The Hardest Fire: Knowing When to Kill Your Product and Pivot Fast

Nicolas Cava
Edited onEdited on Sep 16, 2025
Reading time1 minute

The hardest decision isn't firing someone. It's to fire your product.

I do romanticize persistence.
I repeat to you to never give up.
But sometimes, doubling down is how you die.

The brutal truth:
A bad product won't turn good.
Not with more features.
Not with more funding.
Not with more grind.

The only real choice? Pivot fast or die slow.

A few reasons to pivot:

1️⃣ When prospects say "nice idea" but never pay for it
2️⃣ Early adopters try once, churn, and don't come back
3️⃣ You solve a problem customers admit, but not one they prioritize

These aren't obstacles to break through. They're signals.
Signals that the problem you're solving doesn't matter at all.

A pivot isn't weakness.
Truth over ego.
Survival over fantasy.

Do not let sunk-cost fallacy eat your runway alive.

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Nicolas Cava

Early-stage CTO helping founders build scalable software and teams from MVP to $5M+ ARR without burnout.

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