Pivoting in software startups. Motivations, process and evaluation
Abstract
Various studies affirm that software startups fail in the first months or years, generally because they did not validate their business hypothesis, and they refuse to implement changes called pivots. In this paper we present the results of a field study whose purpose was to identify how pivots are decided, implemented, and evaluated in software startups. From interviews with founders of ten software startups, it is found that the most common factors that generate the need to pivot are: “negative reaction from customers”, “positive reaction from an unforeseen customer segment” and “focus on the target market”, and the most used types of pivots are “Technology”, “Value capture” and “Customer segment”.
Keywords:
software startups, pivoting
References
Bajwa, S. (2017) “Pivoting in Software Startups”. PhD thesis, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.
Bajwa, S. et al. (2017) “Start-Ups Must Be Ready to Pivot”, IEEE Software., Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 18–22.
Bajwa, S., Wang, X., Nguyen Duc, A. and Abrahamsson, P. (2017) “Failures’ to be celebrated: an analysis of major pivots of software startups”, Empirical Software Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 2373–2408.
Blank, S. and Dorf, B. (2020) “The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company”, John Wiley & Sons.
Bohn, N. and Kundisch, D. (2018) “Much more than ‘same solution using a different technology’: antecedents and consequences of technology pivots in software startups”, Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik, Lüneburg.
Giardino, C., N. Paternoster, Unterkalmsteiner, M, Gorschek, T. and Abrahamsson.P. (2016) “Software Development in Startup Companies: The Greenfield Startup Model”, Information and Software Technology, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 585–604.
Grinnell. R. and Unrau, Y. A. Eds. (2004) “Social Work Research and Evaluation: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches”, 7th edition, New York: Oxford University Press.
Hernández Sampieri, R. Fernandez Collado, C. and Baptista Lucio, M. del P. (2014) “Metodología de la Investigación”, 6th edition, México.
Ries, E. (2011) “The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses”. Crown Publishing, New York
Terho, H., Suonsyrjä, S., Karisalo, A. and Mikkonen, T. (2015) “Ways to Cross the 'Rubicon: Pivoting in Software Startups”, Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, pp. 555–568.
Unterkalmsteiner, M. et al. (2016) “Software Startups - A Research Agenda”, e-Informatica Software Engineering Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 89–123.
Bajwa, S. et al. (2017) “Start-Ups Must Be Ready to Pivot”, IEEE Software., Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 18–22.
Bajwa, S., Wang, X., Nguyen Duc, A. and Abrahamsson, P. (2017) “Failures’ to be celebrated: an analysis of major pivots of software startups”, Empirical Software Engineering, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 2373–2408.
Blank, S. and Dorf, B. (2020) “The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company”, John Wiley & Sons.
Bohn, N. and Kundisch, D. (2018) “Much more than ‘same solution using a different technology’: antecedents and consequences of technology pivots in software startups”, Multikonferenz Wirtschaftsinformatik, Lüneburg.
Giardino, C., N. Paternoster, Unterkalmsteiner, M, Gorschek, T. and Abrahamsson.P. (2016) “Software Development in Startup Companies: The Greenfield Startup Model”, Information and Software Technology, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 585–604.
Grinnell. R. and Unrau, Y. A. Eds. (2004) “Social Work Research and Evaluation: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches”, 7th edition, New York: Oxford University Press.
Hernández Sampieri, R. Fernandez Collado, C. and Baptista Lucio, M. del P. (2014) “Metodología de la Investigación”, 6th edition, México.
Ries, E. (2011) “The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses”. Crown Publishing, New York
Terho, H., Suonsyrjä, S., Karisalo, A. and Mikkonen, T. (2015) “Ways to Cross the 'Rubicon: Pivoting in Software Startups”, Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, pp. 555–568.
Unterkalmsteiner, M. et al. (2016) “Software Startups - A Research Agenda”, e-Informatica Software Engineering Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 89–123.
Published
2022-06-13
How to Cite
LANATA, Karina; BENÍTEZ, Pablo; MATTURRO, Gerardo.
Pivoting in software startups. Motivations, process and evaluation. In: IBERO-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CIBSE), 25. , 2022, Córdoba.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2022
.
p. 248-262.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/cibse.2022.20976.
