viable product, measuring specific hypotheses, learning from the data, and then deciding whether to persevere or pivot based on evidence — not gut feel.