This bothers me a lot more than it probably should: some startup I’ve never heard of failed, “pivoted”, and became a different company (search for SCVNGR on that page). Happens all the time, I suppose, maybe it’s even part of the entrepreneur/business culture, but I think it’s just terrible.
All companies start out as an idea. That idea made you passionate about the products (or services) you were going to make, it probably got you out of bed in the morning on days when you were sick and tired of everything else because that idea is your child; it’s what you will leave for the world when you inevitably pass on. Everyone experiences success and failure, both personally and professionally, but those in the business world would like us to believe that there is no real failure in business so long as you have money. You can just “pivot” into some other market or industry. Sounds great, right? If all you care about is money, I guess it is. Only problem is at that point your ideas don’t matter, your professional destiny is now controlled by people who just want their piece of the pie back.
At some point in the past you were really passionate about your idea. You took pride in what you had built, you were it’s biggest fan. Then someone tossed you a couple thousand dollars and suddenly your idea wasn’t your own anymore. You have business goals now, maybe even a business plan and a business development mentor. They don’t care about your idea, these people only care about how much money you can make for them (and yourself, I suppose). The goal of all of those things is to get paid.
You started your company because you wanted to create something you thought the world needed. That’s awsome. So what if the world didn’t actually want it? The only reason companies “pivot” is to keep that money train rolling. No investor money means no six figure salary, no hip office complete with a whole floor of foosball tables in San Francisco, no chance to get bought out by Google or Microsoft (which seems to be the goal of most tech startups these days anyways). It’s also “startup cred”, for some reason. Why failure should give you credibility is something I’ll never understand.
The moral of the story? If you care so little for your passion project that you’ll let any asshole with a cheque book ruin it for his or her own personal profit, why not just abandon it? Do you think you’ll get famous for starting the Company which became Company #2 which was later purchased by Company #3 who was then absorbed by a merger between Company #4 and Google? Nobody cares about your contributions until you’ve fought tooth and nail for what you believe in and made your dreams a reality. Until then, you’re just some shmuck with a laundry list of failed businesses and a lot of undeserved cash.