When their card provider shut them down, Jeeves faced a 60-day gap with no product. To survive, they launched a credit-based payment product managed on a spreadsheet. This crisis-born MVP now accounts for 40% of the company's revenue.
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During COVID, Revolut's interchange revenue from travel collapsed. However, its stock and crypto trading products boomed due to stimulus checks. This diversification created a resilient revenue model where one product's decline was offset by another's growth, challenging the 'focus on one thing' startup mantra.
Despite a previous successful exit, Dileep Thazhmon took Jeeves through Y Combinator not for basic education, but for brand credibility in new international markets, access to fintech expertise, and as a hedge against COVID-era uncertainty.
Instead of pushing a failing product, the founders used their first two years to listen to the market. This 'doldrums' period was a strategic investment in discovery, allowing them to uncover the true customer need and pivot away from a sunk cost fallacy, leading to explosive growth.
During the COVID crisis, with revenue at zero, Accel Events pivoted to virtual events by selling a product that didn't exist yet. They created mockups, sold with the confidence they could build it, and then developed features only after customers signed up. This rapid, customer-funded development saved the company.
To test its core hypothesis without building costly local infrastructure, Jeeves shipped standard US corporate cards internationally and absorbed the 2% foreign exchange fees. This unprofitable, unscalable MVP quickly proved strong demand for their cross-border product.
When COVID-19 invalidated its revenue plan, Nextdoor's GM used a pre-existing worst-case scenario to pivot the product strategy. The focus shifted from subscriptions to features that provided immediate cash flow to local businesses (e.g., gift cards), enabling a quick, board-aligned response to the crisis.
Initially a hardware company, SkillVari's supply chain collapsed during the pandemic, sending revenue to zero. This crisis forced a pivot to a software-first model, allowing customers to buy off-the-shelf Meta or Pico headsets and load the software, creating a more scalable and resilient business.
SeaMoney wasn't a planned business pillar. It was born out of necessity to solve payment challenges for its own gaming and e-commerce platforms in underbanked markets. This internal tool, which started with manual cash card distribution, evolved into a massive digital lending business.
Sea's multi-billion dollar fintech business wasn't a top-down strategic initiative. It was born from necessity to solve internal problems: a lack of payment methods for its gaming customers and the need for a scalable transaction system for e-commerce. This internal tool evolved into a major consumer-facing business.
Early-stage businesses can strategically leverage the 30-day interest-free period on credit cards as working capital. By ensuring customer acquisition costs are recouped within that window, your credit limit effectively becomes your advertising budget without incurring interest or debt.
