The Pandemic Pivot: How Three Startups Transformed During Covid

A year and a half into the pandemic, many companies are beginning to grapple with the prospect of returning to some semblance of normality. Then there are the subset of companies that can’t go back, because they completely transformed themselves in 2020 to solve some kind of pandemic-related problem. These Covid-era startups now face the prospect of pivoting yet again, as the acute crisis fades, the delta variant looms, and the coronavirus-challenged world enters its next stage. Here are the stories of three of them.

Early last year, Sam Bernstein’s 50-person startup had built what he thought was a solid business out of helping college students find rental housing. Then came Covid. “The business went to zero, with no line of sight” for how long it would last, says Bernstein. He cut his staff by 80% and emerged with the remaining team two months later as Table22, which helped restaurants sell cook-at-home kits, groceries and provisions, or specialized drinks. Restaurants loved the predictable business and relatively fat profit margins, and Bernstein raised $7 million from venture investors in December.