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How to Turn Failure into Success: Lessons from Slack’s Stewart Butterfield on the Masters of Scale podcast | by Reid Hoffman | Medium

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In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs tend to celebrate a daring pivot. They see an opportunity. They act — and they don’t look back. Later on, they sound a bit like Caesar reporting to the Roman Senate: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But the truth is a lot messier. There’s more to a pivot than a sharp left turn. First, there’s the opportunity you’re pivoting toward. Can you see it clearly enough to navigate toward it? Can you convince others to come along? Then you have to pivot away from your old idea. This can be incredibly difficult, because it involves humans. And humans don’t tend to let go of old ideas easily. You risk blowback from your co-founders, your staff, your investors and your users. This will likely be the single greatest test of your leadership skills, because your credibility will come under scrutiny. Are you even believable anymore? Stewart Butterfield has pulled off two uncanny pivots. He has twice launched game companies, only to pivot toward game-changing communication

Press enter or click to view image in full size Entrepreneurship Podcast Technology Failure Pivoting How to Turn Failure into Success: Lessons from Slack’s Stewart Butterfield on the Masters of Scale podcast Reid Hoffman 8 min read · Apr 12, 2018 -- 1 Listen Share In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs tend to celebrate a daring pivot. They see an opportunity. They act — and they don’t look back. Later on, they sound a bit like Caesar reporting to the Roman Senate: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” But the truth is a lot messier. There’s more to a pivot than a sharp left turn. First, there’s the opportu

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