FT Start-Up Stories Series 2: The benefits of agility in a changing world 6/10
Apr 3, 2016
Alicia Navarro, known as the 'queen of the pivots' and founder of Skimlinks, shares her inspiring journey of transforming a failing social shopping platform into a successful B2B ad tech company. She discusses the strategic shifts made during the 2008 financial crisis, emphasizing the importance of agility and embracing change. Alicia dives into the emotional challenges of product failures and highlights the necessity of focusing on customer needs. Her insights shed light on navigating uncertainty and fostering innovation within startups.
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Desperate Pivot That Created Skimlinks
- Alicia Navarro started Skimlinks as a B2C social shopping site and discovered a monetization tool inside it.
- She pivoted in late 2008 to commercialize that affiliate-link tech and turned the company into a B2B ad tech business.
Running On Empty Payrolls
- Alicia describes months of zero in the bank while paying a small team and herself.
- She paid payroll each month despite constant panic about finding funds for the next month.
Pivot Scaled To Real Business
- Skimlinks grew into a sizable company with global publisher customers and substantial e-commerce volume.
- About $700 million of e-commerce sales pass annually through their platform, showing scale from the pivot.
