A Startup's Runway is the Number of Pivots it Can Make

A startup's runway is often defined as the amount of time it has before it runs out of money. However, a better way to think about runway is in terms of the number of pivots a startup has left.

A pivot is a structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, business model, or engine of growth. Each pivot is an opportunity to learn and get closer to a sustainable business.

The more pivots a startup can make, the greater its chances of success. This is because each pivot is an opportunity to learn from mistakes and find a better path forward.

There are two ways to increase the number of pivots a startup can make:

1. Increase the amount of funding: More funding means more time to experiment and learn.
2. Get to each pivot faster: By accelerating the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop, a startup can learn more in a shorter amount of time. This means that it can make more pivots with the same amount of funding.

By thinking about runway in terms of pivots, a startup can focus on what really matters: learning and adapting to the market.