What's up, it's Zayd.

My investors thought I was crazy when I suggested killing our product just 90 days after funding. Honestly, there were a lot of times when I thought I was a little crazy too.

But then I showed them the math. The logic was impossible to ignore. And sometimes the bravest thing you can do as a founder is admit your baby's ugly.

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Zayd’s Picks

My favorite finds of the week.

• Why your cold emails are landing in spam (link)

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• The traditional outbound playbook is dead (link)

The Truth About Pivoting

It seems that everyone treats pivoting as a last resort—something to do when you're about to run out of money or after exhausting every possible iteration of your original idea.

I took a different approach.

Within months of raising funding from Antler for Fish (a social network for VCs and founders), I saw the writing on the wall. The decision to pivot wasn't about desperation—it was about intellectual honesty.

The Logic Was Clear

Two things became impossible to ignore:

The Business Model

• No sustainable monetization path

• TAM too small for ad revenue

• Subscription model wouldn't work (nobody would pay to talk to founders)

• Network effects would be hard to achieve

The Market Reality

• Investor-founder ecosystem looks bigger from the outside

• Once you're in it, it's insular and hard to solve

• Investor updates (what we thought the "feed" would be) are at the bottom of founders' priority list

• No clear path to expansion

Making the Call

Most people would've kept pushing, tried more variations, or blamed external factors. But there's a difference between persistence and delusion.

I took a week away to gain clarity. Then I asked myself three questions:

1. Is this a vitamin or painkiller?

2. Would I use this product myself?

3. Can this become a $100M+ business?

The answers weren't what I wanted to hear. But they were what I needed to hear.

The Valley Pivot

When we pivoted to Valley, things clicked immediately:

Clear Why Me:

• Previous appointment-setting experience

• Deep understanding of sales challenges

• Track record of execution

Clear Why Now:

• AI unlocked everything I did manually before

• Market ready for next-gen sales tools

• Perfect timing with email limits

Clear Market Need:

• Prospects asking "When can I test it?"

• Immediate pricing discussions

• Organic word of mouth

The Results

Within 30 days of pivoting we had a clear MVP plan, our first paying customers, strong investor interest, and a team that was fully aligned.

Today we are growing 5x YoY, are at $128M+ in pipeline generated for our customers, and have a clear path to $100M+ ARR.

Key Lessons Learned

1. Speed Over Perfection

• Make decisions with 60% information

• Perfect timing beats perfect execution

• Move fast when you see signals

2. Trust Your Instincts

• Your gut usually knows before your head

• Pay attention to energy levels

• Notice when you're forcing it

3. Focus on First Principles

• Clear why me

• Clear why now

• Clear market need

4. Build in Public

• Share your journey

• Be transparent about changes

• Bring your community along

5. Maintain Intellectual Honesty

• Don't ignore red flags

• Challenge your assumptions

• Listen to market feedback

Pivoting isn't about failure—it's about optimization. It's about recognizing when there's a bigger opportunity and having the courage to pursue it.

Most founders pivot out of desperation. The best ones pivot out of optimization.

The key is maintaining enough runway and clarity to make the decision from a position of strength, not weakness.

How I Can Help?

Let me book sales calls for you while you ask yourself the big questions. Seriously.

I built Valley to be your automated SDR and empower AEs. Get started today and watch your calendar fill up with qualified leads.