Fintech strategy pivot: the North Star metric

Situation

A fintech firm with three product lines was losing focus. Each product grew on its own, teams competed for resources, and customers couldn't say what, exactly, made the company worth loving. Revenue had stalled while operating costs kept climbing.

The founders knew a pivot was unavoidable, but they were stuck on which way to go. Three options pulled in different directions and looked equally promising: decentralized finance (DeFi) services, stablecoin infrastructure, and payment solutions for business.

Diagnosis and approach

We analyzed user journeys across all three products. It turned out that 70% of revenue came from a single product line, while the other two absorbed 60% of development resources. Customer interviews were clear: people came for one feature and talked about that one feature — the word "ecosystem" never came up once.

The conclusion was obvious: pick one North Star metric and reorient the entire company around it.

Solution

A product map built on user journeys

Instead of three separate products, we built a single value map. We identified the key use cases and their contribution to revenue. Non-core features were left running, but no new development went into them.

Defining the North Star metric

The single metric became transaction volume processed — a direct reflection of the value delivered to customers. Teams were rebuilt around it, and every sprint is now measured by one question: how far did it move the North Star.

A DeFi services pipeline

We built a pipeline of five DeFi services, ranked by their potential to grow transaction volume. The two top-priority services launched right away; the rest were put on hold until their hypotheses are validated.

Stablecoin development scenarios

We developed three scenarios for the stablecoin infrastructure, each with full financial modeling. We settled on the scenario with the highest return on every ruble invested.

Outcome

In four months the company narrowed from three product directions to one. Operating costs fell by 25% through reallocation of resources. Conversion on the core product rose 35% — development was no longer spread across three fronts. Target revenue for the coming year is ₽80M, double the current level. The debates over priorities went quiet: now anyone on the team can name the single metric they came to work for today.