Nick Lamparelli joined Gilad and the InsurTechLA community for an unscripted InsurTechTalk. In this broadcasted event, Nick was in the interviewee's seat. We had the opportunity to learn about Nick’s day job and dive into flood insurance and how to build insurance programs.
The 1996 movie ‘Scream’ taught us one thing: Don’t answer the phone! And much like the characters of that movie, so to insurers should heed this advice when engaging with Millennials.
A startup has a life but the people who breathe life into it…, well, they usually don't.
People like the idea of a startup. It is romantic. The excitement diminishes when they find out the extent of their responsibility and compensation. Basically, most people really want to work for Google. Google is a multibillion-dollar behemoth that has all the risk management tools and processes to support it. And yes! They still have all the perks and cool parties at the end of Google I/O.
The entrance of startups to the insurance industry, nearly four years ago (2015), introduced a change, innovation, that made all the components, whether they are linear or passive, to react. The new teen spirit that the startup introduced acted as a step function that increased the value of the industry. The input may be a nice and clean function. It has a ripple effect that affects the entire pond until is converges on the new and higher level.
A startup has a life but the people who breathe life into it…, well, they usually don't.
People like the idea of a startup. It is romantic. The excitement diminishes when they find out the extent of their responsibility and compensation. Basically, most people really want to work for Google. Google is a multibillion-dollar behemoth that has all the risk management tools and processes to support it. And yes! They still have all the perks and cool parties at the end of Google I/O.
Ali Safavi is the Founder and Global Head of Plug and Play Insurtech, an Insurtech-focused innovation platform in partnership with some of the largest insurers, reinsurers and brokers in the world including: Munich Re, USAA, State Farm, SOMPO Digital Lab, Farmers, Nationwide, Deloitte, Willis Towers Watson, Aviva, Swiss Re, and many more. Since its inception, Ali has been a catalyst in building Plug and Play Insurtech to 6 global locations, over 70 corporate partners, 120 accelerated startups, and over 25 insurtech investments. Ali is also a Principal at Plug and Play Ventures, the venture arm of Plug and Play Tech Center where he manages and leads investments in startups in different spaces including insurance, travel and hospitality, and IoT.
We had a lovely InsurTech Talk over wine.
Innovation in insurance is not limited to a new shiny technology. New products, new insurance products, can be and are innovative in many ways, and they require people, processes, and a mindset to make them happen.
Mariel Devesa, head of global business development for Phyn and former head of innovation for Farmers Insurance, shared her experience and insights on innovation. Stephen Goldstein joined Mariel to facilitate the fireside talk and to ask the hard questions.
There is a misconception that insurance companies don't innovate.
Carriers don't have a shortage of ideas, but they need to start somewhere. One of the ways to prioritize is by asking where is the most substantial impact.
"The shiny disco ball syndrome" is when someone says "we need to do this" and then four weeks later "oh, we need to do that," and later "we need to focus over Continually shifting focus on whatever is in fashion or is getting the most publicity at the moment."
"I remember that at the beginning of my work with Gus Fuldner, VP of safety and insurance at Uber, it was all about building trust." Both sides had reservations and concerns, however, trust was built, and it resulted in drafting the “compromise language,” [1] which created a framework for states to pass and provided clarity to build an insurance offering.
Insurance companies take active steps towards modernization to keep up with customer's expectations and recent entrants to the insurance space who use the latest technology. Carriers introduced new entities into their organizations to champion and facilitate progress. Today there are innovation teams, innovation labs, venture arms, accelerator programs, and the less familiar function -- the Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR).
To understand better the avant-garde insurance that is done by the large insurance companies and their innovation programs I reached out to the leading insurance innovation teams.
Here is a short interview with Dominic DiMarco, EiR in QBE insurance, the man that claims to have the best job in the insurance industry.
"All the big businesses are trying to figure out how to do things "faster, quicker, easier and leaner" and they don't have those skills in their four walls to do it themselves most of the times."
"There is a difference between the IT infrastructure and core systems to the innovative work that is happening on the fringes. You can't replace a core system at once."
"Insurance companies, at their core, are massive financial institutes."
