Pivots and Pitfalls:
How to Work on
What Matters
for Startups and Small Companies
Organizational psychologist Kim White shows leaders what to focus on at each growth stage, sharing real stories, pitfalls, and strategies to help CEOs, founders, and leadership teams align, adapt, and scale with clarity and confidence.
If you're tired of guessing your way through growing a business, this is the book that finally tells you where you are and how to get where you're going with intention.
Stop guessing your next move.
For founders, CEOs, and leadership teams building small companies and startups, growth rarely fails because the idea was bad. It fails because leaders misread the stage they're actually in—clinging to yesterday's playbook long after it's stopped working, or reaching for tomorrow's strategy before the fundamentals are in place. The result is the same familiar story: stalled momentum, burned-out teams, and founders who mistake motion for progress. This book breaks that cycle, showing the leaders steering small and growing companies how to stop guessing and start growing on purpose.
Organizational psychologist Kim White distills decades of hard-won experience working alongside founders and executive teams at every stage—from scrappy startups finding their footing to small companies scaling into their next chapter—into a clear, stage-by-stage guide built specifically for the realities of leading a growing business. She maps the distinct phases every startup and small company moves through, the warning signs and pitfalls of an outgrown approach, and the deceptively simple pivots that unlock the next level.
Available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook wherever you buy books.
Growing a small company is hard. Many fail without fully understanding why. This book covers the common challenges every startup and small company faces and offers key ways to leverage pivots as you grow while avoiding cultural pitfalls. Kim White discusses both her training and personal experience with:
the four stages every company moves through and how to get to the next level.
the difference between a startup and small business and why it matters in decision-making.
aligning purpose, mission, and vision to increase growth velocity.
success metrics - what they mean and how to understand them.
the symbiotic relationship between employee and customer experience.
how communication and collaboration work together.
providing powerful yet low-cost learning and development opportunities.
Copyright 2026 Kim White. All Rights Reserved.