Pivoting: Startup’s Superpower

Abstract: Successful startups rarely follow a straight path—many of today’s biggest brands, from Samsung to Nokia, began in entirely different industries before reinventing themselves. Pivoting is a crucial superpower for entrepreneurs, allowing them to adapt to market changes, seize new opportunities, and turn setbacks into growth. In Canadian fintech, companies like Borrowell, Loop Financial, and Yield Exchange have successfully shifted their business models to better serve evolving market needs. The key to longevity isn’t just a great initial idea—it’s resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to pivot. However, even once-successful companies can falter if they become resistant to change. Sometimes revolution is better than peddling evolution.

Every entrepreneur dreams of launching the perfect idea at the perfect time. But the reality of the startup journey is far messier. The path to success is rarely a straight line—it’s a path full of flotsam, unexpected turns, and, most importantly, reinventions. Founders learn to pitch using 20/20 hindsight.

Many of the greatest brands didn’t start with the products or services they’re known for today.

I started my career in telecom where there are many unexpected big brand examples. Take Samsung, which in 1938 was a grocery store selling dried fish and noodles. Or Sony which started by making rice cookers in the late 1940s. LG, another key player in the electronics world, appeared on the shelf selling beauty creams. 

Nokia is a poster child. The Finnish tech company started as a toilet paper manufacturer. It successfully pivoted multiple times over the decades, shifting to telecommunications and eventually becoming the flip phone king. 

The product or business focus changed but each was willing to reinvent: revolution, not always evolution.

Canadian Fintech Pivots

In the Canadian fintech landscape, leadership has been important in guiding companies through successful pivots. Here are three good examples:

1. Andrew and Eva started Borrowell as an online consumer lending platform, providing personal loans to Canadians; however, pivoted the company in 2016 to became the first company in Canada to offer free credit scores, shifting its core business away from direct lending to credit education and personalized financial recommendations. Today, the company has millions of users and provides AI-driven insights to help consumers find better financial products. 
2. Cato originally launched Loop Financial as a business-to-business (B2B) loan marketplace. He pivoted into a business credit card and expense management platform, allowing companies to streamline their spending, track payments, and earn rewards. This strategic shift aligned them with the growing trend of fintech-driven business banking solutions.
3. Yvette, Ravi and Sampath launched Yield Exchange as a marketplace for Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), aiming to help investors find the best rates across various financial institutions. However, as the company grew, it identified a larger opportunity in institutional finance and shifted its focus to becoming a Repo Desk platform, facilitating repurchase agreements for financial institutions. This pivot allowed them to tap into the high-demand world of short-term liquidity management, broadening their market and increasing revenue opportunities.

What many startups have in common is not their first idea —it is their resilience, adaptability, and unwavering commitment to reinvention. They didn’t fear failure changing the pitch; they used it as fuel. They pivoted when the market changed, when new opportunities emerged, or when their initial concept simply didn’t work.

For startups in our community, this lesson is invaluable. Founders often get attached to their original vision, but success doesn’t come from stubbornly clinging to a failing idea—it comes from knowing when to shift. A great team, a culture of experimentation, and the ability to execute change effectively are what separate the winners.

An end note: pivoting and being nimble on the way up does not mean an organization cannot become calcified later on. While Nokia once thrived on its ability to reinvent itself, it later became rigid and slow to adapt to the smartphone revolution, ultimately losing its once-unshakable market position. In the ever-changing landscape of business, survival belongs to those corporate cultures who embrace the pivot.

Next week – I will explore internal pivots: skunkwork operations in Canadian fintech …