Business · 2
Before pivoting to create Slack, Stewart Butterfield's team was originally building what type of product?
Answer
A video game
Slack originated as an internal communication tool built by the team behind Glitch, a browser-based multiplayer game. When the game failed, Butterfield pivoted the messaging tool into a standalone product that became Slack.
💡 Did you know?
Slack was born as an internal messaging tool for a failed cryptocurrency startup. The founders pivoted, and Slack became a $27 billion company.
Other options people guess
- A cryptocurrency exchange
- A project management app
- An email client
Topics
- slack
- startups
- pivot
- tech-companies
- business-history
Know your business trivia?
Play a free Business quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More Business facts
Business
What is the business term for the strategic shift a startup makes when it abandons its original product to pursue a more promising opportunity, as Slack's founders did?
Slack was born as an internal messaging tool for a failed cryptocurrency startup. The founders pivoted, and Slack became a $27 billion company.
Business
Which entrepreneur transformed a small California burger stand he purchased in 1954 into the McDonald's global franchise empire?
Ray Kroc didn't invent McDonald's—he bought a small San Bernardino burger stand in 1954 and turned it into a $200 billion empire by obsessing over systems, not food.
Business
What valuation did Sara Blakely's Spanx reportedly reach despite never taking on outside investors?
Spanx founder Sara Blakely built a $1.2 billion shapewear empire without outside investors or a business degree, using $5,000 in personal savings and door-to-door retail pitching.
Business
In which U.S. state did 17-year-old Fred DeLuca open the tiny storefront sandwich shop funded by a $1,000 loan in 1965?
Subway's Fred DeLuca started his first sandwich shop at age 17 using a $1,000 loan from a family friend to pay for a tiny storefront in Connecticut.
Business
In what year did Pepsi unveil the redesigned logo whose leaked strategy document was compared to Barack Obama's campaign branding?
The Pepsi logo was briefly redesigned in 2008 with a $1 million rebrand that copied the Obama campaign's visual strategy.
Business
What contested product reportedly led brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht to split their discount grocery chain in two?
The Albrecht family (Aldi founders) split their empire over a family feud about whether to sell cigarettes, creating two rival supermarket empires.