"Ask Me Anything" with Assaf Wand

Assaf Wand is the Co-Founder & CEO of InsurTech startup Hippo.  Based in Palo Alto, CA, Hippo Insurance is reimagining home insurance through the lens of homeowners and changing the way people safeguard their most important asset.  Prior to Hippo, Wand was the founder and CEO of Sabi, a consultant with McKinsey & Company, and an investor with Intel Capital.  He has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in finance and LLB in Law from the IDC Herzliya in Israel.


Recently, Assaf participated in a candid and engaging “Ask Me Anything” session as part of Quesnay’s Female Founders in InsurTech 2020 mentorship and education phase. Watch the replay of Assaf’s AMA and see our top takeaways below…

Operations & Product:

  • Provide the best customer experience possible, be proactive, and provide services that meet your customers’ needs. This will be a true differentiating factor for your InsurTech startup.

  • Insurance isn’t just about upselling! It is about offering the right product at the right price for your customers. This will lead to higher customer satisfaction in the long run.

  • When growing your startup outsource processes if necessary but look to bring all functions in-house as quickly as possible. This will allow you to fully control your customer journey and user experience. 

  • When looking to use 3rd party software solutions look for specialized products. These will fit your needs much better than a generalized software solution. 

Funding:

  • There is no such thing as an easy funding round. If you want to raise money at the valuation that you want, with the terms that you want, from the investors that you want it will take time and effort.

  • At the end of the day, you need to raise money from whoever you can. Investors are a source of capital that a startup needs to access.  

  • Investors are pattern recognition beasts. They will try and force your company into a specific pattern because that is what they know. 

  • The de-risking that is done in insurance is not valued by investors. Finding a reinsurer, having a call center, using data to provide renewals is not valued by investors. 

  • VCs have a fear of missing out! Before you start fundraising be sure you have all your materials ready to go, then hit up your connections and signal that you will close funding quickly. A “you snooze you lose” policy is your best friend. 

Decision Making:

  • Decision making is a factor of Domain Expertise & Conviction. Use this model for all decisions your organization needs to make.