What Happened to COVID?

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In February of 2020, the business was growing really, really rapidly. We were on track to do about $25 million in loan origination across, I think just 40 or 50 colleges at that time. But overnight our demand completely evaporated. There was not a single consumer who wanted to get access to just take a loan. They were completely went away because they weren't traveling or they didn't need the money.

Todd Jackson is back on the mic to guest host another product-market fit focused episode this week. He chats with Deepak Rao, co-founder and CEO of X1, a consumer fintech startup that’s building a credit card for a new generation.

Just last week, X1 announced a $15 million funding round. But we’re here to rewind the clock and unpack how the startup got to this point. As you’ll hear in today’s conversation, the path required a dramatic pivot. Here’s a preview of what Deepak shares:

The emotional journey of how the pandemic forced them to abandon the initial idea for a personal loan product.
How the team validated demand for the new idea by focusing on the launch announcement and getting all of the branding exactly right — before building anything.
The launch strategy that crashed X1’s website and built up a 600K long waitlist. .
Why finding product-market fit is different for consumer companies, plus advice on fundraising in tough times.

Whether you’re in the early innings of starting a company, going through a tough pivot yourself, or planning out your product’s launch there are tons of helpful tactics here.

You can follow Deepak on Twitter at @drao1. You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @firstround and @tjack.