피벗을 통한 창업기업의 Death Valley 극복 사례 분석

Abstract

Most successful pivot cases in the domestic market are either promotional materials for well-known companies or cases of stable companies that can afford to fail once or twice. As a result, there is a lack of pivot research that early-stage startups can refer to in order to overcome the Death Valley. Therefore, in order for early-stage startups to overcome the Death Valley through pivoting, it is necessary to reduce the probability of pivot failure. To achieve this, research on pivot cases of early-stage startups in similar environments is needed to gain a precise understanding of pivoting and its key factors. In this study, we conducted a case analysis of five early-stage startups that are currently actively conducting their business to identify the types of pivot in domestic startups and summarize the success factors. The research results revealed that domestic startups are relatively engaged in Customer Need Pivot and Zoom-out Pivot. The prevalence of Customer Need Pivot indicates that pivoting, which reflects customers' needs, is also being applied in reality as part of the Lean Startup methodology. Moreover, it was found that startups often undergo Zoom-out Pivots, where they leverage existing resources and capabilities to add new business models in order to expand their business. The research results indicate that in crisis situations, rapid decision-making and execution, problem-solving starting from understanding customers' needs, securing resources and capabilities necessary for pivoting, modifying the direction of the business through pivoting, and increasing the chances of success are crucial. Additionally, maintaining an open attitude towards various possibilities, making correct choices, and focusing on core competencies were identified as important factors for successful pivoting.