Scouting for Growth

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Abel, a dedicated, results-oriented executive with a proven, hands-on track record and a superior ability to build highly effective teams that deliver success at all levels of an organization. When recording this podcast, Steve was at EPAM, which is one of the best-kept secrets, voted one of the world's leading and faste...

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Yann Barbarroux, CEO and co-founder of OTONOMI, an InsurTech startup dedicated to mitigating supply chain risk. Yann shares insights into himself, his successes, and the recent USD $3.4 million fundraising round he and his team finalized during very uncertain times. KEY TAKEAWAYS Around 2003 – the onset of the internet bubble...

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast. Sabine talks to Paul Roetzer. Paul Roetzer is the founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute. He is the author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence, The Marketing Performance Blueprint, and The Marketing Agency Blueprint, and the creator of the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON). In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine and Paul discuss how Ar...

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to  Annap Derebail , IBM’s Global Insurance Industry CTO within IBM’s Global Business Services Unit, now in IBM's payment center. Annap’s focus has always been on delivering impactful business outcomes by re-imagining user experiences. Today, Annap provides trusted advice to drive revenue growth for IBM’s clients by leveraging ar...

On this episode of Scouting For Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Christie Downs Wood . A self-made entrepreneur and problem-solver who founded handdii with her co-founder, Kathryn Wood . After working as an executive in the construction industry, building deep experience and broad industry relationships, Christie saw an opportunity to use technology to improve how customers connect with contractors whe...

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Mark McLaughlin , a respected figure in IBM and its insurance division, to discuss the future of customer experience within a fast-evolving world. Today he is leading AI, hybrid cloud, and risk innovation engagements with insurance CxOs worldwide for IBM . KEY TAKEAWAYS You must improve how you engage with your customers, whether throug...

On this episode of Scouting For Growth, Sabine VdL talks to two renowned FinTech Influencers and respected voices in finance and insurance, Danielle Guzman – head of social media at Mercer who is an expert at activating employees and creating business impact on social media, and Theodora Lau - Founder at Unconventional Ventures, author, podcast host and public speaker who advises many startup vent...

On this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Scott Gunther , General Partner at Firemark Ventures , the corporate venture capital fund of IAG, based in Australia. Scott has been at IAG for over 10 years and has been running the Venture fund for over 6 years. With strong expertise in marketing customer experience, among others, Scott wanted to bring something new to the group by open...

On this episode of Scouting For Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Henrique Volpi , one of the co-founders and the CEO of Kakau , one of the very first InsurTechs in Latin America. Kakau is an InsurTech and tech platform that delivers digital experiences while improving insurance operations and easing the delivery of complex financial services. Kakau's SaaS model is powered by machine learning and roboti...

On this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Dylan Bourguignon, who was, at the time, the CEO of SO-SURE, which he has since sold. He is on a mission to restore customer trust in insurance. He has set up his digital insurance platform with a unique model that delivers win-win insurance. In this conversation, the pair discusses Dylan's journey setting up SO-SURE, why he moved into in...

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Janthana Kaenprakhamroy, co-founder and CEO of Tapoly, an on-demand gig-economy worker InsurTech startup based in the UK. In this interview, Sabine and Janthana discuss business model innovation, target market and customer segmentation, and what building a lifestyle brand in insurance means. They finally cover company culture, talent ac...

In this episode of the Scouting for Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Mike Minett , CEO or Chief Ideas Guy at Portabl. Portable is a platform and community that provides insurance, benefits, and savings products for freelance and self-employed professionals. In this podcast, Mike and Sabine cover: Why Mike decided to move from consulting to building an InsurTech focused on the future of work, wh...

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Naby Mariyam, CEO of Coverhero, an insurance platform that provides coverage for all types of gig-economy hustle. The first product delivered by Coverhero, Hustlecover.com was recently launched to fill the gap of financial insecurity for the growing gig economy and self-employed generation. KEY TAKEAWAYS Before setting up Coverhero, my...

On this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Iain Wilcox, CEO of GWT Insight, a tech company focused on making cost-effective commercial building data available to their owners, operators, and advisers.  Iain is an entrepreneur, leader, and visionary who successfully launched new businesses from scratch, balancing strategic planning with practical implementation. Over a 30-year peri...

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Henri Winand , co-founder and CEO of AkinovA, an electronic marketplace built to ease the transfer and trading of insurance and insurance risks. During the conversation, Sabine and Henry discuss the importance of strong taxonomy when moving into multi-party electronic placements, tangible and intellectual assets, transition risk, cyber ri...

On this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Simon Schneider, founding partner of Neoteq Ventures. They cover three areas: Simon’s path in VC Land, Great minds think alike, and Startup tips to engage with large companies while ensuring they don't get side-lined when the corporation’s strategy changes.  KEY TAKEAWAYS It’s a fortunate coincidence that I entered the VC market in 2001....

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Kobi Bendelak, a 22-year veteran in insurance. Kobi is the CEO of InsurTech Israel, which he established to promote and lead innovation within the Israeli Insurtech ecosystem. Sabine has known Kobi for over 6 years. He mentored the startups in her European Accelerator and has always been the kindest individual for the startups and her t...

On this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews Farron Blanc , at the time VP, Brokerage Distribution & Strategy at Legal & General America (L&G America) where he works with an amazing team of innovators to drive growth within life insurance by leveraging emerging technologies to accelerate opportunities within the brokerage channels. Farron is an entrepreneur, too. He st...

In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VdL interviews  Kristian Feldborg , founder of Vesuvio Labs, a venture builder dedicated to FinTech startups and the InsurTech space in particular. Vesuvio Labs calls itself the digital rocket fuelling the insurance sector. In this episode, Sabine reviews Kristian’s journey as a FinTech venture builder and how he made the shift from the traditional te...

In this episode of Scouting For Growth, Sabine VdL talks to Sebastian Pitzler, former managing director of InsurLab Germany, a leading tech accelerator for startups wanting to enter the German market via Cologne. Before moving to the other side of the coin (i.e., becoming an InsurTech startup enabler), Sebastian worked for a very well-known Insurance company, Ergo, a subsidiary of Munich Re. He al...

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Matt Connolly, an entrepreneur and platform builder in the insurance sector. He’s also the CEO of Sønr - the world's #1 InsurTech scouting and open innovation platform. In this episode, Matt talks about himself and his idea to build the Sønr platform. KEY TAKEAWAYS I always knew I wanted to start my own company, but I didn’t know what it would be or what I wa...

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Mark Dennis, a seasoned insurance executive with strong expertise in software platforms. Mark was the Global COO and Europe CEO for MunichRe Digital Partners, one of the most renowned InsurTech ecosystem builders, which has now been re-integrated within the core business of the MunichRe group. Today, Mark works with various young ventures and helps them with...

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Jean-Charles Velge, one of the co-founders of Qover. After spending part of his career in the private equity industry – half in Europe and the other half in Hong Kong – he decided to become an entrepreneur. Jean-Charles started as a consultant at Bain & Company, then joined the largest Benelux fund, NPM Capital, before moving to Redhorse in Hong Kong. Jea...

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Sebastien Gaudin, co-founder and CEO of CareVoice, an embedded HealthTech InsurTech platform that has grown fast to become a leader in their category across Asia through their platform the CareVoiceOS open platform which delivers a modern insurance infrastructure solution to connect and manage multiple health services providers to shape bespoke health engagem...

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Simon Torrance who is well known across the FinTech and insurance sectors as Mr. Embedded Finance.  In December 2020, Simon wrote a very well-known article, ‘Embedded Insurance, A $3 Trillion Market Opportunity That Could Also Help Close The Protection Gap’. He works with leaders, executives, and board members to create and implement new growth strategies bas...