Founders love talking about scale. But let’s talk about the “messy” middle — the rebuild.
That’s exactly what my new interview series “My 3 Cents on Pivots” is for.
In these short talks, founders share what it actually took to break out of a plateau.
We’re starting with my friend and colleague who’s led teams through it multiple times: Maren Schlieper.
Maren served as Director PMO and Chief Strategy Officer at DeinDeal AG (2.5 years) and at wefox (~7 years).
Now, she’s with HudsonGoodman, a boutique consultancy in Zurich, where she helps companies make smarter bets on innovation and strategy.
🎙️ What We Talked About
S) Starting with the hard part, Maren — how did you keep showing up as a leader when things weren’t working?
M) It boils down to trust and radical transparency.
The moment I knew a pivot was coming at wefox in 2022, I prepped my team early. I didn’t sugarcoat anything. I gave them all the context and clarity they needed. That created safety for them to keep giving their best — even when things got messy.
Nothing slows a team down faster than fear and uncertainty.
Of course, you’re managing your own doubt too. For me, having honest exchanges with loyal peers — our CEO, leadership team, and mentors — helped a lot.
S) How did you resell the new story — to your investors and the outside world?
M) The tough part for me was shifting the business model internally — without leaking it externally too soon.
We had to move fast while keeping everyone aligned: Sales, Comms, Leadership, PR, HR, and especially the COO teams.
At wefox, the pivot wasn’t a hard turn to a completely new business. It was about finally fulfilling the original vision:
We moved from creating insurance products & distribution to → becoming the infrastructure that connects insurers and distributors globally, so people feel safe. Not just insured.
We communicated this through a major media release — a signal that “we’ve arrived.”
Since this pivot opened new revenue streams, it was warmly welcomed by investors.
S) To touch on the “last cent” of your 3 Cents — what used to scare you before the pivot, but doesn’t anymore?
M) The biggest fear for me was always: “Are we making the right call?”
I kept searching for proof to feel confident in my decisions — but most of the time, there wasn’t any. We trial-and-errored our way forward.
That changed when I joined HudsonGoodman. The firm turns science-backed models into business strategy. Working with them made me realize: in uncertain phases, you need evidence to validate your ideas.
It removes guesswork and gives you the best shot at winning.
🔚 That’s a Wrap!
This was the first edition of the 3 Cents on Pivots series.
I’m curating more conversations with founders who’ve led their teams through the messy middle.
If that’s you — or someone you know — DM me. I’d love to have you on as a guest.