What the best "pivot" in business you've ever heard?
for example:
Nokia used to make galoshes and other rubber products (really!).
Sony used to make rice cookers and heating blankets
Groupon.com started a cause-based message board
What are the best pivots you've heard of in life and business?
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M$13 Answers
Paypal: PayPal pivoted its business model in two ways. PayPal started as a technology to send money from PDA’s. Firstly, they began in the palm pilot sector and pivoted to the online platform. Also, they started off focusing on person-to-person payments and pivoted, altering their focus to the online auction business.
Youtube: YouTube started as a dating site. Surprisingly, YouTube fizzled in an early version. A dating site called Tune In Hook Up was the business model at that time. The founders later developed the current site (huge pivot), now broadcasting 100 million short videos daily on myriad subjects. Smart move youtube!
Flickr: Another neat pivot example is flickr. The company that produced Flickr was meant to build an online game; Flickr was a side project. Due to Flickr's popularity, it forced co-founders to completely alter their business plans. Here's a quote from co-founder Stewart Butterfield: "We started the company that produced Flickr to build an online game. Flickr was a side project. It got more popular and then it took over the whole company but it certainly wasn't what we intended to do, so there wasn't any real business plan when we started. There's some obvious things and those are the core of the business model today."
Starbucks: One of the most famous piviots in the retail world is Starbucks. Starbucks started off selling coffee beans and espresso markers. They initially had no interest in brewing coffee for their customers. According to blogger Eric Ries, "They Starbucks were still serving high-end coffee afficionados, but in a more convenient form. This paved the way for their crossing-the-chasm type breakthrough with mainstream customers. As we all know, this pivot proved to be HUGE for Starbucks.
Nintendo: Another business that pivoted its business model is Nintendo. Did you know Nintendo started off in the trading card industry?
The above list contains some interesting examples of pivoting a business model. In order to successfully pivot these companies have shown to be agile and creative in their business model development. This agility and creative is key for all startups! They are also some of the most successful pivots in business history.
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M$
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M$
Well, you can still buy Nintendo Hanafuda cards for about $20 - $40 on Ebay, but if you can find a set 1889 . . . I can only imagine what it would be worth
Bahahahha! No fair posting this as I am writing my answer.
Seriously though great minds think alike & Nintendo's changes were fantastic.
You did forget my favorite though, Nintendo ran a Love Hotel Chain ;o)
I wonder how much a deck of cards that says 'Nintendo' goes for?
Nokia also made paper before they switched to rubber then to phones. They had a pulp mill in Finland.
Wrigley sold soap and baking powder, giving gum away as freebies to customers. When the customers were uninterested in the baking powder, they switched to the gum.
Colgate started with soaps, candles and starch.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/10/02/mf.famous.companies.first.products/index.html
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M$What company made Hanafuda Cards, was a Cab Company, sold Instant Rice and even had a time managing a Love Hotel Chain before becoming a household name as a video game company?
A:
Nintendo
Believe it or not this company was best known as a card company, but from 1949-1975 it tried to expand into other ventures, the vast majority failed, but in 1973 there was a turning point for the company with the Laser Clay Shooting System - even this was a failure but it was the first step in the direction of videogames.
1981 saw the creation of Donkey Kong and it was at this point Nintendo saw a huge surge in profit and a new business model began to form. 1983 Nintendo launched the Famicom which would become known as the Nintendo Entertainment System. It would be launched in the US in 1985 changing the face of video gaming forever.
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M$
In 1996 Bezos thinks he is running a soon to be hyper successful online bookstore he told Fortune Magazine "By the year 2000, there could be two or three big online bookstores. We need to be one of them."
Pivot to Associate program in 1996
Pivot to music in 1998 with 125,000 titles for sale
Pivot to Amazon auctions in 1999
Pivot to the big time in 2001 with deals reached with Target retailers and America Online and now selling products from Borders Group, Toysrus.com Inc., and Circuit City Stores Inc.
etc. etc.
And on and on .. Bezos seems to have had a willingness to allow for and encourage any type of business pivot that might increase the sales of his little bookstore so he took what looked good at the time each time and made it work.
What can't you buy now on Amazon.com?
Full Amazon.com | Company Timeline
Sound like you might have a surprise pivot for us in the future?
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M$
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M$
The second most important pivot point had to for sure, be the Fourteenth amendment. This was passed to see that all persons had rights, but it lead to no person having more rights than "The Corporation."
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M$I love podcasts, but Ev and Biz have managed to change the world through Twitter, whereas Odeo is now dead!
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M$
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipro_Technologies
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M$
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M$Sears went from a small watch store to one of the largest retailers in the World after he met Roebuck. The pivot was from a small walk-in shop to mail order.
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M$
The secret service is not a buisness. At least not a buisness that you can buy anything from.
These are pretty good, but I think you can still buy a watch at a walk in Sears and Treasury crimes are not very far way from Homeland security.
@attitudexx
Even if you can't buy something from the SS it is still an organization that is run just as a business is. But their business is Gov. work. They have a payroll and are part of the economy. And through the years they have had a pivot point.
And what was your problem with Sears?
The point was it was mail order that helped the Sears store grow to what it was. In many isolated areas of the Country and for the Armed Forces overseas the Sears catalog was a big deal. Even if you can still walk in and buy a watch at the store.
Second counterfieting is a long way from Worldwide intelligence and counterintelligence ops. And protecting the POTUS has nothing to do with counterfeiting.
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M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
