Upholding customer value during a corona pivot: the true challenge
This article is a post-mortem of a well-intentioned pivot of a digital startup, Breeze. I interview Marsha (VP Product) about how this pivot unfolded, as she was most directly involved with this pivot. I reconstruct the story from Marsha's perspective and verify it afterwards with the team. It's aimed to simulate the experience this group of entrepreneurs went through. How do you stay true to your own values during a pivot? What happens if you lose customer value out of sight? How can sudden uncertainty affect team dynamics? When is qualitative and quantitative data convincing enough to make a decision? All these are hurdles startup Breeze encountered during a pivot in times of corona.
Breeze is a new take on dating. They found that it on average takes 38 hours in apps such as Tinder to get an actual date. In the Breeze app, when both parties say yes to the other profile (i.e. when you match), you plan a date (Figure 2) immediately at one of their selected partnered cafes. You only get 2 profiles per day, which they serve you based on their algorithm. They exchange the time-consuming swiping and chatting with an immediate low key date. They envision to introduce a sense of airiness around dating…
PhD Researcher
