I would think the key if you’ve been in business for a while and have lackluster growth would be to sell investors on why the new direction you’re going in has so much more potential than what you’ve done so far. Even if it’s not a pivot, it might be better if it sounds like one. That way, instead of extrapolating from your current numbers (bad for you), investors can give you more of a clean slate.

Already having a userbase, revenue, a team, etc. in place is a massive advantage, because these things are so hard to accomplish. If you tell the right story, you should look infinitely better than an early stage company that pivots due to lack of traction (and the latter get funded all the time).