vector research partners ( aka V4RP )
The Pivot to Product-Market Fit: How Plaid, Clay, Lattice & Other Startups Broke Out
For many startups, the path to product-market fit (PMF) hinges on the pivot. Here’s how these founders knew it was time to change directions.
Outline
Slack started as a gaming app. Twitter was a podcast platform. Brex pitched a VR headset to Y Combinator.
These stories are often reduced to anecdotes, but the real lesson lies in the careful, iterative steps founders took to reach PMF.
At V4RP, we’ve shared dozens of lesser-known pivot stories and developed a nuanced definition of pivoting. In our essay on the four levels of PMF, we outlined a practical framework — the four Ps of marketing — which can help startups get unstuck:
- Problem: The issue your customers need solved (even if they don’t yet realize it).
- Persona: Who buys your product — an individual decision-maker or a company profile.
- Promise: How you clearly articulate your unique value proposition.
- Product: The solution that delivers on that promise.
Many pivots aren’t dramatic on paper, but founders that tune the dials on one or more of these Ps often see traction quickly. Clay’s Kareem Amin narrowed a sprawling customer base to one persona. Jack Altman realized Lattice’s initial persona had a more urgent problem than the one they were solving. Jason Boehmig at Ironclad tweaked the promise, not the product, to hit growth.
Below are curated pivot stories applying the four Ps framework — highlighting the exact aha moments and decisions that drove these startups out of the pre-PMF trenches.
Problem
Vanta: Learning to listen before building
Christina Cacioppo wanted to start a company but initially built products no one wanted — from a Slack-transcribing microphone to a voice assistant for biologists.
The turning point came when she stopped building and started talking to potential customers, asking about their daily routines. Patterns emerged: startup leaders struggled to prioritize security compliance and SOC 2 certification. That insight became the foundation for Vanta.
Takeaway: Find a problem worth solving before writing code.
Shippo: Shipping friction revealed through experimentation
Laura Behrens Wu and Simon Kreuz started a marketplace but quickly got bogged down in shipping logistics. By iterating on the process — from buying and reselling items to building a shipping API — they discovered a real pain point and validated a scalable solution.
Takeaway: Solve the friction you encounter firsthand; it often hides a bigger opportunity.
Lattice: OKRs weren’t the real problem
Jack Altman initially built OKR software, only to discover customers wouldn’t pay for it. After conversations with HR leaders, he realized performance management was the bigger problem. The pivot delivered immediate traction.
Takeaway: Your first solution rarely hits the core problem. Dig deeper.
GOAT: Serendipity meets insight
Eddy Lu and Daishin Sugano tried multiple ventures, from a social dining app to iPhone apps, before a fake pair of Air Jordans revealed the need for a verified sneaker marketplace. Their pivot combined passion, a solvable problem, and luck.
Takeaway: Stay open to unexpected insights — sometimes luck nudges you to PMF.
Persona
Clay: Narrowing the ICP
Kareem Amin’s original product was broad, appealing to multiple user types. Traction was slow. By focusing solely on outbound salespeople, Clay gained consistent users and feedback, which fueled growth.
Takeaway: Don’t try to sell to everyone. Pick one persona, optimize, then expand.
Plaid: From consumer to enterprise
Plaid started with a budgeting app but pivoted to licensing its infrastructure to other fintechs. Early traction came from just a handful of companies willing to pay for the platform. The bigger challenge was developing the market, not the product.
Takeaway: Sometimes PMF requires building the market around your solution.
Promise
Ironclad: Repositioning through observation
Initially an AI legal assistant, Ironclad observed customers’ day-to-day legal workflows and realized the real value was in routine contract management. The pivot to Contract Lifecycle Management focused the promise and targeted a niche market: legal operations.
Takeaway: Watch your customers. Their work patterns reveal the promise your product should deliver.
Product
Alma: Moving physical therapy online
Pandemic lockdowns wiped out Alma’s in-person revenue. By analyzing usage patterns and retention, CEO Harry Ritter pivoted to virtual care, opening the service nationwide and building new go-to-market and tech capabilities.
Rupa Health: Iterative product discovery
Tara Viswanathan built multiple failed products before landing on a lab testing platform. Each iteration taught her more about the real problem: the hassle doctors face ordering and managing tests. The pivot allowed Rupa to align product with a validated market need.
Takeaway: Rapid iteration accelerates the journey to a product that resonates.
Bottom line: PMF rarely comes from a single leap. It’s a mix of observing real problems, selecting the right persona, honing your promise, and iterating on your product. The startups above didn’t just pivot — they strategically tuned the four Ps until the market responded.
