Century old example showing pivoting is as old as business:

“ When 3M began in 1902, the five founders had a simple goal: to mine for corundum, a mineral ideal for making sandpaper and grinding wheels. Turns out, what they thought was corundum was really another low-grade mineral called anorthosite.”

3M pivoted to selling sand paper without the sand, I.e tape, and that helped them survive long enough to try again at sand paper. (Transparent tape, invented by 3M, helped them grow during the Great Depression because people fixed stuff instead of buying anew.)

Funny to see sandpaper still being improved upon after 100 years: https://youtu.be/NZDCRFi8dKY