# recovering-from-failure

A skill that walks you through why a product stalled and whether to pivot, turn around or shut it down.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 328 installs · ★ 1434
- Author: RefoundAI
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-07-16
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/recovering-from-failure

## What it does

The skill runs four steps: diagnose the failure, assess conviction, identify the pivot path, execute with speed. Diagnosis uses frameworks like the Four Ps and root cause analysis. The conviction check asks a blunt question: after everything you have learned, do you believe more or less in the problem and the solution?

It ships with templates and frameworks — pivot stories from Instagram, Loom and Discord, five patterns of successful pivots, a startup failure warning signs checklist, seven options when your product isn't taking off. The material comes from 20 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter. The full artifact list sits in `references/artifacts.md`.

This is a product-strategy skill, not a coding one. It won't read your repo or run tests, so a broken build is the wrong thing to bring to it.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill recovering-from-failure -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/recovering-from-failure/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill recovering-from-failure -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill recovering-from-failure -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install RefoundAI/lenny-skills recovering-from-failure
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill recovering-from-failure -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills --path skills/recovering-from-failure
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill recovering-from-failure -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- figure out why a feature isn't gaining traction
- decide whether to keep building or pivot
- find a pivot direction inside features that already work
- convince a founder or CEO to change course
- tell a profitable distraction from the core bet

## Example prompts
- diagnose why our product isn't taking off using the Four Ps
- help me assess whether the team still believes in the problem and solution
- suggest a pivot path based on what's already working in the product

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 84495e2603931c54.

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```text
---
name: recovering-from-failure
description: Help users navigate product failure by diagnosing root causes, evaluating conviction, and executing successful pivots or turnarounds based on proven industry frameworks.
---

# Recovering From Failure

Turn product setbacks and stalled growth into strategic breakthroughs and pivots.

Help the user with recovering from failure using insights from 20 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

## How to Help

1. **Diagnose the failure** - Use frameworks like the Four Ps or root cause analysis to identify exactly why the product or feature isn't gaining traction.
2. **Assess conviction** - Determine if the team still believes in the problem and solution after facing real world challenges or if it is time to move on.
3. **Identify the pivot path** - Look for organic pull within existing features or technical foundations to find a more viable direction.
4. **Execute with speed** - Move decisively to abandon failing initiatives and reallocate resources toward high conviction opportunities.

## Core Principles

### Stay in the game to reinvent
Bret Taylor: "They gave me another shot to do a V2 of it and I got the impression it wasn't like my last shot, but I certainly was feeling a little dejected from going from a hot shot, new PM to a new thing. So, we spent a lot of time thinking about how can you make something that's just much more compelling and not just a digital version of the Yellow Pages and not just so similar to some of the other products out there."

Rebuilding a reputation after a high profile failure requires the resilience to stay active and the willingness to completely reinvent the product.

### Pivot toward domain expertise
Dalton Caldwell: "Usually a successful pivot gets warmer instead of colder from what you're an expert at and somehow builds on what you learned on the prior idea. Right? And so in the case of Brex, it was they had worked on a FinTech company in Brazil when they were younger, and so I'm like, 'You need to work more on the thing all about and not the thing nothing about.'"

A successful pivot leverages lessons or internal tools developed during previous attempts and moves you closer to your existing expertise.

### Adopt a wartime mindset
Eoghan McCabe: "I said, we need to become a wartime company. If we don't fight for this, we are dead. I jumped hard on AI, but I also restarted the culture. I rewrote the values designed to be a sharp knife to cut out the parts of the company that I just knew wouldn't be effective."

Transitioning during a crisis requires aggressively eliminating legacy projects and cultural bloat to ensure survival over legacy processes.

### Maintain fidelity to vision
```
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First 2725 of 8485 bytes. © RefoundAI · MIT · https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/recovering-from-failure/SKILL.md

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