Echelon 2012 - The Art of Pivoting by Simon Newstead

Art of the Startup Pivot

Simon NewsteadCEO Frenzoo

@simonhk

We launched at e27 conference in 2009

“The first 3d virtual world on the web”

We were on top of the world!

We had a Product. Seed Funding. Press…

“Skype Founders invest in Frenzoo”

BUT….

Only grew to 500,000 users

Organic growth was slow

Paid acquisition expensive

Only retaining niche users

Mainstream users not engaged

The Problem – Friends Are Nice

Easy to believe your own hype

We HAD to pivot…

Under 1 Million users in two yearsvs

1 Million users in two weeks.

Reached:#1 free RPG on iOS#1 free game on Kindle Fire

Want to pivot? You’re not alone

Social network to flash sales giant

Hands up if you know this company?

Red Octane

Pressing factors for change

Users not excited?

Steep retention drop off?

Mismatch of CPA vs LTV

Market too small?

Running out of runway…

5 tips for your successful pivot

Tip 1 – Increase your runway (survive!)

Tip 2 – Learn from your mistakes

Area Before AfterUX ✖ ✔

Tech ✔ ✔

Market need ✖ ✔

Distribution ✖ ✔

Team ✔ ✔

Unique product ✖ ✔

Tip 3 – Leverage what you did right

Nowbox.comVideo player

Delight.ioVideo capture SDK tool

Tip 4 – Rebrand

Tip 4 – Rebrand

Tip 5 – Don’t look back

Thanks! Questions?

simon@frenzoo.com@simonhkIteratingFun.com