Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Assaf Wand, CEO, and co-founder of Hippo, a homeowner insurance startup founded in 2015. In March 2021, Hippo announced a SPAC merger, valuing the business at over $5bn. In our discussion, we cover how Hippo approached innovation in the highly regulated insurance industry, unique strategies for building brand trust, and how direct relationships with homeowners has opened up Hippo's business model to a wide range of opportunities. I was excited to speak with Assaf, given his experience as a serial entrepreneur, and he did not disappoint. Please enjoy my conversation with Assaf Wand.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Show Notes
[00:02:44] - [First question] - His philosophy on business
[00:04:04] - His first experience in entrepreneurship
[00:05:03] - Lawyers vs entrepreneurs
[00:07:03] - Major lessons taking risk in entrepreneurship
[00:11:14] - Importance of speed in business
[00:15:02] - Increasing urgency into the business as a leader
[00:18:59] - What the insurance sector was like at the start of Hippo
[00:24:49] - Steps he took to bootstrap trust
[00:27:03] - Convincing partners
[00:29:04] - Building the products and distribution
[00:32:49] - Thoughts on innovators dilemma
[00:35:00] - Flaws within the insurance industry
[00:34:57] - Vision for the firm
[00:37:44] - Importance of culture in company building
[00:41:19] - Storytelling as an essential piece of company building
[00:41:50] - Building and managing a roadmap
[00:43:19] - What does it mean to respect the customer
[00:46:11] - Defensibility of the insurance industry
[00:49:34] - Rewards of the trench warfare of entrepreneurship
[00:53:33] - The feeling of getting wealthy
[00:55:29] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him
Adam Sandow - The Power of Print Media - [Invest Like the Best, EP.376]
Howie Liu - Building Airtable - [Invest Like the Best, EP.375]
Mark Groden - The Future of Flying - [Invest Like the Best, EP.374]
Dev Ittycheria - The Database Evolution - [Invest Like the Best, EP.373]
Nico Wittenborn - Finding the Adjacent Possible - [Invest Like the Best, EP.372]
Mitch Rales: The Art of Compounding - [Art of Investing, Forever Episode]
Marc Lasry - Making Bucks in Credit and Sports - [Invest Like the Best, EP.371]
Bill Gurley & Michael Mauboussin - Putting Theory into Practice - [Invest Like the Best, EP.370]
Tim Ferriss - Curating Curiosities - [Invest Like the Best, EP.369]
Ken Langone - The American Dream - [Invest Like the Best, EP.368]
Robin Dunbar - Optimizing Human Connection (Dunbar's Number) - [Invest Like the Best, EP.367]
Sean Feeney - Reinventing the Restaurant Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.366]
Dave Fontenot - The Monastery of Code - [Invest Like the Best, EP.365]
Anne-Marie Peterson - The Capital System - [Invest Like the Best, EP.364]
Aravind Srinivas - Building An Answer Engine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.363]
Ali Hamed - Building an Investment Firm - [Invest Like the Best, EP.362]
Cyan Banister - Investing for a Higher Purpose - [Invest Like the Best, EP.361]
Danny Meyer - The Power of Hospitality - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Chuck Akre - The Three Legged Stool - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Alex Telford - Unlocking Innovation in Pharma - [Invest Like the Best, EP.360]
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