Summary
Can a sudden change in direction save a new company? Evan Davis and his guests hear stories about the start-up's nightmare: the original product is not selling, and cash is running out. Can changing focus - with a new service or product - pluck success from the jaws of doom? Speaking to entrepreneurs and experts, he learns about how in a range of sectors, from sanitary products to event ticketing, the key is to shift while staying true to the original vision. Guests: Celia Pool, cofounder DAME Edmund Glover and Nick Stone, FIXR Ramdane Mir, cofounder Cobbleweb
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.3 | Hello and welcome to the programme. |
| 0:07.8 | Now, for many, the word pivot is indelibly associated with one of the most famous episodes of the sitcom friends, |
| 0:13.7 | in which three of the group are trying to get a sofa up a staircase. |
| 0:16.7 | It doesn't go, notwithstanding Ross, shouting, pivot at the others. |
| 0:21.4 | It's actually much funnier than I've made it sound. |
| 0:23.7 | But the exhortation to pivot is one that can be applied in many different situations, |
| 0:28.8 | not least in business. |
| 0:30.8 | You start with an idea, it doesn't quite work, so you change course along the way. |
| 0:36.3 | Now, it's important to recognise that a pivot, even a really |
| 0:39.6 | fundamental one, is an ordinary part of a business's development. Nintendo made playing cards |
| 0:45.1 | before it became famous for its gaming products. YouTube was a dating site that allowed you to |
| 0:49.8 | upload your video profile. It takes time for a business to refine, but you do need to be ready to adapt |
| 0:56.5 | or die. And my guest this week all have some experience or knowledge of pivoting. And we're |
| 1:03.1 | going to go through their stories. And first up is Celia Poole, co-founder of Dane. So Celia, tell us about |
| 1:09.8 | the, don't jump ahead here, just the original business. |
| 1:13.0 | What was the original business idea? Tell us the story of the setup. So we started at life in |
| 1:17.7 | 2015 as a subscription service and we were selling popular brands of menstrual products. And the |
| 1:23.2 | reason behind that was we wanted to offer women more convenience, more choice and a better |
| 1:27.2 | language around the subject because traditionally periods have been talked about in a bit of a behind that was we wanted to offer women more convenience, more choice and a better language |
| 1:27.8 | around the subject because traditionally periods have been talked about in a bit of a hideous |
| 1:32.0 | manner. Breaking the taboo a little bit. Exactly. We wanted to kind of give both young girls and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.