Our CEO, Rahul Jain, joined Jorge Soto on Startups Unedited, a podcast that dives into the realities of building and scaling startups.

For this conversation, the focus wasn’t on growth hacks or AI tactics.

It was about what happens when you realize the thing you’ve spent two years building isn’t working... and you have to decide what to do next.

If your business - in its current direction - isn’t panning out the way you thought, here’s exactly what it takes to change course without losing your team, your investors, or yourself in the process.

1. Most Pivots Begin With Friction, Not Vision

Before Noble became an AI search platform, it was a word-of-mouth product designed to surface social proof by showing prospects which of their friends were already using a tool.

The concept made sense, and plenty of people validated the idea. But the traction never caught up.

Rahul described it like this: “I kind of felt like it was almost like death by a million cuts, where there were always reasons that a customer or prospect couldn't move forward with it…”

Eventually, the team hit a more urgent reality: “We kind of got to this point over the summer where we were like, we have a few months of runway left. This really isn't working. What else can we do?”

What saved Noble from its own demise was recognizing early that the ship was sinking and not being precious about it.

After exploring that AI Search was the biggest trend in marketing, Rahul and his co-founder immediately started redirecting.

If you're in this position, do this:

• Review your last 20 lost deals and categorize the objections.
• Look for patterns, not anecdotes.
• Ask: are these fixable feature gaps or structural resistance?
• Calculate how much runway you have if growth doesn’t accelerate.
• Have the uncomfortable conversation early, not when you have 30 days left.

2. You Don’t Announce a Pivot — You Validate It First

Pivots are often described as bold, public moments.

In reality, they should be cautious experiments.

Rahul and his co-founder didn’t immediately rally the team or alert the board.

First, they tested.

“We had to have something that people would be willing to try before we could bring that to the rest of the team, and then we needed some level of like traction before we went to our board and our investors.”

After running tests on the side and building a “product” - meaning using Google Sheets to track progress in AI visibility - they landed a few clients at $1-2k/month. These customers kept asking for more, and that’s when they finally brought up the pivot to investors.

And even then, support wasn’t automatic:

“When it came to raising a bit more money from our current investors, they weren't just like, ‘We like you guys. We trust you guys. We were working together for two years.’ They said, “You have to resell us on this idea. Why now? Why does this pivot matter? Because the last thing that your investors or Board want is they don't want, like a pivot to nowhere.”

Before you declare a pivot, take these steps:

• Design a stripped-down version of the new idea.
• Sell it manually before you build it.
• Close at least a few paying customers, even when the product is imperfect.
• Document results and testimonials.
• Then present the pivot internally and to investors with evidence, not theory.

3. The Hardest Part of Being a Founder Is the Uncertainty. Build a Life That Can Absorb It.

When asked what surprised him most about being a founder, Rahul didn’t talk about hiring or fundraising.

He talked about uncertainty:

“You don't know how any of the sales calls are going to go… you're building the product. You don't know if the product's going to work… you've got to get really good with just embracing uncertainty.”

That uncertainty doesn’t disappear as you scale. In fact, it compounds.

In his first company, it consumed him. 

“It was my entire life. I didn't have any balance. It was pretty much the company and nothing else.”

With Noble, things were different.

Your emotional stability cannot depend entirely on weekly revenue, or every fluctuation will destabilize you.

Rahul described it like this:

“Now, I embrace other parts of my life. It always reminds me that, yes, I like my job. It's important to me. I find fulfillment in it. But there's more to me than just work.”

To make uncertainty sustainable:

• Separate your identity from your revenue graph.
• Maintain at least one non-work priority (family, health, hobby).
• Schedule non-negotiable time outside the business.
• Don’t wait for burnout to “rebalance.”
• Remind yourself that volatility is inherent, not personal.

Lastly, Stop Pretending You’re the CEO Who Has All the Answers

When Noble pivoted 5 months ago, there was no way to know whether it’d work out.

But realizing when to pivot is what’s led the company to hit $1M in ARR after onboarding hundreds of demand gen marketers onto the new platform.

Rahul explains that his ultimate advice to other founders is to lean on your people. To be the kind of leader that’s okay with saying, “I don’t know.”

“Take care of yourself,” he said. 

“And don’t try to do this alone.”

To watch the full conversation, click the link below.

About #StartupsUnedited

#StartupsUnedited is a podcast hosted by founder & CEO Jorge Soto, featuring real conversations with founders on the journey of building companies. Launched after his time at Twitter, the show focuses on real experiences by successful founders.

About Noble

Noble is an AI-search optimization platform that helps brands win visibility where modern discovery happens. Noble’s software automates the identification of visibility gaps, publisher outreach, and placement of brand mentions in the sources that large language models cite, helping companies appear in relevant AI-generated answers.