The Pivot People
Pivotal relies on a tribe of independent, seasoned professionals - "The Pivot People". All of them have managed multiple times successfully though pivotal phases - or they add deep industry and research expertise in pivot-related topics.
Stefan Zanetti, Basel
Focus: shapes pivot and M&A processes for tech companies.
Background: Built up five tech companies and scaled them up to 7/8 digit annual revenues. Merged, pivoted, recycled and exited some of them. Runs now Pivotal AG, and serves as Board Member of various ventures and associations.
More on Stefan:
stefanzanetti.com
Dr. Janine Crivelli, St. Gallen
Focus: builds and leads a research lab on pivoting and supports startups as an advisor.
Background: Specialized in entrepreneurial pivoting, venture boards, and startup research. Teaches entrepreneurship at the University of St. Gallen. Supports founders in navigating critical challenges and fostering innovation in advisory roles.
More on Janine:
GCEI-HSG
Dave Hersh, San Francisco
Focus: helps founders getting “unstuck” and find their breakaway path.
Background: Authored no 1 bestseller „Reignition“ and acts as a general partner at Metamorph Partners. Founding CEO of Jive (NASDAQ IPO / 2011), served as a board partner at a16z, advised hundreds of startups and growth companies.
More on Dave:
davehersh.com/
Manuel Hartmann, Zurich
Focus: helped >300 B2B entrepreneurs to build & scale sales quickly.
Background: Founded, pivoted & scaled SalesPlaybook AG from 0 to 7-figure annual revenue in <4 years, Before that, built up sales for an AI B2B SaaS Startup, co-led Salesforce projects and helped to sell the last Tesla Roadsters.
More on Manuel:
thesalesplaybook.com/
Tom Kessler, Zurich
Focus: supported > 25 SaaS and deep tech startups in achieving product market fit.
Background: Built up, scaled and exited Locatee AG. Runs various public resources like The Founders Benchmark / Library / Books, drives own innovation projects and acts as innovation coach of Innosuisse.
More on Tom:
thomas-kessler.ch