The Insurance Coffee House with Nick Hoadley

“We want to improve the profitability of carriers, but also help employers by keeping as many of their employees healthy and happy and working as long as possible”, says Tom. Tom shares his journey from childhood obsession with computers to 10 years on machine learning and AI projects at Google, before co-founding EvolutionIQ in 2019. Based in NYC with a current full-time team of 55, the bodily in...

“I think the first step was real conviction in my mind”, says Steve as he describes his journey to co-founding Branch, the Columbus, Ohio-based auto and home insurance insurtech. Steve shares how important it was to find a credible tech co-founder, how the structure of the business is obligated to social good as well as shareholder value and how they use tech to benefit their community of clients....

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable in the insurance industry. The pace of change has accelerated to a degree that we've never experienced. Consumer expectations are changing at pace that we can't comprehend ”, says David. On the podcast, Shannel Clubb and David Mamane discuss their career trajectories, moving in to leadership roles and their biggest achievements. “I didn't have a five year...

“I heard this phrase once that you should hire for slope not intercept, hire for the direction people are headed, not necessarily the absolute level that they are at today”, says Spike. On the podcast this week, Newfront’s CEO & Co-Founder, Spike Lipkin and Chief People Officer, Amy Steadman discuss combining human expertise and technology, structured data, managing the growth of the business...

“The world is changing. Technology is driving economic proliferation around the world. With that increase in technology at scale comes tremendous risk”, says Shawn. Head of Insurance Shawn Ram, shares his transition from Aon to joining the founding team of rapidly expanding Coalition, the San Francisco-based cyber insurtech. “What really drives our value is the fact that our insurance is active. A...

“When you think about insurance, the essence of what they do from a consumer perspective is to be able to handle claims, the moment of truth to deliver on its promise to policyholders”, says Oded. “Many insurers still miss this opportunity.” He shares his career background from the Israeli military to joining Goldman Sachs, working as a CFO in the energy sector in London to returning to Israel to...

“I have this thing that I like to say which is ‘Remember to do your job. Job - J.O.B - stands for ‘Joy of Being’, says Bill. Bill shares his career journey from working as a Farmers Agent to launching and growing his own Insurance Agency for 10 years, before heading off to make movies. “I wanted to be getting out of bed with passion because I love what I do. To me it needed to have a creative comp...

“You want to sell a tech solution on the business use case and not on technical capabilities. We are here to help people perform better”, says Jacqueline. She talks through her journey from starting her career with IBM to falling in to the insurance industry and holding senior leadership Brokerage positions across four continents, before co-founding New York-based insurtech Maptycs in 2016 as resp...

“One of the key components of our culture deck is we only hire top performers and we are militant about making sure we do”, says Max. The Texas-based SVP of Underwriting & Reinsurance shares his journey from traditional insurance to transforming the world of landlord insurance and building a high-performing team at Steadily. “The task of building something from nothing was very cool and also v...

“I had an opportunity four years ago to head up a start-up backed by a Californian broker”, says Nick who’s previously worked for some of the world’s leading insurance brokers. Nick shares how left a broker where he had everything available to him to start London-based Costero Brokers with a blank sheet of paper. Garnering support from his insurance network as well those outside of the sector, Nic...

“Executives who’ve been in this business for 30-40 years and have a lot to offer, go for a role where they can really impact younger people coming into the business”, says John. Sharing his journey from joining Chubb Underwriting direct from school, John maintains that one of his greatest advantages early on, was learning how to underwrite, before moving back to his Californian roots, where he joi...

“The platform has really grown up around the needs of the wholesale broker”, says Kingsley. A highly experienced industry leader, Kingsley charts his 4 decade insurance career with brand names including Johnson & Higgins (acquired by Marsh) and Beazley Group and explains what attracted him to join cyber insurtech Sayata in 2020. “The vision for building the company.  We have a combination...

“Covid was the first time I was home every single day. I had time to think about what I wanted to do and what made me happy”, says Justin. Justin shares his career journey from Kemper Scholar to starting off his insurance career with General Electric, through the likes of KPMG, CNA Insurance, XL Catlin and AXA and what attracted him to joining the Vantage team in 2021. “I thought what really would...

“We believe in trust. We’re handling a very sensitive transaction”, says Omri. Headquartered in New York City and with the Development and Product teams based in Tel Aviv, Jones automates the full life cycle of insurance operations from extraction and collection to approvals and resolution across any transaction in real estate. “We've built Jones to give one network where you can find all the vend...

“No insurer in the U.S. has any digital infrastructure for the native Spanish-speaking population”, says Nestor, “despite the U.S. being the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico.” Born and raised in New Jersey, the son of Uruguayan immigrants shares his journey of stumbling in to insurance after helping his aunt with monthly budgeting. “I had no idea how hard it was fo...

“Don’t underestimate the need for people to support your digital business”, says Bill as he shares his journey from not-for-profit and workers comp to affinity distribution and tech-enabled businesses. Bill discusses co-founding Gradguard that works with 450 colleges across the US to provide embedded insurance at the point of enrolment, enabling students to protect their investment in education. C...

“We’re looking at skillset rather than location. Skillset and culture matters much more”, says Damien as he shares how Zelros is maintaining its culture and values alongside ambitious growth plans. With offices in Paris, Montreal and New York, Damien - who is spearheading the company’s move in to the North American market - describes his journey from engineer to entrepreneur and the rationale behi...

“I realised that big company culture just wasn’t for me. I operate best in the start-up space”, says Jon. The lifelong entrepreneur and insurtech pioneer talks about launching his second business Overalls, after selling Life.io in 2021. An early stage business with a current team of 10, Overalls is reinventing workplace protection and changing our psychology and attitude towards insurance. Through...

“You can’t find an industry as a whole that does more to secure people’s lives and livelihoods than the insurance sector”, says Kenneth Saldanha. Lifelong consultant Kenneth, who has spent over 20 years consulting in the insurance sector, stepped in to the global leadership role of Accenture’s Insurance business in 2020 is joined on the podcast by Guidewire’s Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Mang. K...

“You have to be able to flit between the strategic, operational and tactical”, says Caroline as she shares her journey of being involved in an insurtech start-up. “There’s been days when I’ve been operating as a Claims Handler as well as Chief Insurance Officer, thinking about underwriting strategy.” With an insurance career spanning 25 years, Caroline talks about joining Flock in the midst of the...

“As you progress up the corporate ladder, your focus becomes less about your technical skills and more your people management and communication skills”, says John. Having previously held leadership positions with Marsh and Willis Towers Watson, the industry veteran, who joined Risk Strategies in 2017 and became CEO in 2019, reflects on his career progression and transition in to the C-suite. “Effe...

“Changing how commercial insurance is done has a lot of risk to it”, says David. The former Chief Actuary and Director of Insurance Product & Pricing at Clearcover, talks through his journey and vision to founding Coterie, who currently offer BOP, General and Professional Liability Insurance. “We’re here to empower our distribution partners, helping them unlock a massive market”, as David expl...

“The insurance experts in the company define the technology requirements”, says Cory. With a career background of building technology for strategic advantage, Cory shares his journey to co-founding reThought Insurance, a US-based insurtech focussed on flood protection for commercial buildings and HNW homes. “Flood is the most challenging peril to underwrite. It’s difficult to price flood risk adeq...

“Customers are coming to expect that when they purchase a product or interact with a brand online, protection is a given”, says Darcy. Joining Cover Genius in 2018, the former lawyer shares her pivot in to the insurance sector and transition to insurtech, following varied roles with AIG, Liberty Mutual and The Hartford. Darcy explains the journey to the launch of Cover Genius and the benefit on of...

“We’re not the type of company to put lipstick on the pig”, says Sasha. “We want to fix the pig first, then make it pretty.” Sasha shares his journey in to travel insurance in an emergency medical assistance role with Travel Guard to the launch of battleface, a full-stack global travel insurance company. “A lot of policies were created decades ago. The travel industry has changed so much, but trav...