The Insurance Coffee House with Nick Hoadley

“It’s much easier doing it in person, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible to do remotely.” Jessica describes the tools and creative ways in which the Austin, Texas-based business has grown its team by 200 since the start of the pandemic, becoming the largest insurance comparison platform in the U.S. With a primary focus on auto insurance and with all the major P&C players on the platform, the...

“We look for a willingness to re-imagine the entire underwriting and rating process, how that’s distributed through brokers and the relationship with insurers,” says Andy who has a background in underwriting as well as stints at Lloyds and AON UK. Partnering with Xceedance, NuVenture launched in 2020 and is an incubator focussing on helping those who have a desire to run their own MGA. Difficult t...

“It’s not a cookie cutter process”, says Arun, the Boston-based CEO & Chairman of Xceedance as he talks about the value proposition the business offers its clients. Launched in 2013, the business has grown to a team of 2200 spread across its offices in India, North America, Europe and Australia with clients relying on Xceedance to launch new products, drive operations, implement cutting-edge t...

“The average price of homeowners’ insurance has doubled in the last 20 years. It’s really going in the wrong direction, we saw that as an opportunity. People wanted a better, tech-forward solution.” The self-confessed nerd and entrepreneur shares how his background as a management consultant exposed him to a lot of business problems and gain the confidence in solving them. Sean talks through his j...

“Walk through the expo hall, it’ll give you a sense of the mega trends and the micro trends, of what’s out there and what people are trying to do”, says Caribou. The charismatic VC couldn’t find an industry conference in 2015 that met his needs as an investor. Insuretech Connect was born in 2016, with the first event attracting some 1500 delegates. This year’s event, running in Las Vegas from 4-6...

“We allow people who have an idea or want to start selling insurance to come to the table”, says Michael. Hear about Michael’s transition from traditional insurance in to the New York-based start-up, which offers the full-stack insurance process in-house, including product development, a reinsurance facility to help place new business and R&D on insurance products.   “We mix it...

“Europe is very different to the U.S. Different languages, cultures, regulations, customer behaviour”, says Elena as she describes the challenges and opportunities of growing CoverWallet across such a diverse geopolitical area.   Launched in New York in 2015, and subsequently acquired by AON, CoverWallet is a tech platform that is transforming the way small businesses understand, ma...

“People work across multiple platforms. The nature of their relationship with work and the providers of work has changed”, says Benjamin. The former lawyer and director of strategy & operations at Virgin Unite has taken his passion for social impact and co-founded Collective Benefits. The business has developed a range of financial and digital products to help solve the problem of financi...

“The big take is the time advantage over any other risk model. You understand risk up front rather than wait to see how it turns out”, says Sten. The triple espresso-loving Swedish entrepreneur has used his background in the automotive technology space to found Greater Than. The AI-based data analytics business is helping automotive OEMs, insurance carriers and new mobility better understand risk...

“We give underwriters an extra understanding of how they should view, assess and price risk”, says Nick. With a background within the technical side of the insurance industry, Nick shares how Reask is solving some of the challenges surrounding the building and development of catastrophic risk models. Taking global climate data and extracting insights and views - using AI and machine learning...

“We don’t like to think of it as head to head competition”, says Ron. Having taught his computer at university to summarise his 1000 page course textbooks, the Toronto-based founder of Chisel AI, shares his vision for how machine learning can work with humans. The goal is to make processes faster and better, reducing what usually takes an insurance carrier or broker 4 hours to 30 minutes. With 55%...

The insurance industry frequently talks about policy holders, policy numbers or risks.  “That’s no way to talk about a customer. A customer has needs and demands, they need to be treated as a customer”, says Jonathan. Built on his 30 years of experience within the insurance space, Jonathan shares the journey of founding HUGHUB, a digital engagement layer which can sit on top of or independent...

“Fight with your heart and soul for the product you believe in”, says Brett as he emphasises the emotional ride of being part of a start-up. The Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Accountant shares his passion and transition in to the world of tech and the journey of co-founding Cape Town-based Hepstar, a global B2B API technology company bridging the travel tech and insurtech space. Brett...

“The DNA of many people in insurance works well for our business”, says John. Hailing from Scotland and combining knowledge gained from roles across 5 continents with AXA, QBE, EY and Manulife Asia, John co-founded Coherent in 2018. Learn John’s lessons of moving from large corporates to start-up. Hear about Coherent’s growth to a 200+ team and how their discrete modular products are helping...

“You have to love the product, you have to espouse the product, you have to want to be part of the product”, says Sharon. Having raised over $200m in 3 years, Unqork has reached a £2bn valuation and a headcount of almost 500. As the first enterprise no-code application in the marketplace, Sharon explains the benefits of agility and flexibility that Unqork offers its clients. With a strong cohort o...

“The way life insurance is bought in the US today is not a process that is very similar to the way people like to handle the rest of their financial lives”, says Benjamin. He explains to host, Nick Hoadley, what attracted him to the fast-moving, innovative business and how Ladder is redeeming life insurance for the digital consumer, using AI to reduce the buying cycle from weeks and months to minu...

“ Everything we do is about working from the customer backwards ”, says Dax. The serial entrepreneur talks through his journey of co-founding Pie Insurance, and how the company uses technology and data analytics to fuel the rapid growth Pie has achieved over the past 4 years. With a 300 strong team (pie-oneers) and operating across 36 states, Pie continues to change how commercial insurance compan...

"I'm often asked by candidates in the insurance industry about the opportunities within Insurtech and what they need to be doing in order to make a successful transition into the industry." Hear a preview as Nick introduces the rationale behind our third series and what listeners can expect. The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by  Insurance Search . We are a global Insurance...

After his initial aspirations to follow in his father’s firefighting footsteps were dashed, Lee Elliston took to the world of insurance within a claims role in Ipswich with Willis. Lee talks about his journey in to the City, clarifies the role and function of the Lloyd’s Market Association and opens up about his recent and ongoing battle with anxiety and depression. “I found it really hard because...

Walking by the Lloyd’s Building one day, Emma said to herself, “I like the look of that.” Chomping at the bit to work in the City as an 18 year old, Emma took a non-traditional route in to the Insurance world. Following stints with BMS, Swiss Re and Canopius Group, Emma has risen to take the helm of Lancashire Syndicates and sits on the Executive Management Team of Lancashire Insurance Group. In h...

Season Two - Episode Twenty Four Joining us for the second episode we have with Marsh this week, we are delighted to have Julie Wood, Southeast Zonal Leader for Marsh and McLennan Companies. Julie heads up this large region for the Marsh corporate business and discusses with us her keys to leadership and career progression at a large global practice leader. She shares with us a story of how she la...

Season Two - Episode Twenty Three Kicking off our double episode week we have with Marsh, we are joined by Christina Mott, Chief Operating Officer of Marsh and McLennan Agency (MMA). Christina is the operational lead for MMA which is the entity of Marsh that focuses on the mid-market. With a turnover of $2billion and over 8,000 staff, this company is a substantial brokerage in its own right and se...

Season Two - Episode Twenty Two This week we are joined by Mike Ross who shares his incredible journey as CEO of INSURICA. INSURICA is an independently owned insurance brokerage head quartered in Oklahoma City and during his time as CEO the business has grown from $6million in revenue to $125million in the present day. They now have another ambitious growth plan to achieve $225million by 2025 and...

Season Two - Episode Twenty One Joining us this week in the Insurance Coffee House USA we have Maureen Gallagher. Maureen is the Michigan President and lead for the National Real Estate and Workers Compensation National Practices at AssuredPartners who are the 5th largest P&C broker in the USA. Maureen gives us a great insight into her personal career development, which has involved leading tw...

Season Two - Episode Twenty This week we are very happy to be joined by Tom Polenzani, Managing Director at Bolton & Company, a regional independent insurance agency based in California. Tom heads up the dynamic and entrepreneurial sales division at Bolton and shares with us his leadership philosophy that enables Producers to achieve more success and build large portfolios of business. One of...