# The pivot conversation happens six months late

May 2026 · turnaround

By the time a venture asks for turnaround help, the founders have usually known for two quarters. The scoreboard said it plainly. The delay was never ignorance.

It is emotional: decision paralysis dressed up as diligence, work avoidance dressed up as busyness, hope doing the job that evidence should. I have watched capable teams polish the deck while the core assumption sat marked 'unvalidated' for a year — and I have been that founder.

The fix is structural, not motivational. Put a standing cadence on the calendar where the delta between belief and reality is read aloud, on schedule, whether or not anyone feels ready. Turnarounds start on time when the conversation is booked before it is needed.

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