[latchkey]

No, it isn't really a pivot. Pivot is a dumb startup term for when you haven't figured out your customers yet.

What I'm referring to is the realization that you should build only what customers are asking for, not what you think they need.

When you do that, you don't need to convince anyone to use your product, since you've built what they are asking for already.

It is a much better way to do things that will always lead to success if you can execute on it.

[ernestoo]

Customers want smaller CDs, not iPods. So I think this statement is true if you are improving on an existing idea (such as castled). But if you’ve got a transformative idea, talking to customers probably doesn’t help as much

[latchkey]

There is only one Steve Jobs. The rest of us are better off talking to customers first. That thinking (transformative idea... which generally amounts to nothing more than 'X of Y'), is why most startups fail.

[ernestoo]

True, from a numbers perspective most startups are a Y (in an X of/for Y) but every once in a while someone becomes an X (Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox) and that’s what’s exciting about reading a “Show HN” for me.