It's time for another pivot!

Sometimes, when things aren't working out, a change is necessary. This happened already once in 2021, when we pivoted WebARX into Patchstack. This pivot was the most important decision we made for the company.

We chose one problem to solve that we knew we had the best solution for and ruthlessly removed every other distraction. This helped us overcome stalled growth, reach 1M+ ARR, and secure a $5M Series A investment.

Today, another pivot is needed.

But.. it's not what you think

I'm not talking about another rebrand or a product change to a new problem or customer. This time, it's about myself. A founder pivot. It's about realigning energy and focus as a founder and making sure you're always one step ahead in personal growth compared to the company's growth.

The Oliver the company needed when it was 3 people (Me, my wife, and Dave) is different from the Oliver the company needs that has 35 employees in 18 different countries. So, as a founder, I need to know when to pivot myself to adapt to the new needs that the company has.

This is what we do as founders all of the time. We execute, learn, adapt all over and over again. This process is what makes building startups so much fun. Every day, you build, you break, you learn.

Building yourself to build the company

When founders build companies, it's where the majority, if not all the attention goes to. Founders also build a lot of character in this process and learn a lot from failures and fast experimentation.

However, as the company grows, less time becomes available to reflect and build yourself in this process. When the founder's personal growth is slowing down compared to the company's growth, it will ultimately lead to problems.

What founders have to do in this situation is pivot, exactly as they would pivot their company when needed. Pivoting attention and removing distractions. Pivoting the way they spend their energy.

Pivoting to grow faster (first yourself, then the company)!

"Do you even pivot, bro?"

First and most importantly, acknowledging it creates room to bring attention back from daily grind to personal growth. It's about reflection and being intentional about change. It's about knowing what you want and then going after it.

I could start by spending less time on doom scrolling to read more books. Pivot my eating habits and start working out at least 3 times a week to have more energy. Spend more meaningful time with family and make new friends.

I'm still figuring out how exactly I need to pivot, but I found myself thinking about this when I went for a walk with my dog Lilly earlier this morning. As founders, we need to reinvent ourselves all of the time. It's so common we don't even think about it much. But I think we should! And approaching it as a personal pivot is an idea I fell in love with.

Have you ever pivoted yourself? Would you right now?