Scouting for Growth

Marcy Axelrod: Deciding On How We Choose To Show Up Nov 21, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Marcy Axelrod, a bestselling and award-winning author, TV contributor, two-time TEDx speaker, and renowned management consultant. Her latest book, "How We Choose to Show Up," has recently been honoured with the prestigious Hayakawa Book Prize.

In today's conversation, we'll dive deep into the concepts from her book: The idea of "Showing Up"—the invisible system connecting us to our society, our situations, ourselves, and each other, how understanding and embracing the way we choose to show up can lead to a happier, more effective, and balanced life – whether we're parenting, coaching, playing, empowering others, or steering a global company.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

At 6 years old we moved from Baltimore to Boston, my older sibling wanted nothing to do with me and I needed something I wasn’t getting. There was no one making me feel felt, which is what all humans need, and rather than act out I acted in and took it out on myself, I developed a stutter which led to me losing the ability to speak.
Back through time to when we lived in caves we were never just in one role. We were always individuals distinct from, but also we were always a member of a family, a tribe, and we were at the whim of the environment. My book says that we were not designed to show up as inward facing individuals, we’re designed in 3 roles: We’re a discreet self (but not separate from), we’re a situation member, and we’re defined by a society there that creates who we are, and we create it as part of the collective.
The model of how we can show up is easy for anyone to intuit, I’ve just put it on paper. Level one is burned out, stressed, not engaged, you can’t show up in a meaningful way – and there are valid reasons for this that we all go through as part of life. Level 2 is just showing up, just getting stuff done – this isn’t bad, we have to be there some of the time with a narrow, deep focus that is tactical and practical. Level 3 is truly showing up.
There’s a believe system behind how humans are designed to show up, and it’s an important one because it gets us back into the flow of how nature designed us. There’s nothing cultish, woo-woo, or mystical, it simply recognises you can’t have up without down, left without right, or some version of individual without there being a society collective.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I became a natural and deeply driven observer of how other are showing up, and I saw that they can show up as they choose, and yet they are not choosing.’

‘Our bodies are sensing flow systems, the skin exists because we can feel the world; temperature, pressure, motion, movement, the granularity and nuance of what we can perceive is awe inspiring.’

‘A big part of the ‘showing up continuum’, and what it means to be a level 3, is recognising what and who we truly are.’

‘Some people wake up at 5am and get more done before 8am than some of us do in a day, but sometimes they can burn out and stress about things. We all dance along the continuum.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Marcy Axelrod is a bestselling and award-winning author, esteemed TV contributor, and dynamic 2X TEDx speaker. With a robust career as a management consultant, her innovative approaches have earned her recognition and accolades, including the prestigious Hayakawa Book Prize for her latest work, "How We Choose to Show Up." This groundbreaking book is the culmination of over 20 years of research, offering a revolutionary 3-D model of human thriving that has transformed the lives of thousands.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Theo Lau: Unlocking Fintech Innovation and Inclusivity Nov 14, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Theodora (Theo) Lau, the founder of Unconventional Ventures, where she spearheads efforts to create an ecosystem that brings financial institutions, startups, and venture capitalists to meet the diverse needs of consumers, particularly older adults and gig economy workers.

In today's conversation, we'll delve into the evolving landscape of fintech, exploring the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Theo will share her insights on fostering corporate-startup collaborations, now called Venture Clienting, leveraging technology for social good, and building a more inclusive financial ecosystem. We'll also touch on her recent work, including her books "Beyond Good" and "Metaverse Economy," which explore the future of finance and the role of technology in shaping it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The world of FinTech is about money movement and how we get people from point A to point B. You got to a bank or online lender for a loan for a house, or saving up for your children for retirement, these are both moving from A to B. There are more player in this space over the last few years using technology and “super-apps” to allow access to micro-loans, access to insurance, saving money and paying people.
What gets me really excited about AI isn’t the ChatGPTs of the world, it’s how we apply it and how we can change how we do things. For example, how do we use that to help small businesses? How can we create a connection between financial institutions and the people that they serve? Those are more interesting use cases that I’d like to see more.
A lot of people in the industry are very hung up on whether it is or isn’t a bank. From a consumer perspective, they simply need a means to save or do ‘x’. From their perspective they’re interfacing with an app, not a specific bank. The most important thing is that consumers are protected and not exposed to predatory measures/practices.
Do I trust the entity that is giving me advice? Do I trust a faceless algorithm? How do I know they’re acting on my best interests? For it to work I need to expose all of my financial interests to this tool, which goes back to trust.

BEST MOMENTS

‘With things like Apple’s savings account, why would people need a regular bank account?’

‘We need to focus on why consumers go a specific route and have the tools to help them spend responsibly.’

‘We all need information and we need to be more informed on where we are from a financial wellbeing perspective.’

‘It’s really hard to create an AI to be a CFO in your pocket autopiloting your finances, we’re not there yet but hopefully we will be.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Theodora (Theo) Lauis a dynamic public speaker, writer, and startup advisor who is dedicated to inspiring innovation and enhancing consumer financial well-being. As the founder of Unconventional Ventures, Theo focuses on building and nurturing an ecosystem that includes financial institutions, corporations, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists, all united to address the unmet needs of consumers, particularly older adults and gig economy workers. She has a strong commitment to supporting women and minority founders and regularly mentors and advises FinTech startups.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Ian Chamandy: Defining Your Unique Purpose in 7 Words Nov 07, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ian Chamandy a truly inspiring guest who has mastered the art of helping businesses and individuals unlock their unique potential.

In today's conversation, we'll explore:

The importance of a clear and concise purpose statement for startups seeking investment and corporate clients.
How to uncover and articulate the unique value proposition that sets your business apart in a crowded market.
The role of storytelling in attracting investors and fostering strong client relationships.
Practical steps startups can take to align all parts of their business towards a common goal.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I was originally a copywriter, and I found it all so generic, banal, and cliché driven. I was frustrated because I wanted to get to the true authenticity of the company/brand/product/service. I asked an art director to make me a sign that says: “is that true?” and I taped it to the wall behind my typewriter. It didn’t improve my copywriting, but it did begin a journey to get to the root of authenticity.
Once you have an expression of what makes you uniquely remarkable, you can use it to define the 2 broad activities of the organisation: What is everything that it does (operations, product development, service/product delivery), and everything it says (branding, marketing, sales)?
Step 1 is to find your gift; the one thing that makes you uniquely remarkable. Once you define what that is you’ve really got to the root and the true authenticity of who you are. Because you’ve articulated that you can use it as a guide for how you live, it’s a tool that helps you make decisions when faced with a problem or challenge and how to deal with or avoid it depending on how it aligns with your purpose.
The reason organisations struggle to be clear around what makes them unique to their customer segment annoys me immensely. I believe the single most important strategic asset of any organisation is knowing what makes it uniquely remarkable. That’s your basis for differentiation, but 98% of companies around the world don’t know what that is.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We define the one thing at the essence of the organisation that makes it uniquely remarkable, there’s always one thing, in 7 words or less.’

‘My definition of purpose is: Your purpose in life is to find your gift and share it with the world.’

‘If you dig deep enough, figure out what it is, and articulate it in a clear, concise, and compelling way, then you can live that life for your business by design, actively, intentionally rather than having it working in the background without knowing it’s exerting its influence.’

‘We’re so focussed on short term gains that we forget that the short term gains happen because of our long term planning and our understanding of who our company is.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ian Chamandy is an author, speaker, coach, and strategist with over 20 years of experience helping organizations define their purpose and become uniquely remarkable. Through his proprietary Blueprint process, Ian has assisted more than 400 CEOs and organizations in transitioning from traditional management to purpose-driven approaches, resulting in enhanced focus, increased employee motivation and retention, and boosted sales.

The Blueprint process involves identifying the one thing that makes an organization uniquely remarkable—in seven words or less—and leveraging it to design how the organization operates and communicates. This distilled purpose becomes the foundation for making a company consistently and sustainably remarkable. By knowing their root superpower, companies can align all parts of the business toward a common goal and effectively communicate their full value.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Dawn Herndon: The Embeddable AI Revolution Oct 31, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dawn Herndon, a visionary leader at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation. With a profound passion for technology and its transformative impact on society, Dawn is spearheading IBM's efforts in embeddable AI and the groundbreaking watsonx platform.

Her work is revolutionizing how organizations across industries integrate AI into their products and services, enabling real-time data processing, decision-making, and automation directly within applications and devices. Dawn will share her insights on the challenges and opportunities organizations face when integrating AI, the importance of trustworthy and responsible AI, and her vision for the future trends in our rapidly evolving landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I have the best job in the company, every day I get to talk about emerging technologies and right now it’s all about AI. Pert of what makes this an exciting topic is that it’s a bit unknown to people, and organisations and companies are trying to figure out what to do with AI.
What excites me most about AI technology is the innovations that comes from companies take advantage of these technologies and the ability they have to leverage it to drive real and tangible outcomes for their business. These can be enhanced productivity, attracting new clients, getting to new markets, driving their products, services, and solutions into new market categories. My passion lies in helping drive that innovation with the companies that we work with by providing thought leadership or co-creating with them.
Embeddable AI has evolved not only so a company can leverage NLP/speak-to-text/text-to-speech technologies in the AI space but has expanded into the production of the “what’s next platform.” IBM’s platform provides not only machine learning technology and advanced analytics but also an overall studio for organisations to incorporate large language models, train them, fine tune them, provide governance around the models, and ways for organisations to take advantage of IBM’s AI technologies to drive productivity, efficiency, and optimisation.
You can’t have AI if you don’t have data. If you have large sources of data and you don’t know where it came from then you have risk and exposure. IBM believes that data should be trusted, that you should know the data and, if you’re working with our AI technology, that you own the data, we don’t use your data, you use it to accomplish the outcome you’re driving in your business. More than that, we have a keen focus on governance, risk management and compliance – AI ethics.

BEST MOMENTS

‘What is your company trying to solve and how can we work together to leverage technology that helps you solve that initiative and helps you drive that outcome you’re trying to achieve?’

‘We want to make sure it’s tangible for an organisation and we do that by using an AI assistant, which doesn’t just provide a conversational AI-based interface but integrations to back-end systems.’

‘Once a person joins an organisation and becomes an employee, watsonx orchestrate provides that ability for a manager to take action on anything to do with employee relations, like processing a salary increase.’

‘Productivity is an ambiguous word that can be applied to so many different situations within companies, AI can improve that productivity across your enterprise.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dawn Herndon is an experienced global business leader with over 25 years at IBM, showcasing expertise across various functional areas, general management, and building strategic partnerships. Currently serving as the IBM Vice President of EMEA Build Ecosystem and AI Partnerships, Dawn is at the forefront of the evolution of AI, focusing on embedding AI and watsonx. She spearheads the development of strategic partnerships that drive innovation and deliver value for organizations across industries and market segments.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Ola Jacob: Demystifying Parametric Insurance Oct 23, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ola Jacob, Business Development Director for the UK & Ireland at Descartes Underwriting, a specialist Parametric Insurance MGA and Insurer.

On today's episode, Ola will provide an educational deep dive into the world of parametric insurance. He'll explain what parametric insurance is, how it differs from traditional insurance, and why it is gaining traction as a data-driven solution to cover risks like natural catastrophes.

Ola will share real-world examples of how parametric insurance has provided significant value to corporate clients and industries adopting this innovative approach as part of their risk management strategies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When I started in insurance I didn’t know much about it, but when you strip it down to its bare bones it’s the idea of making good on your promise. That was a big draw for me because it felt altruistic. When it’s done right, and someone receives their cheque for the claim after it’s all gone smoothly is the best feeling in the world. The stigma we get from the bad experiences is what damages the image of insurance.
The best solutions are ones that people don’t know about, and ones that don’t get in the way and make things better. If you’re going to create a solution that helps it should have another login or portal, something clunky that gets in people’s way, it should be cool and slick like a Rolex.
Innovation can’t be done on your own, when I won the Insurance Times Technology Champion of the Year Award, it was a reflection of the whole industry and all the people I’ve met on my journey that have been open to change. I don’t think we’ve done it yet, I think there’s so much more change to be had and I’m excited to see how we can push further.
The biggest problem in parametric insurance is the name, because it sounds so complicated. But it’s actually the simplest form of insurance there is. The Mantra behind all parametric policies is: When a pre-agreed parameter is met then a pre-agreed pay out is made. This forms the backbone of all parametric contracts. That differs from indemnity because indemnity is a promise to put you back in the same condition you were in before the loss, parametric is pretty much black and white.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you add parametric to indemnity it could really be a game changer that could change the face of how we do insurance forever.’

‘I’ve always wanted to come in and do something to help change insurance for the better with technology.’

‘In parametric products, the parameters must be measurable and independent, something that’s not controllable by somebody else, like weather.’

‘Clients recover, using parametric insurance, with 10X less limit than they’d previously because of the speed of payout. And they’d planned how they would use that payout because they already knew what they were going to get if this event happened.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ola Jacob is the Business Development Director for the UK & Ireland at Descartes Underwriting, a specialist Parametric Insurance MGA and Insurer covering Natural Catastrophe exposure globally.

With over 12 years of experience in the London Market Insurance Sector, Ola has worked on UK Retail, Product Recall, Terrorism, Onshore Energy and Parametric insurance.

Ola's background in Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology has fueled his passion for developing new approaches to risk transfer and managing risk for clients. As one of the pioneers of parametric insurance, Ola helped build a distribution strategy for one of the first successful parametric solutions in the London Market. In 2024, he was named Insurance Times Technology Champion of the Year for his innovative work.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Barbara Maheshwari: Scaling Success with the Remote Work Revolution Oct 16, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Barbara Maheshwari, CEO and co-founder of Remote Bob, a game-changing virtual assistance hub that's redefining how entrepreneurs and businesses operate in our increasingly fast-moving digital world. Barbara is not just a successful founder; she's a go-to-market consultant, a sought-after speaker, and a startup scout for ABC Accelerator.

With her finger on the pulse of the future of work, Barbara has helped countless businesses navigate the complexities of remote staff augmentation and achieve remarkable growth. Today, we'll be diving deep into Barbara's expertise, exploring the trends shaping the future of work, and uncovering valuable insights for scaleup ventures.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The gig economy is characterised by an increasing preference for flexible, project-based work arrangements. This trend is driven by both workers seeking more autonomy and employers looking for cost-effective, on-demand talent. The gig economy allows individuals to work on multiple projects for different clients, often remotely, which can lead to a more diversified skill set and work experience

AI and automation are reshaping job roles by taking over repetitive tasks and enabling new forms of human-AI collaboration. This integration is creating opportunities for workers to engage in more complex and creative tasks, while also necessitating the development of new skills to work alongside AI technologies. The shift is expected to lead to the creation of new job categories and the transformation of existing ones
The future of work is being shaped by a variety of trends that emphasise flexibility, technological integration, global collaboration, and well-being. These trends are transforming traditional work models and creating new opportunities and challenges for both employers and employees.
Both the gig economy and digital nomadism are experiencing significant growth globally. The gig economy encompasses a vast and diverse workforce, while the digital nomad community is characterised by its flexibility and global mobility. These trends are reshaping the future of work, offering new opportunities and challenges for workers and employers alike.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The global gig economy has seen substantial growth, with the World Bank estimating that there are approximately 435 million gig workers worldwide.’

‘The number of gig workers has increased dramatically, with a 170% rise between 2019 and 2021. This growth is driven by various factors, including economic pressures such as inflation, which has led 63% of workers to turn to gig work.’

‘The digital nomad community is also expanding rapidly. Estimates for 2023 indicate that there are around 40 million digital nomads globally.’

‘Digital nomads are a diverse group, with no single generation, profession, or socio-economic class dominating. While they tend to skew young and male, one-third are female, and 54% are over the age of 38.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Barbara Maheshwari is the CEO and co-founder of Remote Bob, a virtual assistance hub that connects entrepreneurs with skilled virtual assistants. With an MBA from COTRUGLI Business School, Barbara brings a wealth of experience as a business consultant and go-to-market strategist. Her expertise lies in helping business owners solve their most pressing challenges and scale their operations efficiently. As a speaker and startup scout for ABC Accelerator, Barbara is deeply embedded in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, constantly seeking innovative solutions to the evolving landscape of work.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Sri Ramaswamy: The Visionary Behind AI Decision Driven Claims Litigation Oct 09, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sri Ramaswamy, the founder and CEO of Charlee.ai, with a career spanning over 22 years in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, Sri has emerged as a formidable leader in the insurance technology landscape.

But Sri's story goes beyond her professional accomplishments. As a thought leader and mentor in the InsurTech community, she is breaking barriers in our traditionally male-dominated industry, championing diversity, and inspiring the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

Join us as we delve into Sri's remarkable journey, exploring the challenges she faced, the triumphs she achieved, and her unwavering vision for the future of Charlee.ai, and the broader tech landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

One of the constant things I heard from claims managers was their inability to access a lot of data points within the claim files because a lot of it was in unstructured formats, so making a financial decision wasn’t easy for them. I wanted to create a platform to not only collect exposures easily but also be able to convert them into a common denominator that could be measured, predicted and queried – long before ChatGPT.
Claims processes start with a very human experience because somebody has had a loss, and you’re dealing with them in the most sensitive and vulnerable position. When you think about how the process is carried out from receiving the claim until it’s resolved, there are a lot of nuances, such as being empathetic and empirical. That is key to understanding all the problems that can arise, data allows you to ask the right questions so you can get the details.
The vision of Charlee is also behind how to get to these exposures and the risk intelligence, and how this leads to avoiding attorneys getting and litigations so a better settlement can be agreed with the claimant. But, it doesn’t stop there, the real vision of Charlee is to be able to connect those data points with actuary, with underwriting, with product marketing, even with your agent. All these people are stakeholders in how exposures are calculated, priced and offered in your product.
One of the biggest things we’re seeing is a lack of proper documentation. How you arrive at a financial settlement is based on the facts of laws. If you don’t document your facts of laws or ask the right questions, you’re not going to get those facts of laws based on which you need to make objective decision points – which are very important for you to present in a court during litigation.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I owe my career in the technology space to data.’

‘Claims are the promise of the insurance contract. It’s here you get to know how the exposures you priced at the beginning are performing at the end.’

‘Some exposures that are beyond your control, like the weather and climate, but the exposures and severity behind that are huge.’

‘Attorneys being brought into the process are third parties that nobody benefits from.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sri Ramaswamy: Over 22+ years of experience in advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.

Founder and CEO of Charlee.ai, the insurance industry's first NLP-based predictive analytics solution. What makes Charlee unique is our patented, proprietary and pre-trained claim language model. It adds the context to the predictions, provides deep insights-based alerts, reserving patterns, prior trends based prioritised claim lists for enhanced claim workflows.

As a certified associate in risk management, I have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the P&C insurance sector, and I am passionate about leveraging unstructured data to drive financial outcomes and innovation.

I have architected and launched data analytic solutions for underwriting and claims, and patented Charlee.ai's AI, NLP, and ML-based technology that can extract and analyse all sources of data, including documents, files, third-party, and social. Charlee.ai helps insurers lower claim costs, manage reserves efficiently, and improve risk selection, through individual claim insights and aggregate claims analytics dashboard. I am a thought leader and speaker on operational use of unstructured data, and a mentor for the InsurTech community. I also enjoy learning about astronomy, hiking, and yoga.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Venture Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world, working with over 30 corporate insurers and accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Amrit Santhirasenan: Delivering Dynamic Pricing Decision Intelligence Oct 02, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Amrit Santhirasenan, Co-founder and CEO of hyperexponential (hx). With a unique blend of actuarial expertise and software engineering, Amrit has spent over a decade in the Lloyd’s of London market, shaping the future of insurance analytics.

We'll delve into the world of insurance pricing for complex risk decisions and explore the transformative potential of decision intelligence.

Amrit will share insights on how hx Renew is revolutionising how pricing models are built and deployed, offering an unparalleled user experience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I was one of the few idiots who graduated at the time of the dot com bubble bursting in software engineering and thought it would be a bad time to be a software engineer. I found myself in insurance and I’m a huge maths nerd as well as a technology nerd, so people said I should become an actuary, and I found that I loved it.
I love insurance, I’m an insurance nerd, I think insurance is a huge societal pillar; There are no rockets launched, large buildings built, planes taking off without insurance. Without the mechanisms by which we can absorb risk, we can’t take it. When we take risks we reap the rewards of those risks and society moves on.
Insurance is a fascinating sector that intersects technology, mathematics and human judgement in a way that’s very unusual. You have people that are tasked with working out how risky something is. By definition, if it’s perfectly predictable, it’s not risky. You analyse risk in lots of different way with tools and techniques and it’s a wonderful place for people who love solving hard problems in a variety of different ways.
The essence of ‘decision intelligence’ has been around for a really long time. It’s important to distinguish between decision intelligence as a mindset and a way of solving a problem, and the technology side. The area in which hx has been novel is in crafting a technology solution around obtaining or applying decision intelligence to the problems that you’re solving.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I tell everyone who comes to work at hx that they have to love insurance: Come for the fun opportunities, stay for the insurance.’

‘We’ve crafted the technology to take away the boring database manipulation or building algorithm container and webforms to let our clients focus on the problem they actually care about.’

‘The past isn’t meaningfully a guide to the future for emerging risks in the same way that it has been for more established risks, like fire.’

‘In a competitive landscape, the best thing you can do is increase the amount of information to make the decision, that’ how markets become fairer, more effective, and more efficient.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Amrit Santhirasenan is the Co-founder and CEO of hyperexponential (hx), a pioneering analytical technology firm revolutionizing decision-making within the financial sector, particularly in specialty insurance pricing.

With a background as a qualified actuary and computer science graduate, Amrit brings extensive expertise in reserving and capital modelling, specialising in pricing and the integration of modern techniques and technology to create practical, impactful pricing systems.

Amrit remains deeply engaged with the insurance community, addressing the broader challenges of developing superior pricing solutions in an increasingly data-centric and technological landscape.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Eveline Ruehlin: Fashioning the Future Through Gen Zers’ Eyes Sep 25, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Eveline Ruehlin, a true visionary in the realm of fashion technology and emerging trends. As a champion of advancements in digital health, artificial intelligence, and fashion technology, she brings a unique perspective on how Gen Z is revolutionizing the fashion industry.

In today's episode, Eveline will take us on a journey through the eyes of Gen Z, exploring how this tech-savvy generation is reshaping fashion trends with their sustainability-driven preferences and digital-first mindset. We'll delve into the exciting world where AI becomes a fashion statement and discuss how emerging technologies are transforming not just what we wear, but how we interact with fashion itself.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

AI is immolating the brain. I decided I need to be influencing in neuroscience as well as fashion. I’ve always been interested in smart textiles, functional textiles was always a big thing in Switzerland.
When designing my own clothes with a designer from Project Runway, I saw the beautiful craft of pattern making – it’s an art that should never be lost. But with ecommerce, I saw the integration of technology and my university was right at the forefront of teaching this.
Especially with AI or quantum computing on the horizon, we are going to find so many cures. AI has influenced, sped up, replaced and helped so many doctors, especially during the pandemic. Surgeries can be doing online with a doctor in another country, the digitisation of the industry is phenomenal.
I was trained as a ‘nose’ when studying in Geneva, olfaction is a very big issue for me and I love how it influences your wellbeing. Digital health is picking up on that, perfumeries are working together with health experts for mental health purposes. The senses can change a person’s wellbeing and attitude.

BEST MOMENTS

‘In-bound social media traffic can improve how quickly you can sell and get recognition.’

‘Brain-computer interfaces, near-eye computer interfaces, moving into spatial computing, all this is coming.’

‘The best quality is still handmade in my opinion.’

‘AI is trying to emulate the brain, but I don’t think it ever will because there are new studies coming out every day about consciousness, where memories are stored, etc.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Eveline Ruehlin is a dynamic and multilingual innovator at the forefront of global emerging technology. With a remarkable career as a top influencer and brand ambassador, Eveline champions advancements in digital health, artificial intelligence, fashion technology, and sustainability. Her extensive experience with international organizations equips her to bring unparalleled value to enterprises seeking to navigate the complexities of global trade and diplomacy.

Passionate about fostering a sustainable and circular economy, Eveline is a staunch advocate for smart city design and digital twin architecture. As a continuous learner, she delves into cutting-edge fields, including machine learning, blockchain, quantum computing, and cybersecurity, always with an eye on the digital transformation heralded by the 4th and 5th industrial revolutions.

A fervent supporter of mentoring the next generation, Eveline is committed to sharing her knowledge, positive mindset, and leadership skills with young professionals entering the tech industry. Her personal interests in skiing, hiking, and outdoor activities mirror her professional ethos of resilience and exploration.

Eveline's thought leadership extends to the realm of fashion tech, where she explores how AI and emerging technologies are reshaping the industry. She is particularly interested in how Gen Z and Gen Alpha influence fashion trends through their tech-savvy perspectives and sustainability-driven preferences. Eveline’s insights into the integration of AI as fashion statements continue to drive conversations about the intersection of technology and lifestyle.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Emanuel Rose: From Social CEOs To Humanizing Your Growth Sep 19, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Emanuel Rose, CEO of Strategic eMarketing, who has led numerous successful marketing campaigns for companies through authentic storytelling and direct-response advertising.

On today’s episode, Emanuel will share insights on differentiation and humanisation strategies for startups. Scaleups and captive insurance companies. We’ll explore best practices around targeting, testing messaging, and scaling for growth. We also talk about why startups founders must focus on becoming social CEOs. Emanuel will also discuss key lessons from his book on how solitude in nature can benefit mental health, leadership, and creativity.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

AI is a tool of marketing and, like all tools, it has to be deployed correctly and with the intent of the campaign and the focus of the brand. It’s complicated to use, but I think it’s amazing, I love it, it’s forever changed my marketing. At this point in time, it still takes a human to drive it, though that might be different in time.
As marketers, we’re taking and identifying a problem and from that we come up with a solution, which is what we’re selling, and maybe agitating it a little bit, triggering people and offering a call to action. I like to make it as frictionless as possible which I think has become lost in digital marketing, since the internet we’re back to pop-ups and interruption trying to get email addresses and phone numbers. I think that’s a huge mistake that doesn’t build long-term brand value and makes everything transactional rather than client based.
The negative side of AI is there’s a lot of “spray and pray” happening instead of starting with your ideal client profile, finding some people who fit it, understanding what their needs are, and developing a conversation and qualifying that person to your service/product and yourself to that person. The relationship is what people are missing with this inauthentic rubbish.
I want to encourage people to use tools that are organised around getting a lot of information from the prospects that they’re talking to so that there is publicly known personal information from social profiles/blogs/other content they’re written or participated in. This should be part of every AI tool you use, but then you need to do your own research, so when people are interested take a few minutes to see how that individual aligns with your ideal client profile.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The difference between a client and a customer is that you care about the client and their concerns, whereas you’re just doing business with a customer, it’s just a transaction.’
‘Interruption marketing has got to go away again because it’s counterproductive.’
‘We’ve forgotten that our job, as a service provider, is to serve our clients.’
‘Make sure that you talk to people. If you’re in a marketing department, get on sales calls and hear the answers for yourself, understand what the pain points are, and how you can feed better information into the model you’re using.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Emanuel Rose is an accomplished marketing expert and author based in Reno, Nevada. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Emanuel specializes in direct-response advertising, content marketing, and branding strategies.

As the CEO of his digital marketing agency Strategic eMarketing, Emanuel has worked with numerous clients and helped them achieve business success through authentic storytelling. His unique approach to marketing has resulted in outstanding outcomes for many companies.

Beyond his profession, Emanuel is an avid outdoorsman with a deep passion for nature. His latest book "The 7 Principles of The Magic Rock" explores the profound connection between spending time outdoors and mental health.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Magda Ramada: From Blockchain to Revolutionising Insurance with the Right Tech Sep 11, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Magda Ramada, Senior Director and InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW's Insurance Consulting and Technology, where she spearheads the company's engagement with InsurTech startups and blockchain initiatives worldwide. With over two decades of experience, she has become a prominent voice in digital transformation, advanced analytics, and emerging risks within the insurance industry.

Today, we'll be exploring Magdalena's journey in InsurTech, her views on the challenges and opportunities in the industry, and her vision for the future of insurance technology.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I got into insurance and technology by chance. 10 years ago I took on a project for a large insurance company whose CEO wanted to look at lobbying risks and macro-economic risks, which I was an expert on. I felt self-conscious talking about risk to the CEO, so I studied like I’d never studied before, and it was a great experience. After that, everything I did was around insurance which led me to blockchain technology, and I realised this was going to change the way we can neutralise risks. I don’t think I’ll ever leave.
Technology is an enabler. It doesn’t need to be AI-based or shiny or a startup, as long as it’s the right kind of solution to transform the industry. In insurance, the applications of technology and the needs and functionality are very different from personal lines to motor, home or pet insurance. It’s a world with a lot of complexity.
What are the tools that enable me to use and analyse more data, leverage the data we already have, and how that data can travel from very different functions and allow a very different target operating model where the technical functions converge to work as one. There are a number of specialisms around that that go deep, like generative AI, natural language processing, OCR, where you become an expert in a niche and you don’t need to know insurance.
The first thing you need to understand is how a technology is going to affect what you are doing. Then there’s the augmentation with everyone in the value chain (the claims handler, underwriter, customer, online customer, agent), these all need different interfaces and types of insight for the different personas to enable timely, better decision making. Not every technology will enable you to do that.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Every time I had the choice of choosing insurance economics as an elective, I chose something else!’

‘I like being on stage, it’s the closest I can get to teaching.’

‘One of the things that makes us different from other species is our ability to imagine how things can change and be radically different. Technology can help us with that.’

‘What is my insurer client going to need in 5 years? What is going to be critical? What is going to allow them to compete with others, to outperform and become front runners?’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Magdalena Ramada Sarasola, PhD, is a trailblazer in the global InsurTech landscape. As Senior Director and InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW's Insurance Consulting and Technology, she drives the company's engagement with InsurTech startups and blockchain initiatives worldwide.

Dr Ramada Sarasola's expertise spans from microinsurance and financial inclusion to emerging markets and multinational enterprise strategies.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Nicole Peck: Exploring ITC Vegas 2024, Climate Change and Ethical AI. Sep 05, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nicole Peck, president of ITC Vegas to dive deep into the highly anticipated ITC Vegas 2024 conference, taking place from October 15-17.

In this episode, we'll explore the groundbreaking themes of ITC Vegas 2024, including tackling climate change or the ethical use of GenAI and data. We will also talk about the new ITC Vegas format which includes the neighbourhood to create smaller communities within a larger conference setting. Nicole also shares her insights and strategies for navigating these changes and preparing for a future reshaped by innovation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I joined ITC last September, just before ITC 2023, to help guide the team to the next evolution of growth and opportunity. This event has been a rocket ship since it started and now we’ve moved into our ‘teenage’ growth years and we need to focus to ensure we’re delivering the best possible event for the community that we serve.
This will be the 3rd year we’ve tackled the topic of climate tech. 3 years ago we were probably too early to the party and people weren’t ready to talk about it or use the terminology. Last year it really picked up steam and we’re starting to see traction on both what our audience has identified as topics that they’re interested in as well as our sponsors being interested in learning more about it.
We have set out to create an event this year that has evolved and is different from years passed, because we recognise we’re in a ‘growing-up’ phase where we can do more for our community. We took a hard look at the feedback from the event last year and found that the event had become too big and difficult to find the right people or topics that people were looking for. To address this we’ve created more neighbourhoods on the show floor and made it easier to navigate. We also changed how our content and agenda was displayed on the website with clear tagging.
I’ve been on events for the majority of my career and most have a very clear buyer/seller relationship. It’s not clear at ITC, ITC is a “supermatrix” event. We distil the people that attend our event into 3 cohorts: Industry incumbents (carriers/reinsurers), Investor community, and innovators (startups/entrepreneurs). Those 3 are constantly in flux from year to year, industry incumbents is strongest right now, but there a nuances at the event that speak to each one of them.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I was brought onto ITC to bring some of my New York City energy into the event and the team.’
‘It’s important for me, as a parent, to leave the planet in a better place than when I lived in it.’
‘The Founder’s House is invite only and where VCs can meet with the startup community.’
‘Our objective is to facilitate as many meetings and connections we can for the carriers.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nicole Peck is an innovative business leader with more than 27 years of experience driving commercial success through strategic B2B marketing and sales initiatives. She is a results-oriented executive who combines process efficiency with a relentless focus on customer outcomes.

A master of forging powerful partnerships, Nicole excels at uniting diverse stakeholders to achieve shared goals. Her leadership style is both decisive and inclusive, knowing when to lead from the front and when to immerse herself in the details. Her calm demeanour under pressure and talent for fostering collaboration make her a sought-after partner, both within her organization and externally. Her unique strength lies in her ability to activate and inspire those around her, empowering teams to excel and achieve their highest potential.

Nicole serves as an advisor to event technology startups and is a respected speaker on leadership, team building, and digital innovation. Her insights into emerging event trends are widely recognized and valued. She resides in New York City with her son.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Jeff Abbott: The Future of Everywhere Work Aug 28, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jeff Abbott, CEO of Ivanti who, alongside his global team, brings insights shape the future of work. As the leader of a company dedicated to providing innovative IT and security solutions, Jeff brings a wealth of experience and insight to the discussion of the evolving workplace landscape.

Today, Jeff will be sharing key findings from Ivanti's 2024 Everywhere Work Report – a comprehensive study that explores the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in the distributed work environment.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you think about where some of the most successful platforms are, Salesforce.com has brought an amazing platform to sales and marketing, Workday is an amazing platform for HR. CIO's and CISOs have not had that. Our quest at Avanti is to bring that platform, and in this transition we're in right now, the global business community at large, I believe it's the most important evolution in contemporary business we've seen in the last 25 years. It's going to be the basis for our economic wellbeing for the next 50 years, if we get this right.
It makes sense for leadership teams to take active steps to dig a little deeper into this divide. With remote work becoming more prevalent, surveying your employees, I believe, is more and more important, this idea of remote leadership and keeping up with the ‘vibe’ of the company in this remote world to understand the experiences and challenges of employees and the executive suite with different mode of work.
Over 90% of leaders we surveyed say that employees have the tools to be productive in a remote or hybrid work environment. But, of those employees, just 57% say they need better tools and better access and don't have the smoothest experience from a digital culture perspective.
What we're observing is that IT teams aren't fully bought into the value of DEX (digital experience platform). IT teams are less likely than leadership to say improving the digital employee experience positively affects productivity, retention and satisfaction. Additionally, those IT professionals don't always get to experience the benefits of the digital employee experience that they actually help power. As a result, they don't buy into it simply because they haven't had a positive experience themselves. Applying the promise of DEX should really start with IT, because they're the ones enabling it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The biggest challenge is engaging in the Everwork policy and technical adjustments in the safest and most secure way. You can't rush this. You got to get it right. Just can't wing it.’

‘Threats from bad actors or cyber terrorists is as bad as it's ever been. It's getting worse. These days, it's a persistent threat, they don't just come and knock on the door with phishing, it's a campaign, it’s nonstop. Vigilance is so important.’

‘Both the CIO and the CISO have to lock arms and enable IT to understand how they can truly impact productivity with the DEX platform by having transparency and visibility across the landscape of the company.’

‘Ultimately, where we’re headed is no longer operating IT over here, security over here, we see these organisations starting to converge. That's why this platform is so important for the future.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

As CEO of Ivanti, Jeff oversees all aspects of the company’s growth strategy and direction. Before becoming CEO of Ivanti in October 2021, Jeff was Ivanti’s President since January 2020. Jeff has over 25 years of experience working for enterprise software and services companies, including Accenture, Oracle, and Infor. Jeff holds degrees from the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University. He sits on the National Alumni Board at the University of Tennessee and has previously held board positions with the Georgia Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Posse’ Foundation.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Nick Telson-Sillett: From Design My Night to Angel Investing… and more! Aug 21, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nick Telson-Sillett, a renowned entrepreneur, angel investor, and public speaker based in London. He has an impressive track record in the startup ecosystem and has made significant contributions to the industry.

Today, we will dive deep into Nick's journey as a startup founder, his role as an angel investor, and explore his latest project, trumpet. We'll discuss his strategies for evaluating investment opportunities, his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, and gain his insights on the current startup landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you just look at the reservation market you’d think you find an open table at a restaurant, reserve the table, etc. We drilled in a bit further and found the niche of bars which you couldn’t book into in 2012. We went to the industry and pitched the idea of an app like Open Table that worked for bars, they and the customer base were positive about it and we went and built the software and signed up all of the best bars in the UK because there was no other app out there that was catering to them at the time.
Because we’d built such a flexible booking system for bars, there was a boom in casual dining which didn’t exist back in the day for experiential, different types of restaurants which needed the flexibility. We then made a play for that niche.
Early start-ups: Don’t get distracted. Focus is so important, everyone promises you the world, partnerships, sponsorships, all these things only add noise. Surround yourself with the work, 3 hours in front of my laptop is more worthwhile than going to a founders event. Becoming a founder has become a fashionable sport, people forget the being a founder is really hard work building your business and putting your head down.
I love the start up world, I was mentoring founders so Angel Investing was an obvious route to go down because I can help financially as well as mentoring or helping the companies that I’m financially invested in. A lot of founders I’ve met aren’t investor-ready, and the first thing I say to founders is have you thought what you want out of your business? If it’s just you and you don’t need to raise money, and if £3m is lifechanging to you, you can build a business worth £3m and you hold 100% of the equity and then you can sell it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You can’t please everyone: If you build a product and you’re at the whim of your customers you’ll never have clarity or be able to build strategically, you’ll aways be chasing your tail.’

‘We were the first app to introduce putting your card down or pay a deposit because we found no-shows was a big problem.’

‘Sales is going to be the new engineering, finding great sales people that know what they’re doing is tough, determine your ICP (ideal customer profile) and go after them specifically.’

‘Learning to say no to people doesn’t have to be rude, it’s about preserving your time to drive your business forward.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sillett is a London-based entrepreneur, investor, and public speaker. He is known for co-founding DesignMyNight, a B2C platform that attracted over 8 million views per month and a B2B platform with over 5,000 clients. DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group in November 2017 for $30 million.

After DesignMyNight's successful exit, Nick Telson-Sillett continued his entrepreneurial journey and co-founded Trumpet, a buyer enablement software solution.

He is also the founder of Horseplay Ventures, a venture arm that invests in startups, and has invested in over 55 startups as an angel investor.

Nick Telson-Sillett is actively involved in the startup community and has hosted his own podcast called Pitch Deck, where startup founders pitch their businesses to him and guest angel investors/mentors. They discuss the pitch, the business itself, and the investment opportunity.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Richard Gunn: On Hyperexponential… The Pricing Nerds! Aug 14, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Richard Gunn, Chief Revenue Officer at hyperexponential, who is at the forefront of revolutionising the insurance industry through advanced pricing decision intelligence and driving the adoption of hx Renew, a cutting-edge Pricing Decision Intelligence platform designed specifically for commercial insurers in Europe and beyond.

On this episode we'll explore how hyperexponential is changing the pricing paradigm for insurers, the importance of advanced pricing decision intelligence in today's rapidly evolving market, and Richard's vision for the future of the insurance industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Advanced pricing decision intelligence refers to the use of advanced algorithms, data analysis, and technology to gather, analyse, and interpret pricing data for the purpose of making informed spricing decisions. It involves monitoring and tracking the prices of products or services, analysing market trends, and understanding competitor pricing strategies
Advanced pricing decision intelligence is important for businesses because it allows them to make data-driven pricing decisions, remain competitive, optimise profitability, and react In real-time.
Advanced pricing decision intelligence involves the use of advanced algorithms, machine learning models, and software tools to gather, analyse, and interpret pricing data. These tools leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to provide deeper insights into pricing strategies and market dynamics. Some common techniques used in advanced pricing decision intelligence include: data gathering, data analysis, machine learning models, and automation.
Advanced pricing decision intelligence involves the use of advanced algorithms, data analysis, and technology to gather, analyse, and interpret pricing data for the purpose of making informed pricing decisions. It is important for businesses to remain competitive, optimize profitability, and react in real-time to market dynamics and competitor actions.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The benefits of advanced pricing decision intelligence include: improved decision-making, increased competitiveness, optimised profitability, and real-time insights.’

‘hx Renew offers a value proposition to insurers by providing insurance pricing software and a pricing decision intelligence platform.’

‘By leveraging hx Renew, insurers can eliminate the manual data collection process, saving substantial time and resources. This can result in annual savings of up to and beyond $100,000.’

‘hx Renew provides insurance professionals with a dynamic environment for real-time rate change monitoring and decision-making. This allows insurers to transition from relying on outdated information to making informed decisions based on up-to-date data.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Richard Gunn is the Chief Revenue Officer at hyperexponential, a company known for creating hx Renew, a Pricing Decision Intelligence platform specifically designed for the insurance industry. In his role, he is responsible for driving revenue growth and ensuring the company's financial success. With a deep understanding of the insurance market and a passion for leveraging technology to solve complex problems, Richard is instrumental in helping insurance companies make informed pricing decisions through the use of hx Renew. His leadership and strategic vision continue to propel hyperexponential forward in the competitive insurtech landscape.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Karrie Sullivan: Hacking the Change Curve by Adopting AI in the Workplace Aug 08, 2024

In this episode, Sabine talks to Karrie Sullivan, a change management expert with a keen interest in psychology and the development and leveraging of AI. Karrie talks in depth about why AI is disrupting the world of change management and the innovation it is creating, including her work with AI personality assessment. They also talk about the general adoption of new technology and how to recognise resilience and innovation within leaders and individuals.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Self-knowledge and introspection are both key components to personal development, which is essential when trying to promote change within and outside of ourselves.
Whilst parts of our core personalities may be ‘fixed’ our ability as individuals to develop and evolve is dynamic, this is where we can create the change we want to see.
Karrie frequently works within the intersection between small start-ups and larger enterprises to find the right people and innovation to create the best practice framework for all.
Find the 7% of people who can turn chaos into opportunity and remain resilient under pressure.
There is value in trying various new technologies and then adapting them to what suits your business, not all technology will be the right fit.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We’re finding pockets of results and resilience so we and our customers, our clients can do a really good job of adoption and transformation”

“How do we help ourselves become better humans?”

“We work with those result drivers who can solve problems very fast, to adopt something new, so what they’re doing is creating best practices”

“It’s actually a very small amount of people able to manage the change”

“They want to see a culture, they believe in culture and they’re looking for other resilient mindsets to surround themselves with”

ABOUT THE GUEST

Karrie Sullivan is a seasoned expert in change management and organization design, with a keen focus on leveraging AI personality assessments to drive successful transformations.

With a background in large-scale transformations, Karrie has honed her skills to address change management and organization design challenges specifically.

She is adept at helping organizations adopt new technologies, such as Microsoft Copilot, by hyper-targeting adoption efforts based on employees' mindsets and resilience levels.

Karrie's innovative approach to hacking the change curve has significantly reduced the time it takes for organizations to become high-performing after undergoing transformation.

You can discover more about Karrie using the links below.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karriesullivan/

https://culminatestrategy.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Sean Languedoc: Outsourcing 2.0 to Access a Global Talent Pool (Outsourcing 2.0) Jul 31, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sean Languedoc, a seasoned tech entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience building & scaling companies across borders. Sean shares the lessons he learned from scaling five companies, how Outforce.ai is transforming outsourcing, when startups should consider leveraging external teams, and his thoughts on how emerging technologies like generative AI or quantum computing are accelerating development cycles. He also offers advice for non-technical founders looking to build MVPs in a capital-efficient way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Each business started not because of a technology that I wanted to build, it started because of a problem I saw in an industry that I needed to solve, & I was enabled by technology to solve it.
You can’t just walk into an industry like InsurTech & disrupt it with technology, technology changes a lot faster than behaviour & infrastructure. The lesson there was if things go wrong, the agency is blamed & I’d be fired. It’s nothing to do with technology, it’s all about people.
Across all businesses you have to look at who are you disrupting & how influential are they in the decision-making process? Who wins & who loses & who can you embrace for your winning approach & get momentum behind those.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Everyone will tell you you have a great idea until you ask them to pay for it, or until you understand the culture of the industry itself.’

‘For good operators who were really interested in optimising we got a lot of momentum, but for the companies that were horse-trading favours, not so much.’

‘The industry standard is 39% of projects that go to outsourcing don’t work out. I’d say another 20% on top of those end up working out only because of brute force, relentless effort by the client to teach the outsourcing agency how to do it.’

‘You can’t afford to take the risk of getting it wrong, you need to go in with data & research & get it right.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sean Languedoc is a seasoned tech entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience building & scaling companies. He has founded five tech ventures across various domains, successfully taking two of them "south" from Canada to the US.

Currently, Sean is the CEO of Outforce.ai, a company that transforms outsourcing from a daunting task into a strategic asset for venture-backed startups. Outforce.ai aims to be the catalyst that propels tech ventures to their next phase of growth by connecting them with the right engineering teams globally.

Beyond his role at Outforce.ai, Sean is deeply involved in the startup ecosystem as a mentor, guiding entrepreneurs through the complex landscape. He serves as a board member at A100 & a Charter Member at C100, underscoring his commitment to fostering tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada & beyond.

With his extensive expertise in international collaboration, recruiting, & navigating cultural nuances, Sean brings valuable insights on scaling teams, leveraging outsourcing effectively, and adapting to the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

His unique perspective, shaped by building companies across borders, makes him an insightful guest to discuss growth strategies for startups and & future of work in an AI-driven world.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Edward Brawer: Revolutionising Content Creation With AI-Powered Podcasting Jul 24, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Edward Brawer, co-founder and CEO of PodcastAI, a groundbreaking SaaS platform that's revolutionising the podcasting industry.

In this episode, we'll explore: Edward's entrepreneurial journey and the origin of PodcastAI, how AI is transforming the podcasting landscape, the future of content creation and distribution in the digital age, strategies for entrepreneurs looking to leverage podcasting for growth, & the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving podcasting market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Our previous startup was with a video platform, we looked at what we could do with AI & the models were pretty expensive. It could take the titles of YouTube videos & it would give you new titles which isn’t super useful. The real Aha moment for everybody was ChatGPT because it wasn’t a technological development, it was realising how to use the technology. It was at that time I realised that there was no limit to what you could build with this which led me to start PodcastAI.
In February I started playing around with AI voice models & I realised that I could create a parody of an episode of the All In Podcast. I posted it on Twitter & it was reposted by them & went viral, hitting 600,000 views. We did 6 in total & people wanted to know if it was real, if AI had produced the podcast, they asked for the code and GitHub repository. That’s when we knew we could do it & we now have a product called ‘The Magic Pod’ which creates a podcast for people who aren’t comfortable with being in front of a microphone, it creates a completely automatically generated podcast based on a blog, news sites in your voice.
Podcasting can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. At its simplest, you can have a Zoom recording a put that out, PodcastAI can level up your production quality by automating all the post-production, distribution & promotion. At the higher end it’s more like a scripted TV show. Everybody is able to do this.
A100 years ago, the percentage of the population engaged in farming was easily double digit, now maybe 1% has to be engaged in farming because there are tractors etc. Not everybody became unemployed, they went on to do even greater stuff & increased the standard of living for everybody and earned higher wages.

BEST MOMENTS

‘For most podcasters the interview is the fun part and the rest is less fun (pre- & post-production, editing, promotion & distribution, website CMS), Podcast AI makes podcasting effortless.’

‘Magic Pod is a whole new game. You don’t even have to do the recording part, just give it a 3 minute sample of your voice, upload it into our system & it automatically goes out on the day & time you want.’

‘Today, podcasting is a $28billion market. In 5 years it’s going to be $100billion.’

‘You’ll have more throughput, higher quality overall outcomes of the work produced & agencies are going to be able to scale in a way they haven’t been able to, it’s going to become an enabling technology.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Edward Brawer is the co-founder and CEO of PodcastAI, a cutting-edge SaaS platform revolutionising the podcasting industry through AI-powered automation. Launched in 2023, PodcastAI offers a comprehensive suite of tools for podcast creation, post-production, & distribution.

Under Edward's leadership, PodcastAI has secured venture backing, with Jason Calacanis' Launch fund as the lead investor. The platform offers innovative features such as AI-generated ad reads, fully automated podcast episodes, & comprehensive post-production services, positioning itself at the forefront of the rapidly growing podcasting market.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Jeannette Linfoot: From Corporate CEO To Entrepreneurial Success Jul 17, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jeannette Linfoot, a distinguished corporate CEO turned entrepreneur, board advisor, mentor, & investor, renowned for her ability to guide business leaders, C-suite executives, & entrepreneurs through complex business challenges & towards scalable growth, whose career is marked by her 'Brave, Bold, Brilliant' ethos, which she has successfully translated into a top-tier podcast that reaches audiences in over 120 countries.

On this episode she shares insights from her extensive career, her transition to a portfolio career, & her passion for personal development & growth.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In my mid- to late-40s, I took stock of where I was, I loved my corporate career, but I wanted to have more freedom, choice & flexibility in my life. Now, having a portfolio career gives me more choice around being able to travel more & ultimately, I call the shots.
When scaling up, what got you to where you’re at now won’t necessarily get you where you want to get to in the next phase. Having a clear, differentiated position in the market is really important when you scaling, otherwise you’re just competing on price against your competitors. Be clear on your proposition to the customer & know where you want to take the business.
There are only 24 hours in a day & you’re only one person, your success in whatever field you’re in will often be dictated by the talent around you. As you scale you may find there are certain functions that you didn’t need before that you do now, or a combined role may now be at a scale where it needs to be separated & more resources need to be brought into the business.
In any business it’s great to have a mix of talent, experience, some of which is age related: the older you are the more experience you’re going to have. But, the younger generation will have fresh thoughts & more energy. Everyone contributes to a team. With Gen Z, it’s important to understand their motivations in terms of flexibility, they tend to be more values- and purpose-led & they’re choosing who they want to work with on how they align with their morals & values

BEST MOMENTS

‘There’s never an easy time to scale a business, there will always be something that will challenge you, so really get clear on why you’re scaling up, start with the end in mind & work backwards.’

‘If your systems, processes, the boring stuff is not solid you won’t be able to scale, it will fall over at some point. Map them out now & understand which areas you need to strengthen.’

‘Don’t feel you have to scale up, it might not be right for you, you’ve got to want to do it yourself because it’s a hard thing to do. Prepare before you start on the journey of growth.’

‘The formula for success is: belief + purpose + action = results.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jeannette Linfoot is a distinguished corporate CEO turned entrepreneur, board advisor, mentor, & investor, renowned for her ability to guide business leaders, C-suite executives, & entrepreneurs through complex business challenges & towards scalable growth.

Transitioning from a full-time corporate CEO to a portfolio entrepreneur, Jeannette now manages three businesses: a property investment business, an advisory business for corporate clients & business owners, & a one-to-one mentoring business.

Jeannette's podcast, "Brave, Bold, Brilliant," has evolved into a comprehensive brand & framework for executive leadership development & strategy, focusing on leading oneself, leading the business, & leading teams.

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Podcast: YouTube, Spotify, Apple

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Bessem Ayari: Scaling up with Ergo ScaleHub Program Jul 11, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Bessem Ayari, Head of Innovation Strategy & Scouting at ERGO Group AG, where he leads transformative initiatives that shape the future of the insurance industry. With a dynamic career dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration, Bessem is a pivotal force in the InsurTech landscape.

Bessem shares insights on how the Ergo ScaleHub is redefining the innovation ecosystem & helping bold entrepreneurs scale new heights in the insurance sector.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In these times of rapid change & digital transformation, the insurance industry is compared to any other industry, everyone expects the same service & speed as Amazon, Netflix, etc. That’s what drives me. Innovation strategy is about a culture that we need to shape & create to be on a good path but also to provide the means & tools to do so.
We have a very broad & on point innovation portfolio where we are very near to the core, really trying to solve today’s challenges. Innovation is about delivering valuable impact & we can only do so by tackling the challenges we have today. In our portfolio we also have the ability to look into the future at the trends in the business & technology side so we can see very early where the market is evolving & where we should dig deeper.
We’re pretty good when it comes to tech incubation, we have scaled RA process mining, AI and GPT initiatives as well as metaverse, VR, etc. We’ve created competency centres internally for these.
I truly believe in physical collaboration, having physical touchpoints really helps to get a better understanding, to understand Ergo, the processes, the people behind it. At the end of the day it’s a people’s business & you need to build trust. Trust is built by having a proper conversation face-to-face or having dinner together, getting into a boardroom & cluttering the whole space with ideas and concepts to be worked out.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’m passionate about innovation, driving meaningful impact at work & giving something back to our customers & employees.’
‘Innovation is about delivering valuable impact.’
‘You don’t learn a technology from Power Point, you need to get your hands dirty, try it out, make it tangible, test it & derive a decision out of it quickly.’
‘Getting direct connections to corporates is super valuable, as a startup you need to understand how the corporate functions.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Bessem Ayari is a dynamic leader specializing in innovation strategy & scouting. As the Head of Innovation Strategy & Scouting at ERGO Group AG, he leverages his extensive experience to drive forward-thinking initiatives & foster collaboration between startups & the corporate sector. His passion for mentorship & a keen eye for identifying emerging trends in InsurTech position him as a pivotal force in shaping the industry's future.

Known for his strategic vision, exceptional leadership, & commitment to nurturing innovative ideas, Bessem has consistently brought tangible value to his organization. His expertise spans innovation management, strategic leadership, & startup mentorship, making him an accomplished innovation strategist with a proven track record in fostering innovation & collaboration. At ERGO Group AG, he leads the innovation strategy & scouting efforts, identifying & integrating cutting-edge solutions to maintain the company’s competitive edge.

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Make sure to check the ScaleHub site for more details

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Andrei Mincov: What You Need To Know About Trademarking Jul 03, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Andrei Mincov, founder and CEO of Trademark Factory, a company that specialises in trademark registration & protection.

On this episode Mincov shares his insights & experiences on the importance of trademarks for entrepreneurs and businesses, and the common mistakes and misconceptions that people have about the trademarking process. He will also explores the role of IP in business growth & success, & the strategies &best practices for protecting & leveraging your ideas & brands.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My dad was a famous composer in Russia. A radio station that stole a song he wrote & turned it into an ad for Samsung without his permission, at the time I was attending law school & he asked me for help. I didn’t know anything about IP but in 1996 nobody in Russia had any idea about IP because Russia had just changed from Soviet law into free market law, so I gave it a shot & as part of that journey I became passionate about helping people who created something to protect it from others who want to steal it from them.
Trademarking is mostly the same around the world, there are small differences here & there & you need to understand them to be successful in those countries. But, this isn’t something I think entrepreneurs should care about, that’s why providers exists who can navigate them through this. What you should know are the basics, it’s not as complex as you might think: What is trademarking? What are you protecting? What do you need to show to the government to prove it's a brand & not a cute name or image?
The biggest misconceptions I see with trademarks is that you don’t own the word or the image you own the mental association between that work, phrase or image & specific products & services that you sell.
Why trademark? If you plan to be in business for several/many years, the brand will become the most valuable asset of your business. It makes it easier t=for you to attract better talent, attract better leads at a lower cost to advertise at lesser cost. Even if you file your trademark a day before someone else does, you’re good. The problem is you don’t know when someone else will file for a trademark, so you should do it early or else someone else will do it and you won’t be protected, even if you came up with the name first.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The trademarking process takes a long time & I’ve seen a lot of entrepreneurs being taken advantage of by unscrupulous firms that claim to be able to trademark their brand for $49.’

‘The success rate of your trademark application is directly related to your willingness to understand the basics.’

‘On a general level, what trademarks protect is the brand, whether it’s the name, tagline, logo, or some combination.’

‘Trademarks is the only type of IP that you can own, in theory, forever. Copyrights, patents, industrial right expire, if you renew your trademark every 10 years you can own it forever.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Andrei Mincov, the founder and CEO of Trademark Factory, is a renowned expert in intellectual property law. With a career that began with a fight to protect his father's music, Mincov has since written multiple books on the subject, including an international bestseller, & has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and companies protect their IP. His passion for ensuring that hardworking entrepreneurs are not taken advantage of led him to found Trademark Factory, the only firm in the world that offers trademark registration services with a guaranteed result for a guaranteed budget. When he's not helping secure trademarks, Mincov enjoys living in Dubai with his wife & 3 kids & playing his one-of-a-kind DrumDesk.

Website
LinkedIn
YouTube
Email: andrei@mincov.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Nick Pester: Mastering The Art of Scaling Legal Strategies for Expansion Jun 26, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nick Pester, founder of Beyond Legal, who is on a mission to revolutionise the way startups access legal support. But Nick's impact goes far beyond just providing legal advice.

Throughout his career, Nick has been a trusted mentor and advisor to countless early-stage businesses. From navigating the challenges of international expansion to securing major funding rounds, he has been in the trenches with founders, helping them scale their ventures to new heights.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You have to balance the need of competitive advantage, moving quickly, & first mover advantage, which is super important and which I always try to support with the businesses I work with, against the harsh reality of doing something wrong or making sure you’re not being unnecessarily exposed and that you’re keeping yourself in a structure that’s attractive to investors.
If you compare 2021 where capital was much more freely available and people could be more fast & lose with how they did things, to where we are now where capital has dried up and VCs are focused on existing portfolios, you need to be tighter and more organised in terms of your structure & corporate admin has become much more important.
The best lawyers I’ve ever worked with are the ones who, alongside their technical legal knowledge being very good, have an ability to see what the business is trying to achieve & marry the legal requirement with the businesses objectives. Getting those types of people involved at the outset, even if it’s just a sense check, is so valuable.
Collaboration is key, we need to get away from the mindset that 2 opposing parties are adversaries. It’s a partnership & the best lawyers are the ones who recognise that the horse trade isn’t just “you give us A and we’ll give you B”, it’s figuring out where the value lies for each individual party & marrying them together in a way that’s fair & respectful of each party’s interests.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There’s a tendency for startups to chase the shiny ball, it’s easy to get distracted by spin-offs of what you could do, businesses that succeed in the long term are those that have patience, dedication & control.’

‘Founders & business have a tendency to view lawyers as naysayers or box-tickers, people underestimate the value of a good commercial lawyer.’

‘If you’ve got a good commercial lawyer in your team, empower them, give them the chance to lead on things & you’ll see the value they can bring beyond the legal side of things.’

‘When selecting a lawyer to work with find an individual that works for you, don’t just go on simple recommendations by name.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nick Pester is a seasoned legal professional with over 20 years of experience, specialising in FinTech & high-growth technology companies.

His passion for supporting the growth of innovative companies led him to found Beyond Legal, a venture that leverages his extensive experience to provide high-growth technology businesses with an alternative to traditional legal services.

Beyond Legal's primary offering is fully flexible, on-demand, fractional 'GC Services', which allows companies to access top-tier legal support without the commitment of a full-time hire or the high costs associated with external law firms.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Colin Sanburg: From Financial House of Cards to Thriving Enterprise Jun 19, 2024

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Colin Sanburg, a seasoned entrepreneur & the Founder of FinElevate, an innovative strategic finance firm that is changing the game for small businesses.

On this episode, we dive into Colin's entrepreneurial journey, explore the challenges faced by small business owners, & learn how FinElevate is revolutionising small business finance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If there were 10 things that could kill a company, the very first business I got involved with was doing 9 of them! It was in really rough shape. But, from the hardships of figuring out how to stop it being so bad & eventually getting better, I became obsessed with finance & how to build a better business.
Now there are a lot more entrepreneurial groups & masterminds, but earlier in my career I went years without knowing other entrepreneurs. They were the hardest years where I was trying to figure things out. Luckily, I got turned on to a couple of books. After I got through that & connected to other entrepreneurs, the second stage of my career began.
When people hear “fractional CFO” they think of a really experienced person who is C-Suite level who’s going to give them a complicated 12-page plan of all the things they should be doing that they don’t have the time to do. That doesn’t work for entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs want freedom, their business to do better than ever & live a better lifestyle. It’s hard to do that, but we get in your business to help improve it
The reality is, most businesses need to do some of the same things. We can train your team & get in your business &, instead of giving you a 12-page plan, we can say for the next quarter we’re going to focus on these areas based on your goals, thus making progress.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You can get trapped in a bubble of small business & limited mindset, but once you break out of that & work with other entrepreneurs it’s so exciting.’

‘We’re training your leadership team. The fear when you ask them to make more profit is that the team hears: “Make me more money”, when we come in we teach them how to grow their career as well as the company.’

‘The goal is not to do 450 things at once, it’s to have 450 things mapped out so that we know the next thing to focus on.’

‘You need to understand how your business makes money & you can describe that on a napkin.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Colin Sanburg is the Founder & CEO of FinElevate, an innovative strategic finance firm that helps small business owners leverage their financial data to drive profitability & growth. With an MBA & extensive experience as an owner & CEO of manufacturing, distribution, & service businesses, Colin has developed a passion for demystifying small business finance & empowering entrepreneurs to achieve their dreams.

Colin's passion for connecting with & supporting fellow entrepreneurs led him to start several mastermind groups, where he became the go-to person for financial strategy & advice. He pursued an executive MBA to further enhance his skills & knowledge. Through his experiences, Colin has gained invaluable insights into the financial challenges faced by small business owners & is dedicated to helping them navigate the complexities of business finance to achieve long-term success.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Brian Childress: The Fractional CEO Jun 12, 2024

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Brian Childress, a seasoned technology executive & fractional CTO with over 15 years of experience helping businesses in healthcare, finance, education & more develop and scale their technology solutions.

In this episode we dive into Brian's journey to becoming a fractional CTO, the most common challenges he sees businesses facing with technology, his advice for non-technical founders, and his predictions for the game-changing technologies of the future. We'll also explore topics like how to mitigate the risks of outsourcing development work, best practices for application security & scalability, strategies for closing the tech talent gap through global hiring, & the importance of collecting the right data to leverage AI effectively.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Fractionality is a trend where you’re trying to find access to a high level of expertise even though you may not have the work or capital to employ them full-time. If we’re honest with ourselves there’s not 40 hours worth of work to do in a lot of organisations or in a number of roles, so if I can come in & make high impact in an organisation for a fraction of the cost, that’s really valuable.
One of the biggest things that’s helped me is that day-to-day I do software engineering work, but through most of my career I’ve been freelancing & moonlighting on the side, so I’ve doubled the amount of exposure & experience I’ve been able to gain in my career by working with a number of different organisations, teams, projects & technologies. I’m drawing on ever single one of those experiences to help & support the teams I work with.
One of the biggest challenges I see for non-technical founders is understanding what advice they should be following. Technology can be a black box that’s really hard to understand & for non-technical founders there are a lot of people that look & sound like they understand technology & unfortunately they could be giving bad advice.
We make things too complex too early, many of us think we have the next great idea & it’s going to be huge right out of the gate & we need to build so we can support millions of customers from day 1. That’s never the case. But, a lot of the guidance that’s out there is from the Googles and the Netflixs of the world & we build our architecture around these organisations. But, we forget that they have thousands of people to support those architectures & complexity, & they have millions of users to support.

BEST MOMENTS

‘It’s a fraction of the cost, not the expertise.’

‘Don’t follow the advice of the first person to come to you, it puts a lot of founders and companies in bad positions.’

‘Building in complexity from the outset hurts us all the way through the growth of our business.’

‘What is the most simple set of technologies & solutions that we can put together that solves a real business need? A lot of those boring technologies can be scaled up to support millions of users & billions of requests, we just have to be smart about the way we do it.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Brian Childressis a seasoned technology executive & fractional CTO with over 15 years of experience helping businesses in healthcare, finance, education &more develop and scale their technology solutions.

As a technical advisor with a strong background in software engineering, cloud computing, & cybersecurity, Brian is experienced in helping CTOs & CEOs make the right technical decisions for their organisations.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Scott Ritzheimer: Scaling Predictable Success Jun 05, 2024

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Scott Ritzheimer, the co-founder of Scale Architects and author of "The Founder's Evolution".

In this episode, Scott will share his wisdom on breaking through the common challenges founders face, wanting to grow faster despite constraints, overcoming the limitations of being the bottleneck to scaling, and building an organization that can thrive beyond the founder's direct involvement.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Business is hard, there are challenges that come up of course, but at one point while the company was growing really fast the challenges started popping up faster than we could fix them. It felt like it got really hard again, which didn’t make sense because we were doing the same things that spurred the phenomenal growth for the last 5 years. The year end financials started dropping for two years in a row despite making cutbacks. We had no ideas how to fix it because there wasn’t one obvious reason for it.
Every organisation goes through a stage called ‘whitewater’, where the complexity of the business causes us to cause problems; there’s no one problem to fix it’s the complexity of everything has built up and it’s exceeding our ability to manage, lead, delivery consistent quality for our customers. That gave me hope when my business felt like we were flailing.
There are things you need to do organisationally, but you need to change how you show up personally as a founder, CEO, leader and how you need to build, structure and architecture your organisation. You have to do both. By doing this my company tripled its bottom line in a single year & went on to open 2 multi-million dollar business units & increased profit margins by 5% for the next 2 years.
For founders/entrepreneurs/CEOs/leaders, there’s so much more on the line than just us. When we get it wrong it’s not just about my profit margins, it’s about my life, my family’s life, my leaders’ lives, my teams’ lives, it’s about our ability to deliver quality for our customers & their experience. The opportunity we were able to create after getting to predictable success was night and day from the struggle that we had in whitewater.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you don’t have profit, you don’t have anything to invest with.’

‘Folks need to know how & when to hire a coach & what to look for when they do.’

‘I don’t want any founder out there to not know what their next level is.’

‘Predictable success is the set of 7 stages that every business goes through, by understanding it we can accurately predict what challenges we’ll be facing & the highest leverage strategies we can implement.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Scott Ritzheimer is a seasoned entrepreneur and co-founder who has helped start nearly 20,000 new businesses and nonprofits.

Scott founded Scale Architects to help other founders and CEOs identify and implement the essential strategies needed to fast-track their organizations to predictable success.

Through his work, Scott identified a universal pattern that consistently created success. He distilled these insights into the Founder's Evolution framework, which outlines the seven stages every founder must navigate.

This roadmap equips founders with the clarity to understand their current stage, intentionally plan their growth trajectory, and focus on the critical strategies for each phase.

Scott is dedicated to helping founders break through the common challenges of wanting to grow faster despite constraints, overcoming the limitations of being the bottleneck to scaling, and building an organization that can thrive beyond the founder's direct involvement. Scott’s unique blend of entrepreneurial experience and passion for enabling founders' success brings valuable insights to help listeners navigate their growth journeys with greater clarity and confidence.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, and commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers, accelerated over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Oliver Wyman Series: John Johansen – Leveraging the startup culture within legacy corporations May 30, 2024

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On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to John Johansen, a senior technology executive & operational leader with over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles. She is also joined by Steven Abel, partner at Oliver Wyman.

In this episode, the two guests want to challenge & change current operational mindsets within large enterprises. They dive into the known tech challenges existing within our currently fast evolving digitalizing insurance space, why an experimentation culture is critical to drive the relevance & resilience business needs today, what are the most effective paths for evolution, reinvention & consideration, & insights on how businesses can leverage tech ecosystems to scale digitally-driven revenue models.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started creating business applications when I was 13 years old & have been writing software ever since. I’ve been doing this in the insurance world for about 30 years. With Oliver Wyman we’ve been able to create a team that’s able to build tools at speed that really improve our clients’ businesses.
InsurTechs have admirable qualities of being able to runs experiments & take them to investors & get feedback even in the early days then pivot on the back of those results. They can quickly create real, tangible products that people can touch, feel & react to which creates a new round of experimentation including more people giving feedback, more experimentation & more changes. We wanted to bring that into a corporate environment that didn’t have the experience of that agility.
The idea of responsible innovation is super important. There’s nothing wrong with the big corporate machine because it does a lot of things well. It protects the risk agenda; it enables bullet-proof technology that’s very stable. We have a very large client that we’ve done innovation for & we’re beginning to scale that in the enterprise. We’re not thinking of this in three lanes: The innovation group, the BAU support group, and the enterprise architecture group.
One of the things that’s fraught with peril in any IT organisation is when we go from development to beta tests, to launch, to productions support. Are we doing those things better? Is there less drama? Thinking through those early experiments & really demonstrating to people that the process is yielding that benefit/business change faster, with less investment, than an 18 month requirement process, an 18 month build & then a 12 month implementation. With the right experiments & stakeholder team we seeing those metrics trending in the right direction.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We’re still seeing some bureaucracy, which means it’s hard to maintain momentum. We wanted to break the bounds of the culture a progress in weeks not months.’
‘There’s a lot that we can do to improve business processes & be responsive to our business users by running small experiments.’
‘The most important part of measuring success starts with picking the right experiments up front.’
‘We can begin to measure by throughput: Is this process of experimentation actually getting us to faster, better business results, implementations, & hand-offs.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

John Johansen is a seasoned senior technology executive & operational leader with a proven track record of success. Based in Naples, he brings extensive experience in driving growth & innovation within the technology sector. As part of Oliver Wyman, Johansen specializes in helping legacy corporations leverage startup culture to foster agility, accelerate digital transformation, & unlock new opportunities.

Steve Abel is a dedicated partner at Oliver Wyman, leveraging his 25+ years of consulting & executive experience to help clients tackle intricate challenges & lead teams in delivering reliable insights. With a strong focus on smart technological implementation, Steve has a proven track record of generating value for organizations.

His extensive expertise encompasses program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance best practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud solutions, & business & technical architecture.

Steve's passion lies in assisting clients in achieving their strategic objectives & optimizing performance, all while cultivating a collaborative, innovative, & excellent work culture.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Oliver Wyman Series: Brian McDermott – Inside Victors $3bn InsurTech Success May 22, 2024

Do you want exclusive bonus content for free? Please fill out this survey to get just that as well as getting your say about the future of this podcast including content ideas and future guests.

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Brian McDermott, Chief Information Officer at Victor Insurance.

This podcast will be a little bit different. As Steven Abel is going to join us to highlight the value of the Oliver Wyman relationship with Victor Insurance, as a subsidiary of Marsh McLennan. Indeed, in the complex world of business, speed to value when delivering technology is critical & Victor Insurance has found a critical partner in delivering tech among others with the Oliver Wyman team.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

An MGA is a company appointed by the insurer, typically the carrier, to exercise supervision & oversight on specific & targeted insurance programmes. We do everything an insurance company does but we don’t source the capital, the carrier is the source of capital for us, they manage the risk in terms of the capital. We underwrite the risk on behalf of others & we do a lot of the administration on behalf of the carrier, claims processing, servicing, transaction processing, connecting with the broker, handling of insurance fees & processing of any financial aspects.
We operate in 8 countries. The majority of the revenues & premiums derive from the US, around 80% left-side of the globe, 20% right-side. But, we do see immense opportunity on the right-side of the globe because it’s an untapped opportunity in territories with products & service offerings that we can provide. That’s a key strategic focus as we proceed.
Typically, InsurTechs’ challenges include having great product but limited premium running through the platform because of the leverage they have with their carriers to bring those products onto the platform.
We differ from Marsh McLennan in that we’re a full, front to back insurance company: We do placement of products through our digital portal experiences, policy servicing, claims processing, data reporting & analytics, & underwriting. Marsh McLennan are a re-insurance broker, they don’t typically do underwriting. Our technology environments differ in that they’re built for different scale – we’re low premium, high volume, March McLennan operate in a different market segment; enterprise, high-end businesses, we operate in small/micro market. We have to build scalable, fast products whereas Marsh is more of a heavy touch relationship-based business with their clients. So it’s difficult to align with them completely but there are a number of areas around complimentary services.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We’re trying to become the Amazon for brokers in the small, commercial & speciality marketplace.’

‘One of the key challenges I have is to make sure that we can modernise while we integrate as we go on our journey towards the future.’

‘We sit in the middle of the value chain with the broker on the left hand side, supporting the insured, & the carrier on the right, they provide the capital to us.’

‘We need to make sure that we harvest the data insights that we have: historical claims & underwriting data - & augment it with tools like machine learning, AI, data ingestion & enrichment.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Brian McDermott is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Victor Insurance, a leading global provider of specialty insurance programs & a subsidiary of Marsh McLennan.

Brian brings a wealth of experience to his role, with a career spanning more than 30 years in diverse industries such as retail, insurance, finance, & government.

Known for his disruptive thinking and innovation within the IT field, Brian is constantly exploring new ways to leverage contemporary technology & drive digital transformation within the insurance industry.

In his role as CIO, Brian is keen to embrace modern technologies & help drive the agenda within the broader Marsh McLennan corporation. His unique perspective, stemming from Victor Insurance's position as a high-volume, highly transacting business, enables him to provide valuable input on the digital connection between the market & the brokers & clients they work with.

As a partner at Oliver Wyman, Steven helps clients solve complex problems & lead teams to deliver insights that you can trust. Steve acquired over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles, delivering value to organizations via smart technological deployment.

Steve’s specialties include program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance leading practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, AI, cloud solutions, business & technical architecture.

Steve is passionate about helping clients achieve their strategic goals & optimize their performance, while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, & excellence.

Oliver Wyman

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Reinventing InsurTech to Yield a Competitive Edge May 15, 2024

Do you want exclusive bonus content for free? Please fill out this survey to get just that as well as getting your say about the future of this podcast including content ideas and future guests.

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman. In this episode, they dive into the insurtech world & determine how to reinvent the InsurTech space by Leveraging Commoditized Tech for a Competitive Edge.

On this episode they discuss:

The common mistakes InsurTech startups make when investing in technology components with not well-thought-out architectures.
How InsurTech startups can leverage commoditized technology to focus on building unique value propositions.
The strategies for effectively orchestrating & assembling tech components into a symbiotic whole for faster go-to-market.
How InsurTech startups can focus on monetizing their algorithms rather than building the full tech stack.
The changing concept of differentiation in the InsurTech sector & how startups can leverage this to their advantage.

Useful links:
Cyber security and Captive Insurance
Self-insured actuarial services
Capital modelling

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There are a couple of errors that founders make. The first is that you need to hire technologists to build everything for you in an undifferentiated way. Most of what you’re bringing to the market is not the proprietary or unique. It’s a drag on money, speed & you may lose focus on what’s important to your business model. You don’t need to hire them; with the pace of change of tech, a year from now you’ll need different talent because the tech will be different, Rent tech talent at the beginning.
Most innovation that occurring in the InsurTech space is from founders & companies that you may be innovating or own, you’re toe force of innovation in this sector. That’s important for your investors because they want a return on their investment. It’s important for the sector because the huge advancements in the distribution & carrier space, to your customers are because of you.
Critically assess what technical talent is absolutely necessary to be core to your vision, it’s as important as thinking about your architecture & tooling in terms of what is generically available & what’s going to be part of your secret sauce.
InsurTech’s burn through time & capital fast, how can you assemble your solution in a way that you can test a market as quickly as feasibly possible? A lot of founders lose time tripping up over boring, platform tech.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Modern tooling, especially cloud-based, already scales. The idea you need to buy a specialised infrastructure or server is no longer important as it once was.’

‘Getting something in you customer’s hands as fast as possible to find out what they’re going to find valuable & pay for.’

‘If you’re a founder with a great idea, everything that’s core to that great idea you need to own.’

‘In order to make money it’s important to understand how your product is going to be used & sold. These are not the same thing & that can be a very costly mistake.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

As a partner at Oliver Wyman, Steven helps clients solve complex problems & lead teams to deliver insights that you can trust. Steve acquired over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles, delivering value to organizations via smart technological deployment.

Steve’s specialties include program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance leading practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, AI, cloud solutions, business & technical architecture.

Steve is passionate about helping clients achieve their strategic goals & optimize their performance, while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, & excellence.

Oliver Wyman

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Oliver Wyman Series: Steve Abel – Unlocking Legacy & Transforming Tech in Insurance May 08, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman. In this episode, they dive into the challenges & solutions related to legacy debt & system modernization for incumbent insurers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A few decades ago there weren’t the number or complexities of systems in the insurance landscape. Generally, there was 1 or several admin systems which did everything. The cost & complexity of IT was relatively low compared to now. The proliferation of systems that solve business problems, the complexity of those systems has increased exponentially in part because of the sheer number of systems but also because the landscape has evolved to accept that implementing a claims/administration/finance system should take years or months.
A lot of carriers have made successful bets in the past; they’ve bought a system, customised it & to a large extent, historically, they have fulfilled their promise to the business. Perhaps they were a little expensive or hard to implement, but at the end of the day the stakeholders got what they wanted.
Take a hard look at your technology. A lot of these programme fail – between 30-60% depending on who you ask. Ask yourself: Is it worth the investment for my business? If you have a generic business maybe the cost of customisation is very low, but if your business customises a lot & when you’re done you have a lot of spreadsheets, maybe that’s not a great idea.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There’s an emerging opportunity for insurance carriers to leverage a new ecosystem of tooling & providers that isn’t as monolithic & doesn’t require so many months & so much costs to implement.’

‘In modern (mostly) cloud-based technology, it’s possible to think of data as an enterprise/ecosystem asset, so you can keep that data in a structure that works for multiple business processes/calculations.’

‘Speed is now more important than ever in thinking about technology in an ecosyetem. It used to be that you could pace your development choices in years, now technology is moving so much faster – years and months instead of decades.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

As a partner at Oliver Wyman, Steven helps clients solve complex problems & lead teams to deliver insights that you can trust. Steve acquired over 25 years of experience in consulting & executive roles, delivering value to organizations via smart technological deployment.

Steve’s specialties include program management, operations, shared services, enabling technologies, business process reengineering, finance leading practices, insurance products & data, actuarial platforms, machine learning, AI, cloud solutions, business & technical architecture.

Steve is passionate about helping clients achieve their strategic goals & optimize their performance, while fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, & excellence.

Oliver Wyman

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Oliver Wyman Series: Unlocking Value by Leveraging Commoditised Tech May 01, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL introduces the a series of podcasts featuring Steve Abel, Partner at Oliver Wyman, Brian McDermott, Chief Technology Officer at Victor Insurance and Esther Becker, Partner and Captive Actuarial Leader at Oliver Wyman.

The objectives of the following four episodes are to:

create an all rounded viewpoint of what is happening in insurance
demonstrate how an insurance managing general agent has grown its business to over 3 billion dollars in Direct Written Premiums (DWP)
and how the world of captive insurance is evolving when emerging risks are so present in our day to day lives.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Legacy system optimization is crucial for insurance companies to not only reduce costs but also to enhance the value of existing investments. By addressing the historical oversights and implementing effective strategies, insurance companies and carriers around the globe can extract comprehensive value from your legacy systems.
Insurers out there… You've made substantial investments in your core systems, but it's possible that some decisions that we made were not aligned with the best long-term outcomes of your business or enterprise. Revisit past decisions critically to assess whether they still serve your company's current and future needs. Look for signs as to whether you've been locked into proprietary solutions which may hinder adaptability or interoperability long term. I have talked about those with many insurers and this is certainly an area of concern today.
Implement APIs that allow more flexible interaction with your core systems and introduce modular upgrades that can provide new capabilities without a complete system overhaul. These targeted improvements can significantly increase value and extend the lifespan of your core systems, helping you stay competitive in a rapidly evolving insurance market.
Finally, I wanted to dive into the world of captives and self-insurance programs offer a strategic approach to managing emergent non-insurable risks. A captive’s ability to navigate complex technological challenges and optimize technology choices is crucial in reinforcing the relevance and efficiency of the captive’s operations.

BEST MOMENTS

‘To unlock the value from your core systems, adopt a three-pronged approach: Simplify. Innovate. Collaborate.’

‘When you invest in technology startups, scaleup and growth ventures… recognizing the common missteps is going to be essential to avoid them.’

‘In leveraging commoditized technology, your goal should be to build more relevant applications. Utilizing established technologies allows you to focus on innovation without reinventing the wheel.’

‘By proactively shaping your approach to these areas of advancement, you're preparing to meet the demands of 2030 and propel the insurance and insurtech sectors forward.’

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Romaney O’Malley: Disrupting Financial Strategy in InsurTech Apr 23, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Romaney O’Malley, Group CTO at bolttech, an InsurTech unicorn that is quite literally electrifying the InsurTech space now spearheading solutions in 35 markets across three continents.

In today’s episode, we explore a multitude of topics, including: The Journey to the Top: What were the critical turning points in Romaney's impressive career? Master Strategist: How does Romany approach challenging strategic decisions at bolttech? Industry Titans: What's the inner fabric of companies like Bolltech also traditional companies such as AIG, Swiss Re, and GE Insurance?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I made a decision together with my husband in 2008 that we would move to Johannesburg for him to take an opportunity with a bank in South Africa. That was a big deal to move away from London & a great job with SwissRe, but this was a really unique opportunity that ended up being one of the best decisions we’ve made for both of our careers. It exposed me to very different markets across Africa which was invaluable to the rest of my career. Taking risks is important.
One of the fascinating things about emerging markets is that they can leapfrog the steps that have shaped mature industries in the past. The use of mobile technology & telcos in banking in many parts of Africa is far more advanced that we see in developed countries because they have skipped a number of the evolutional steps that some of the older economies have taken. Those markets & consumers are at the sharp end of innovation.
You can’t approach things as 1 decision. Your leadership team/board is never going to make 1 series of linear decision, the complexity comes with multiple decisions & how those interact with each other. You should approach these problems as multi-dimensional & you’re always going to be balancing different things. Strategic decisions are about trade-offs & maximising the point at which you make sure you’re delivering a number of different things to different stakeholders without getting out of balance.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Moving to London from Sydney on secondment gave me the opportunity to see the scale & the size of the opportunity in the rest of the world.’

‘I always knew the future of insurance was technology-based.’

‘Play to your strengths but surround yourself with a team of people that are really good at the things that you’re not so good at.’

‘The stronger we can build and ecosystem across the opportunity in InsurTech the more effective insurance industry we’re going to have.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Romaney O’MalleyGroup CFO at bolttech, an international insurtech company that is revolutionizing the way we think about insurance and technology. Her unique blend of leadership skills and financial acumen is drawn from a 25+ year-career at the apex of the insurance industry.

Romaney's depth of experience is not limited to the insurance field alone; she has ventured into other sectors like reinsurance, finance, and consulting.

When the numbers are crunched and the strategies laid down, Romaney finds her escape in the great outdoors. Whether planning her next exciting travel adventure or unwinding through the meditative art of yoga, she's a perpetual explorer—of landscapes, of limits, and of life.

bolttech

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Anika Jackson: Amplifying Your Brand Power Apr 18, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Anika Jackson who wears many hats with enviable finesse. Currently, Anika is professor, a VP of operations for Full Capacity Marketing, a full-service agency dedicated to uplifting workforce development and educational institutions.

Today, Anika will share with us her insights about growth, drawing from her multi-faceted experiences and achievements.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Everything changes every day with digital. AI has been around for 20 years, but only last year its popularity rose for everyone to understand what the technology is & start utilising it for marketing or efficiencies in our systems & processes. We have to keep on top of everything. My students range from 20s-60s & they want to learn how to manage everything that’s happening.
Podcasting is the only omni-channel marketing that we have nowadays; you have video content, audio content, you can create blog posts, thought-leadership pieces, hundreds of pieces of content for social media. There are so many ways to utilise each episode. Not only that, it’s business development, every time I’m on a podcast or have a guest on my podcast not only do I learn something new from them but that’s another person I can now call on in my network.
I’ve leaned into learning more about a lot of different things so I can better advise people on how to make the best use of their dollars. Especially for small businesses, it’s not easy to get financing unless you have someone already backing you – most small businesses don’t. We at the Intuit Small Business Council are going to speak to Congress in a couple of weeks about AI & small businesses & making sure they have access to tools – digital equity.
A lot of people don’t want to use their own voice, but in this day & time everybody wants to know who are you? I’m buying into you as a person & a founder. Yes, you have the product that’s going to solve something, but I want to know about the person, the authenticity factor. You have to believe in the person & that their solution is really going to solve your problem. Don’t think about it as ‘you’, think about it as you’ve got something people need to hear because what you have to offer & the solution you’re providing is going to help revolutionise things, help with access to something, or change somebody’s life that’s really important to them at this time. Take the ego out of it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Who are you & what are you doing here? That needs to infuse everything that you do. It helps people decide if they take a job, can work with you, if you’re aligned with them. ’
‘I’m learning as much as I’m teaching.’
‘This is a world where you have to think omni-channel, you have to be integrated, & you can’t be siloed, you have to work together, that’s the world we live in.’
‘Reserve all of the names across the socials but don’t scatter your attention, really be focussed and niche down.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Anika is a mother, community volunteer, philanthropist, marketing and communications professional, podcast host, and graduate adjunct professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. As a marketer, she has done it all including experiential marketing/ event production, launch marketing, public relations, digital, and influencer throughout her multiple decade career.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Nektarios Liolios: Driving FinTech Innovation and Mental Health Advocacy Apr 11, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nektarios Liolios, a true FinTech trailblazer, a passionate entrepreneur, and a dedicated mental health advocate.

In this episode, we'll dive into Nektarios' wealth of experience and insights on the evolution of FinTech, building thriving startup communities, investing in early-stage ventures, and fostering a more inclusive and mentally healthy entrepreneurial landscape.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

When I started the accelerators we were riding the first wave of glorified entrepreneurship in 2011-13. Startups were cool, & we created artificial pressure around building things faster than in the wild. There were glimpses of people struggling, but I really didn’t take them too seriously. The real understanding of how bad people's mental health was affected in the early stages of building a business wasn’t something I was fully aware of. But It became clearer to me as we progressed with building these programmes.
In 2018 I lost my Dad the day after I finished work at the accelerator, I had to deal with the mess that comes with leaving behind a big chunk of my identity. I thought, perhaps there’s room to do something about this & I joined a woman I knew who had started Founder Anonymous within the VC fund she worked with to give founders the space to talk about how hard it actually is.
There’s a bag of things: Identity, loneliness, imposter syndrome, co-founder conflict, there are so many things that naturally happen in life that are concentrated within the world of building a startup & these people are completely left to their own devices & deal with these challenges. I got into entrepreneurship in my mid-40s, so I already feel I was a little more prepared for these things than younger entrepreneurs who haven’t had a lot of life experience. But, I wasn’t expecting my identity to be so messed up.
The challenges between someone who works in the corporate world compared to someone who works in the entrepreneurial world are different, especially for founders. You don’t have the same support system. In the corporate world, you can take some time off, and talk to HR, there may even be support initiatives. But founders are very specific kinds of animals, it takes a particular type of makeup to become one in the first place. Research shows that entrepreneurs are more likely to have anxiety, depression, and neurodiversity manifestations (ADHD, bipolar) in their family history.

BEST MOMENTS

‘The outside picture is that startups are cool & the hustle is cool & you need to ruin yourself because the potential returns of a successful startup isn’t comparable to corporate life, I want to demystify that.’
‘We were part of the problem; we cared about the business, we didn’t care about the people behind the business.’
‘We want to build a business where we don’t want to kill ourselves. That doesn’t mean we’re not working hard, it means being allowed to say I’m struggling. Authenticity is important.’
‘There’s a link between wanting to be your own boss & experiencing certain mental health issues.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nektarios Liolios is a visionary FinTech entrepreneur, investor, ecosystem builder, and mental health advocate with a passion for driving positive change.

His work has taken him around the globe, closely collaborating with hundreds of entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in London, New York, Singapore, Dubai, Amsterdam, and Melbourne. His dedication to entrepreneurship, collaboration, and improving lives has earned him recognition as a FinTech veteran and a spot on the Pride in FinTech Powerlist 2023.

Innovate Finance

The Future Farm

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Nicky Billou: Elon Musk-Style Thought Leadership Strategies for CEOs Apr 03, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nicky Billou who shares his expertise on how startup CEOs can leverage thought leadership to accelerate business growth, stand out in competitive markets, & create lasting impact in their industries.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My parents took us from a legacy of tyranny, in Iran, to a legacy of freedom in Canada. This is a very profound & important thing for an entrepreneur to understand: Entrepreneurship is only possible where you have free enterprise, free enterprise is only possible where you have free expression, free expression is only possible where you have freedom. The bedrock foundation for the success of any entrepreneurs in an environment that allows for freedom.
We are living in an era where for you to really make an impact, for you to have your brand/organisation to be known, you can’t do things the way they’ve always been done. People are smart now, they can see when you’re being disingenuous. What all people crave, everywhere, is authenticity, being real, being honest, coming from the heart. As a founder/CEO you need to understand that & it must be first & foremost in your mind.
Elon Musk is somebody who has taken the time to create for himself a persona, a brand. Everyone knows Elon Musk. Why? Because Elon Musk stands for something more than “I want to sell more cars.” He got into Tesla because he wanted to change the world. DO you want to be the unknown CEO of your company or the Elon Musk of your industry?
Being a guest on a podcast is like doing a TED Talk; you’ve got 18 minutes, you can’t waste 1 word, & you need to know what you are & aren’t going to say. Podcast guesting is an important tool in thought leadership. You also need a team to put out your content in the form of videos, written quotes & longer-form posts. CEOs should also have their own podcast but it shouldn’t be about your business, it should be about you so you raise your profile. Finally, you need to write a book (you could hire someone to co-author it with you).

BEST MOMENTS

‘It takes an immigrant to show people the value of freedom. There are a lot of people in the West that don’t appreciate how precious & wonderful freedom is & how it doesn’t exist everywhere.’

‘Life is about people, even business is about people, not money. The purpose of business is to solve problem for people for a profit.’

‘My superpower is I’m a professional believer, I believe in people, I pour into people, I Love people.’

‘If you want to sell more, have the best employees working for you, have access to investment funds to grow & scale, thought leadership is the accelerator that will get you there faster than anything else.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Nicky Billou is an author, thought leadership expert, & host of the Thought Leader Revolution podcast. Over the past decade, Nicky has established himself as a leading authority on personal branding & business growth strategies.

As the founder of eCircle Academy, Nicky runs a year-long mastermind & educational program, working with entrepreneurs from various industries to position them as authorities in their niches.

His insights have helped numerous entrepreneurs add 7-9 figures to their businesses & build powerful personal brands. With a passion for helping startup founders & CEOs become thought leaders in their industries, Nicky draws inspiration from visionary leaders like Elon Musk. He believes that by developing a solid personal brand, entrepreneurs can attract more investors, customers, & top talent to their ventures.

Website

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Yannick Even: A GenAI Visionary and the Future of Work Mar 28, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Yannick Even, a visionary at the intersection of AI, analytics and Generative AI. With over two decades of experience in transforming global organizations into data-driven powerhouses, Yannick's journey has taken him from the corridors of management consulting across Europe and Asia to pioneering roles at Swiss Re, where he led the charge in integrating innovative tech and data insurance products into the market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Insurance is very traditional. Even 15 years ago there were a lot of forms, paper, very siloed. Nobody could really track a customer throughout their journey, everyone was very focused on their part of the journey. This is also true in terms of technology and data. It created a lot of misunderstanding for the customers & even the brokers about the future of insurance & how to leverage technology & data. This resulted in a lot of data gaps in the core of the system, from CRM to data management. It’s taken until recently for the industry to realize we need to do much better.
In the last 5 years at Swiss Re, I’ve witnessed & been part of a transformation to a data-driven company. We built a common data foundation where we agreed on even the common definition of data, built a catalog of data and assigned data custodians. On top of this foundation, we built the governance layer & tried to take out the silos making data available to everyone, not stuck behind barriers. The most important layer was the cultural layer, around the people, we upskilled them around data and AI literacy.
You need to really understand the market, I've seen too many people build fancy solutions with the latest technology available, but not spending enough time checking the product is what the customer needs.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Customer expectations are used now to have a much more engaging, personalized digital interaction with banks, retail, restaurant, any service which is at their fingertips.’

‘Data transformation is the base to start the journey in AI enablement. If your data isn't in the right shape, you can't leverage the value AI can bring.’

'We look at where tech & data can augment & bring value at scale into the way we do business.’

‘Not every problem will be solved by GenAI, there are a lot of problems that traditional AI will solve. It's also important to understand which problem will be solved by which technology & make it efficient across all the different parameters.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Yannick Even is a distinguished expert with over two decades of experience in transforming global organizations into data-driven powerhouses, emphasizing the responsible use of Data & AI. His journey in the realm of management consulting spanned 18 years across Europe and Asia, including a significant tenure of 5 years at KPMG China.

Recognized as a thought leader in Insurtech, Generative AI (GenAI), & Responsible AI solutions, Yannick has garnered a following of over 12,000 innovators worldwide. Currently based in Zurich, he is leveraging his vast expertise in dual endeavors. He is at the forefront of developing top-tier Generative AI upskilling programs for corporates, including The Digital Insurer Global GenAI Explorer program supported by Microsoft.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Simon Guest: Orchestrating Digital Health Ecosystems Mar 21, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Simon Guest, CCO at The CareVoice, who has been instrumental in pioneering a differentiated approach to growth in the healthcare sector. Under his guidance, The CareVoice will focus on creating multifaceted platforms that benefit from the network effect, where each new user or partner amplifies the cumulative value and utility of the ecosystem.

Join us as we dive into the intricacies of orchestrating growth ecosystems for market differentiation, the power of behavioural science in healthcare, and the innovative strategies that have positioned The CareVoice as a leader in personalized health engagement. Simon's insights promise to be invaluable for anyone looking to understand the future of healthcare and the role of digital ecosystems in driving sustainable value creation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I’ve spent more than 20 years working in life & health insurance in various roles & countries. On one hand you become a bit frustrated that some of the problems are still the same, but the advancement of technology & the macroclimate of the focus on health & wellness brings opportunities to bear for life & health insurers. They need to look fundamentally at changing their proposition into digital health and wellness not only for brand & marketing purposes but to change the relationship with their clients & have an impact on their results.
What’s important, in our experience is that you find someone that has an open ecosystem approach, that has the best services that you can find inn the market & will constantly evolve that. We think that we’re playing that role between build & buy but in the end the end consumer gets the best & most critical experience.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Life & health insurance companies have to move to a situation where they are offing end-to-end prevention & digital health cure services in one orchestrated way & then provide the insurance behind that if their client needs it.’

‘There are not that many products where you ask people to pay a lot of money for 20 years in the hope that they never use that product. Fundamentally we have to change the value proposition for customers in this industry.’

‘When it comes to health you can’t make any mistakes.'

ABOUT THE GUEST

Simon Guest is CCO at The CareVoice which provides Digital Health & Wellness Solutions for Insurers. Simon's journey in the insurance industry is marked by significant achievements & a deep understanding of Life and Health Insurance. His tenure at global giants like Generali & AXA has endowed him with unparalleled expertise in leading Global Protection & Health Business lines. This experience has not only honed his skills in driving strategy & commercial results but also provided him with a comprehensive view of insurance markets worldwide.

Between 2014-2022, Simon helmed Generali Engagement Solutions as its CEO, where he was instrumental in forging and leading a groundbreaking partnership with Discovery. This collaboration brought the Vitality shared value wellness proposition to seven European markets, showcasing Simon's ability to leverage innovation, partnerships, & ecosystems. His 'start-up' mentality has been key in delivering exceptional customer propositions, setting new benchmarks in the industry.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Denzil Eden: Using AI To Transform Work Mar 14, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Denzil Eden, founder & CEO of Smarty, an AI-powered productivity assistant. With degrees in computer science & AI from MIT & an MBA from Harvard, Denzil has been at the frontier of harnessing AI's potential to transform work. She has held roles in engineering & product management and is now the founder & CEO of Smarty.

The pair discuss her founder journey as a solo technical female, how to provide advice for startups navigating economic uncertainty, insights on how she sees AI continuing to shape the future of work over the next decade, & practical tips for founders & professionals to help them start implementing today to enhance productivity.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started coding at 8 years old & fell in love with building. That passion stayed with me & I enrolled at MIT where my passion thrived. I got a degree in computer science & did a Masters in human computer interactions building an app like Slack for classrooms. I thought that being a founder wasn’t for me, that I wanted more stability & I’m not sure where that mindset came from. I explored a lot of different careers & eventually went to business school to round out my education, while there the idea for Smarty came to me.
This is the time to develop your AI literacy, to play around with AI tools, to understand how they think, work & how they can make your life better, how they can augment the work that you’re doing. We’re in such an early period of what technologies & tools are going to come out with AI, but the faster you start immersing yourself in that world the sooner you’ll be able to understand how to prompt/talk to/leverage an AI tool.
There’s a lot that goes into responsible & ethical AI, we should be attributing where the data is coming from for these AI tools, the original artists should get credit, there should be some sort of system to track who was the original creator of a piece of work. On the other side, a lot of artists are standing on the shoulders of giants that came before them in terms of being inspired by things that came before & trying to create something new from that. I think AI tools can help speed up that process of experimenting with their own work.
I’ve learned so much over my founders path & specifically about being a woman in AI, because AI is so based on previous data it’s been fed, it’s really important to provide AI tools with diverse sources of data. What I’m seeing right now in the AI space is there are no female speakers at events. Not just gender, but source of information need to be diverse in race, culture, socio-economic class, diversity is fundamental to the way AI works.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I was overwhelmed in most areas of my life & I realised that the majority of the things I was doing & had on my plate could be easily automated with existing technology, so I started building Smarty for myself.’

‘I use the same pitch I started with in 2018, but the appetite for the pitch is so different today. It shows you that timing is everything. Don’t be dissuaded, have internal drive over external validation.’

‘I think AI is going to be a transformational tool in every industry, every job from tech to farming to music. It’s such a magical time & I’m very excited to be part of that movement.’

‘You don’t have to understand the ‘black box’ of an AI tool & how it works, you just have to learn how to use it & in 5-10 years’ time you’ll be the expert.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Denzil Eden is the founder & CEO of Smarty, an AI-powered productivity assistant that helps professionals plan their days & automate mundane tasks. A trailblazer as a solo female technical founder, Denzil earned degrees in computer science & AI from MIT before getting her MBA from Harvard.

Denzil has an extensive background in technology and entrepreneurship. She started coding at age eight & has worked as a software engineer, product manager, & now founder and CEO.

Denzil has been at the forefront of harnessing AI to transform everyday work life for over 5 years through Smarty. Backed by Pear VC and other investors, Smarty has helped thousands achieve peak productivity by creating structured routines, automating administrative tasks, & maximizing time efficiency. When she's not using technology to make people's lives easier, you can find Denzil playing piano, writing sci-fi stories, or searching for the perfect cup of tea.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Rich Edwards: Differentiating with Data in a World of AI Mar 07, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Rich Edwards, CEO of Mindspan & former product leader for IBM Watson. He has a knack for demystifying complex topics like machine learning & getting to the heart of how companies can drive real business value.

In our conversation, he shares a contrarian view — the biggest differentiation won’t come from algorithms but rather a company’s first-party data assets.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Seeing where AI & machine learning was going, it wasn’t quite a mainstream adopted technology in 2017, but it clearly was going to be. Where was the interesting part of that to look at? A lot of the value was going to come from data, particularly first party data, that even now is sitting untapped. Eventually that search led me to the company I’m at now, Mindspan, which is a small business which I eventually bought.
The information that they’re entrusted with (when used correctly) can be very, very valuable & allow them to provide very high value services to their customers. The trick is making that come together with the compliance element required in the banking and insurance sector. A lot of the organisations that we work with don’t have the technical skills to build it up which is where a lot of the differentiated value comes from.
AI isn’t one thing. Science fiction has portrayed it as a monolithic thing that’s all knowing. In reality it doesn’t work like that, it’s component pieces that work together in a pipeline/flow handling things. It’s more like the summer intern, the person that comes to you from university who is diligent, eager, literate, can follow instructions, can write but doesn’t know anything about your business or background, & has no context or experience to base it from, but can answer simple questions.
An important issue that we as a society are stumbling into with AI is similar to healthcare or the extension of credit: Areas where there’s a lot of personally identifiable information that’s out there that businesses have about the people they work with that could be misused or exploited. There’s a lot of regulation around healthcare information in the US that states clearly who’s allowed to possess that information & what they’re allowed to do with it. There’s a lot of stuff we haven’t even thought of yet with AI, for example facial recognition. Data is a valuable asset & requires a level of care around it that isn’t just protection but governance.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I had no business being around AI, based on my background, but I was the guy that had been around IBM long enough & knew how to get things done. That afforded me the ability to be at the forefront of this.’

‘For many use cases with generative AI, the differentiation between the providers is getting less & less & less. It’ll be a thing that you buy, but it won’t be a thing that’s going to make you stand out.

‘Anything we can do today is machine learning, anything we can’t do yet is AI, but the line between the 2 is blurry.’

‘AI is a superpower that you can give to people that are most responsible for an interaction/experience that your customers have.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Rich Edwards is a veteran technology leader with over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of data, AI, and business strategy. As former product management lead for IBM Watson, Rich helped global banks and financial institutions leverage artificial intelligence to uncover growth opportunities and gain a competitive edge. He currently serves as CEO of Mindspan, a firm focused on helping community banks and credit unions transform through data-driven technologies.

Under Rich's leadership, Mindspan turns client data into an operating asset to boost differentiation, create personalized customer experiences, and future-proof their business. With his extensive background in regulated industries like finance and healthcare, Rich understands the importance of building trust and maintaining rigorous data governance. He offers a unique perspective on AI ethics, data privacy, and the responsible use of generative models like ChatGPT.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Chris Miles: Why I Call Myself The Anti-Financial Advisor Feb 29, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Chris Miles, an unconventional financial advisor who has an incredible backstory; he left the industry disillusioned in his 20s to become a passive real estate investor, achieving financial independence and retiring by age 28.

Since then, he has taught hundreds of entrepreneurs his formula for generating enough passive income to be "work optional" and then positioned to work by choice not necessity. During this conversation, Chris shares his incredible personal story, lessons learned overcoming major financial setbacks during the Great Recession when he found himself over $1 million in debt, alternative investment strategies beyond just real estate to generate passive income, and actionable advice to start taking control of your financial future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I realised that when I was in the financial advisor industry that I was just a salesman in a suit; I was selling people financial products, but I wasn’t really helping people become financially free. It became my mission to debunk that, to get people to go a different route that’s been proven to work. Don’t deal with financial advisors because they suck!
After quitting being a financial advisor in 2006, I looked at a friend who I trained to become a financial advisor who had gone to do real estate investing. So, I started going into the alternative investment route. Later that year, at almost 29, I was able to retire because I had enough passive cashflow coming in to pay my bills. That blew my mind because the financial advice world teaches you to accumulate/save all this money to live on less than the interest in retirement.
I don’t want to invest in apartments right now. I might wait 6-12 months before I start investing there again. But, residential real estate (depending on where in the US) is still cash flowing, there are still good, solid returns. Not only owning real estate, but investing without owning the property by lending to people who are renovating/flipping/renting out properties & make a financial return of 10%+.
I could send the rest of my life relaxing, but I believe that god puts you on this planet, gives you certain gifts & abilities that you can develop here to use to bless others’ lives. I really felt it was a responsibility of mine to bless lives. That’s why my company is called Money Ripples.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I was always taught that there wasn’t enough money. I wanted a different life that wasn’t just paying bills & then dying.’

‘My clients couldn’t retire early off my advice, I couldn’t & even experienced financial advisors could retire early off their own advice after 30-40 years.’

‘When the student is ready, the teacher appears.’

‘I have friends in real estate who say the last couple of years have been the worst years financially – even worse than 2008. But the key is, they’re talking about commercial real estate, not residential.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Chris Miles is a leading authority on helping entrepreneurs & professionals get their money working for them today. He earned the nicknames "Cash Flow Expert" & "Anti-Financial Advisor" thanks to his contrarian perspectives & proven track record.

Chris hosts the popular Money Ripples Podcast, sharing unconventional money tips & insights. He's also the founder of Money Ripples, a firm dedicated to helping clients maximise cash flow.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Sally Gimon: How Do The Mega-Rich Save BIG On Taxes Feb 22, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sally Gimon, an absolute superstar in the world of real estate investing and financial education.

After getting hit with a $79,000 tax bill from her wholesale real estate activities, Sally uncovered an incredible secret used by the mega-rich to save BIG on taxes.

What she found led her down the rabbit hole into the realm of Spend thrift Trusts which have been tucked away in the tax code for over 100 years & used by families like the Rockefellers to shield assets and minimise taxes legally.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I help US business owners save at least 90% on their Federal income taxes legally, year after year, generation after generation. In 43 states where there’s state or personal income taxes, I help them save money too. That’s money that can be used to pay off the mortgage, help a family member out, go on vacation, save for retirement, or give to charity.
The Rockefellers’ trust is called The Office, they hire 26 CPAs (they can afford it), & it goes from generation to generation, it’s complex, it’s discretionary – meaning the trustee can make the rules for the beneficiary, someone who is not a beneficiary can sign up for the trust & the become a trustee for 5 minutes – someone at a law firm or myself can do this for them for free. It’s has been in front of the Supreme Court twice & both times has been honoured. This is in the IRS tax code, it’s legal but not many people know about it.
The Rockefellers, DuPonts, Carnegies, OJ Simpson, Robin Williams, they all have a Spendthrift Trust meaning Robin Willimas’ 3 grown children will pay no royalties for his TV shows, movies, comedy acts. If they can do this, everybody should do this. This comes from England hundreds of years ago, though it has a different name.
With the Spendthrift beneficial trust, if the average person joining my real estate group is a 56 year old man who is wholesaling or fixing & flipping a house & makes $50,000 on that deal & are on 24% filing jointly (1 of 7 tax bracket in the US), they will save over $12,000 on that first property. If they do 2 properties in one year, they pay for that trust for generation after generations. On the business trust side, I recommend someone who is making at least $80,000 gross, you will save about $17,000 a year or more depending on the state.

BEST MOMENTS

'If the Rockefellers can do it, why can’t Sally?!’

‘Since November, 5 of my businesspeople who have the business trust have started the beneficial trust because they were saving so much money that they wanted to start lending money to real estate investors.’

‘This is not taught in schools and universities. There are 1 million active attorneys, only 4% are trust attorneys who work for very well-healed people, I’m just trying to help the average person.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sally Gimon, a seasoned Medicare broker turned real estate investor, epitomises the transformative power of financial literacy. Her journey began in late 2018, amidst personal challenges, when she pivoted to real estate investing to secure her future.

Sally's acumen shone through as she wholesaled seven properties in 2019, erasing her debts & earning acclaim within her real estate community. However, a staggering tax bill in 2020 was a wake-up call that led her to a profound discovery: the Spendthrift Trust.

Sally delved into the strategies of the affluent, uncovering how such trusts could shield investors from hefty capital gains and other taxes while maintaining privacy & asset protection.

Find out more about Spendthrift Trusts framework and approach and to reach out to Sally.

You can find out more and set up a call with Sally here

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Steve Selengut: Creating Income Freedom Feb 15, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Steve Selengut who has over 40 years of direct investment management experience & is one of the few investing book authors who has actually managed client money for decades.

Steve is here to share the fundamental principles behind "income-focused investing" laid out in his book “Retirement Money Secrets.” His approach can help investors confidently replace their paycheques with portfolio income streams that grow regardless of markets or rates.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

25% of my money was always in the bond market, which included closed-in funds, mortgages, real estate, notes, loans, short-term, long-term, in the country, out of the country, a great, diverse portfolio. I stuck with stocks individually for a longer period of time & they all paid dividends which became an income stream over time.
IN the first 5 weeks of 2024 my own personal accounts have generated over $20,000 in income. I’m not bragging about it, this is the possibility. Not only is it throwing out dividends every month, but the capital gains are like getting a cheque in the mail from your rich uncle & having something more to reinvest.
After learning all the foundational rules about investing, people should focus on the income produced by the shares, bonds, etc, instead of their market values. You can’t spend the market value, you can’t spend a gold brick, you can't spend cotton futures, but you can spend cash. The companies are giving you cash because they appreciate your value as an owner, utilities companies were always very good at this. But most companies, especially in the tech sector, want to grow.
Mutual funds were developed & began to get popular after the crash in the 20s, the great depression because everybody was afraid of the stock market at that point. Mutual funds gave people a diversified portfolio, you could own part of all the companies & participate in the growth of the economy again without the fear of 100% loss if a company goes bust. That bought a lot of money back into the marketplace. There isn’t an investment advisor out there that would deny the fact that diversification is the key elements of risk minimisation that you can employ.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Big companies influence advisors, it’s not just economics, there’s a lot of politics in there too.’

‘Bonds are a much safer investment than stocks by their nature, & they pay income.’

‘If you see a $100 bill on the sidewalk, do you walk by it hoping it’ll be $150 tomorrow? Pick it up & reinvest it, it’s new capital’

‘I’ve been through too many crashes to take for granted that every great company is going to continue to be a great success.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Steve Selengut is a 44-year veteran investment manager & advisor specialising in income investing. Over his career, he directly managed over $110 million in individual investment portfolios in the US and abroad.

Steve has now distilled his experience into the book: ‘Retirement Money Secrets’ which explains the principles behind income investing. He also provides coaching services to both individual investors & financial advisors on implementing income investing using customised security selection. His goal is to get people to a sustainable, growing income level that makes market volatility & interest rate hikes a benefit rather than a problem.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Lisa Wardlaw: Pioneering Digital & Personal Strategy for Growth Feb 08, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Lisa Wardlaw, a trailblazer in the insurance sector, a digital strategist, & an innovation enthusiast. She's a global leader with a knack for creating sustainable revenue streams & reinventing business strategies through technology & abstract thinking.

The pair talk about Lisa’s career in insurance & technology as well as their new programme, the “Authentic Identity Masterminds”, that they devised alongside their colleague Jessica Ewart. This programme is all about empowering professionals to craft and communicate their authentic professional narratives.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My best experiences are these moments of zen that you probably didn’t realise in the moment that they were. You feel energised. For me, it was when I was when no one confined me to a box & I didn’t care about my title. I got to sit in an amazing time of transformation, above all that, figuring out how to drive business forward using algorithms and AI, 5 years before it generative AI became a thing.
As all good ideas do, the idea for Authentic Identity Masterminds happened serendipitously. You, me & Jess were sitting around discussing the misunderstanding of the more experienced you are in your career the less guidance you need, you’ve got it all figured out. I was 45 when I had to totally reinvent myself. I felt that if you work hard & pay your dues you earn it. I’d earned my title, job & income, but in those days I was so into the work I didn’t own my own identity, the one thing that was mine & mine alone.
When my favourite role was eliminated I looked at the clock trying not to cry & it took less than 3 minutes for my phone, emails, contact – my whole work identity – had been eliminated. I went to a career coach who asked me how many followers I had on LinkedIn, & I didn’t know. I didn’t go on a wild “connect with me” session, but I started to build an authentic engagement with people who had the same interests as me.
We’re not here to tell you how to be on social media. Who you are is not you title or your role, who you are, what you show up for, your purpose & mission is something deeply intrinsic. I like to use all my experience, curiosity & conceptual ability to solve problems that other people can’t solve at scale. I’m a breaker of the status quo, my purpose is to show people that the impossible is possible.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Early on I would work 80 hours, 23 hours a day, & I’m not glamourising that, the body needs rest.’
‘I’m much more of a spoken person than a written person, which is where I came up with the Insurance Unplugged Podcast.’
‘Don’t think this can’t happen to you, it can.’
‘You don’t get to be, discover or emulate who you are & how you show up has to connect to that.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Lisa Wardlaw stands at the forefront of digital innovation in the insurance sector, wielding her expertise to forge new, sustainable revenue streams that bolster competitive advantage.

As a seasoned executive, Lisa's mission is to revolutionise business strategies through the power of technology & creative thinking.

In an era where digital interaction with customers is paramount, Lisa champions proactive engagement to drive digital customer conversion.

She believes that the financial services industry is ripe for genuine transformation, advocating for leaders with bold visions to embrace the tools of tomorrow for radical change.

Lisa's passion lies in crafting groundbreaking business strategies that defy convention, utilising emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, & machine learning to redefine business models.

Her liberal arts background fuels her commitment to lifelong learning and continuous improvement, challenging the status quo with a curious mind & innovative approach.

Authentic Identity Mastermind London

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Insight: Building an Authentic Identity in 2024 Feb 01, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks about the world of authentic personal & corporate/business branding and their synergies to drive authenticity in 2024.

In this episode, she discusses the importance of authenticity in personal branding & how it can make or break your reputation, the role of storytelling in crafting a compelling personal brand narrative, the power of emotional intelligence in shaping your personal brand & fostering meaningful connections, the impact of digital presence on your personal brand & how to manage it effectively, and the art of reinvention & how to evolve your personal brand as you grow & change.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

As businesses evolve to meet the expectations of the digital era, they look for individuals whose personal brands resonate with their ethos & market positioning. Therefore, it is essential for you to craft a personal brand that not only demonstrates your unique value but also complements the corporate branding you are aligned with. This synergy is increasingly expected by companies as they navigate the complexities of authenticity vs authentication, ensuring that the digital identities of their employees enhance their brand's integrity & public perception.
Authenticity is the currency of trust in the digital environment. In an era where digitization has penetrated every aspect of life, your genuine self is what distinguishes you in a sea of curated personas. When you prioritize authenticity, you are choosing to align your digital presence with your true values and beliefs. This alignment not only helps you navigate the digital world more effectively but also ensures that your brand resonates with your audience on a deeper level.
A Your personal brand identity needs to resonate with your professional ethos, even in a remote work environment. To do this effectively, focus on the consistency of your online interactions, messages, & visual presence across digital engagement or platforms. Essentially, the experiences you create for others in your digital communications should align with your in-person interactions. This requires a keen understanding of user experience principles to ensure that your personal brand is both approachable & authentic.
bring your networking to the 21st century by engaging through social media platforms where industry conversations are happening. Engage & post regularly to ensure your presence grows alongside your brand. Utilize networking to your advantage by joining & fostering growth ecosystems.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Your digital identity is not just a by-product of online interactions but a carefully curated persona that stands for your values, skills, & character. Authenticity in this context means being true to oneself while adapting to the digital modes of expression.’

‘In the wake of digitization & digitalization, aligning your personal brand with a corporate brand has become more intricate yet crucial.’

‘Your digital identity is now a cornerstone of personal & professional interactions.’

‘The virtual landscape heavily influences how you are perceived in both social & professional circles. So, remember to key both of those very much aligned.’

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Leandro DalleMulle: Trailblazing AI in Commercial Insurance Underwriting Jan 25, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Leandro DalleMule who brings a dynamic perspective shaped by nearly 30 years of driving growth through data and AI. As Global Head of Insurance and General Manager at Planck, Leandro spearheads the most sophisticated generative AI platform serving commercial insurers across four continents.

Through the "Scouting for Growth" podcast, Leandro will unveil his playbook for activating cross-industry partnerships and investments to future-proof success. His globetrotting career stands as a testament to the power of bridging geographic and sector divides to drive innovation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We’ve been using large language models since the beginning of the company; they just weren’t very popular because ChatGPT wasn’t around. But now we can now open the black box. It’s very addictive once you ask the chat part of it questions.
There are two major pain points we solve with technology: Efficiency is super important for underwriters as margins are very thin in any line. Accuracy is also important, how precisely are you finding the correct information rather than misleading or wrong data. The beauty of the technology is that it can work from multiple sources, bring it all together & make sense of that information.
Before I give an overview of large language models, I always ask: “How many of you have heard of ChatGTP, generative AI?” It’s about 50% in traditional carries (higher in the digital NGA space) surprisingly, or not – insurance isn’t a very innovative space. Then I ask how many have used it & the number drops to about 30%. There’s much more room to grow.
Generative AI is the future, it’s coming from all directions, not just insurance, we’ll be seeing more and more natural interaction with technology rather than it being distanced from us.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We went from being a data provider, at the very early stages years ago, to providing a risk & underwriting insights workbench with an AI co-pilot to help underwriters be more productive.’

‘For anyone that’s used ChatGPT once it’s impressive, it’s surprising the amount of investment in such a short period of time & the adoption, which surpassed the launch of any other product, ever.’

‘Once people start using AI they understand the power of it.'

‘Talk to your kids, they’ll know.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Leandro DalleMule has nearly 30 years of experience helping businesses in the retail, energy, manufacturing, telecom, and financial services industries achieve sustained increased profitability through data and analytics. Leandro is the global head of insurance for Planck, a leading artificial intelligence data platform for commercial insurers. Previously, he spent six years as the chief data officer for AIG. Prior to AIG, he worked in several senior leadership positions such as the senior director of big data analytics for Citibank and head of marketing analytics for BlackRock. He also worked in Deloitte's advanced analytics practice. Leandro holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, magna cum laude MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a graduate certificate in applied mathematics from Columbia University. He has published several articles on analytics, risk, and economics, the most recent ones for the Harvard Business Review on data strategy and analytics.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Alex Taylor: A CVC Lens on 2024 Jan 18, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alex Taylor, Global Head of Emerging Technology, QBE Ventures at QBE Insurance, who firmly believes that the next decade will expose the insurance industry to the greatest upheaval it has seen since the establishment of Lloyd's of London.

In this episode, topics discussed include: the key trends in Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) for 2024, QBE Ventures' approach to scouting for growth, the role of technology in QBE Ventures' growth strategy, & the challenges and opportunities in the insurtech space.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I've always been a technologist as far back as I can remember. And it's interesting that when you look at the context behind the applications of technology to a multitude of industries, you start to realise that it's not about the technology, it's about what we can do with the technology.
2023 has been a tough time. And talking to a lot of younger companies, it's a bit of a bloodbath out there. What we're going to see as we go into 2024 is the survivors of that time, the ones that did manage to demonstrate the value that they offer, start to see the light of day.
More & more, organisations are appearing that help us to specialise products specifically to the risk that particular organisation represents. The risk that we run here is that if we specialise & personalise too much, then we're essentially not going to be in an environment where we can cover a risk that we know with almost certainty will result in a loss. We need to balance what needs to be created between the ability to utilise data insurance lines & the need to preserve the thing that makes insurance special, which I strongly believe enables the economic environment we operate in. Without insurance, people can't take risk in any arena.
Your exposure to ransomware is directly related to an understanding of the backups that you have as an organisation. So you cannot have your access to your data removed if you have an air gap backup that you perform on an hourly basis. If you do get hit as an organisation, you can simply go back to your backup and restore it.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Technology doesn't matter unless it has an application to what you're working on, to something that's meaningful, to something that can deliver results, not just to an organization, but to the customers as well.’
‘The whole point of an insurance product is to protect against a risk that yourself can't mitigate directly. We're starting to see a partnership between the identification of a risk, an insurance product, & the resilience against that risk through remediation.’
‘There's a lot of blank space that can be exploited in looking at ways to grow products through simplification.’
‘As climate change starts to take hold, as our understanding of the historically static nature of physical risk starts to become a lot more dynamic, the value of understanding what may be is starting to become a lot more relevant.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Alex Taylor is a futurist & innovation specialist with over two decades of experience in the insurance and technology industries. As the Global Head of Emerging Technology at QBE Ventures, Alex focuses on identifying disruptors & leading investments into companies that are reshaping the insurance landscape.

QBE

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Antony Elliott: The Zurich Innovation Championship Jan 11, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Antony Elliott, Global Lead for Digital R&D at Zurich Insurance, who is pivotal in driving the exploration, exploitation, analysis, & early-stage adoption of disruptive technologies, shaping Zurich's digital transformation journey.

In this episode they talk about his role at Zurich, the company’s strategic themes for 2024, the future of InsurTech, the challenges of adopting disruptive technolgies, & his advice for young ventures looking to collaborate with Zurich or break into the InsurTech space.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I fell into the insurance industry in 1999 & I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I saw a stat that around 80% of British CEOs were cratered accountants, so I thought that seemed like a good qualification to have and applied to the Big 5 & ended up getting a job a PwC thinking I was going to be rich. But, when I got there they told me I’d be working in insurance. I realised that there were lots of things in insurance that needed fixing & could be better, which is why I ended up staying in it & what I’m still trying to do.
We’re using computer vision to monitor and assess some of the 5 million commercial buildings we insure around the world to reduce our carbon footprint. We also use it in physiotherapy to make sure people are doing it & doing it correctly to help people to be physically well either with posture & core strength, or to recover from injury quickly.
We start by identifying either the problem or the opportunity & we involve a lot of stakeholders, from the most senior down so we can see a consolidated view across the group that this will solve challenges that they care about. We then use our network to find the best startups in those spaces & that they know about out Innovation Championship to apply for it. We choose the top 10-12 and put them into a validation phase to get them to prove how it can create business value for Zurich & the startup.
I see huge potential in the Internet of Things in insurance, we haven’t quite got to the tipping point with it’s value yet. I’d like to see startups working in that space, whether it’s in commercial insurance or more personalised insurance. Taking sensor data to understand the thing we’re insuring & offer risk insights to the customer & to us as underwriters to prevent the claim happening or know about it happening soon is an area with huge potential.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I like insurance because I think it plays a really important role in society.’
‘I focus on innovation, how new technologies & ideas can create value for Zurich.’
‘I expect we’ll see generative AI native startups coming through this year which will create amazing value.’
‘Be very clear& concise on what your value proposition is and that it’s a major part of your elevator pitch. You can have the best technology in the world, but if you can’t articulate it in a short period of time it’s very difficult for people to understand that.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Antony Elliott, a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the insurance industry, currently serves as the Global Head for Digital R&D at Zurich Insurance. His role is pivotal in driving the exploration, analysis, & early-stage adoption of disruptive technologies, with a focus on their desirability, feasibility, & viability.

ZIC 2024

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

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Top Trends To Watch For In 2024 Jan 04, 2024

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL dives into her top trends to watch for in 2024. Staying ahead of the curve necessitates a keen understanding of these anticipated trends & Identifying them early will enable us all to strategically plan the year, maximise opportunities for growth & business value.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

As we approach 2024, I'm noticing specific technologies gaining traction that have the potential to revolutionize industries & create new opportunities for growth. For example, advancements in generative AI, new paradigms in cloud computing, cybersecurity in the age of AI, & sustainability tech trends, these trends are reshaping the landscape of digital innovation.
As we look towards 2024, 3 key areas stand out in the changing market dynamics: the continued growth in E-commerce, cutting-edge advancements in healthcare technology, and the significant transformations within the education sector. These areas are critical for businesses seeking expansion and better value in the approaching year.
A In 2024, the landscape of work is reshaping significantly, influenced heavily by evolving work models (hybrid & remote working and technologies), technology advancements, and the growing emphasis on employee experience. My focus here is to unpack these core aspects of Workplace Transformation.
In 2024, I recognize that to drive growth & business value, one must focus resolutely on the customer. Customer-centric strategies are key, involving enhancements in customer experience & innovative approaches to personalization in marketing.

BEST MOMENTS

‘From the integration of generative AI to the importance of customer-centric strategies, the trajectory of market dynamics promises a landscape ripe for innovation and competitive advantage.’
‘Anticipating market shifts is crucial in developing customer-centric strategies that drive value.’
‘Flexible operational models and technological advancements offer new avenues for growth.’
‘Staying current with upcoming trends enables focused strategic planning.’

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Tom Kereszti: 2024 C-Suite and Beyond Dec 28, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Tom Kereszti, a seasoned leader with a wealth of experience in starting and scaling companies. Tom has been instrumental in numerous M&A activities, helping startups structure their operations for successful exits.

He has also navigated the unique challenges of starting a company independently, as well as within large organizations. His insights will be invaluable for YOU, whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, or corporate leader.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Any individual should be able to answer these 3 questions: Who are you? What are you passionate about? What are you good at? If you have clarity on those, you can live your calling instead of having a job or a career. I’m a servant leader and I’m passionate about making companies and people better and I’m pretty good at leading and mentoring.
A series of doors open and close through your life. Any time one does you should look at it with discernment and prayer and ask: Is this an opportunity that makes sense? Is it something I should pursue, if I do, what happens in 3-4 years?
Leadership is not having a title or a corner office, leadership is your ability to influence others about what you’re representing, that perhaps you have a better idea and other people follow you. The 4 keys that help you influence other people and help them buy in to you are: Who are you? Have a great vision. Have a strategic growth plan. Who’s in your inner circle – you become who your friends are, so surround yourself with people that are uplifting, there to support you, and you should always support them, it’s not a one way street.
When you’re in a workforce you have to have relationships. We’re human beings not human doings, but a lot of us get caught up in the human doing stuff and relationships take a back seat. I made the mistake of separating work and weekend life with different sets of friends, as I went along I realised that you have to have relationships at work where you care for them and their families. It creates empathy.

BEST MOMENTS

‘When talking about work life balance, balance is a point in time where nothing moves. When you achieve perfect balance you become stagnant. I’m not sure that’s healthy.’
‘Success means different things to different folks… and if you know what that is then you can start working towards it.’
‘If I have clarity on who you are and what you stand for, I won’t necessarily follow you, but there’s a change I will because I buy in to you.’
‘A team of 10 is manageable. I always find a banker and a lawyer.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Tom Keresztiis a seasoned industry influencer, author, coach, speaker, educator, and mentor with a wealth of international experience. Tom's expertise spans across various sectors, including Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), where he has been involved in numerous activities, buying companies on behalf of larger organizations. He has also started companies for himself, providing him with a unique perspective on the differences and challenges in starting a company independently versus within a larger organization.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaskereszti/

https://www.leadershipdisciples.com/culture-force

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Ari Katz: Shaping BEA Ventures Dec 21, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ari Katz, Managing Partner at BEA Ventures and Co-Founder of bolt, now known as bolttech, which metamorphosed into the powerhouse bolttech.

On this episode they discuss strategic vision and market positioning, startup acceleration and value creation, data and technology, future outlook and collaborations, and much more.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The unique angles that we provide include identifying the companies that we want to look at and validating the market acceptance of their idea/solution. We have hundreds of customers/prospects/partners that we can tap into to see if it’s of interest to them and help take it to the next step.
Areas we’ve seen that have a lot of action or potential is the creation of data and insights and how we can imbed that into our offerings. Another is personal cyber, we are very big in device protection and distribution in 35 countries around the globe, there are similarities between device and cyber protection and awareness of cyber is getting more and more.
There are cases where people don’t want to buy data because they’ve been offered data so many times, they paid for it but didn’t see any returns for 1000s of reasons. There can be cases where you can offer it as a profit share rather than as a service, change the things that you offer even though the product is the same.
Insurance is a data business and has been gathering/analysing/learning from data forever. A successful company is one that is managing to leverage their data and doing proper underwriting, pricing, etc. What we are seeing are all kinds of data companies of all sizes that are not necessarily adapting to new changes and capabilities. We bring all data capabilities into one place where we can enable to carriers on our platform who we work with to leverage the ones they need or want.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Typically, young companies need more fundraising (Seed A) and more handholding to improve. This is where our thought of creating an external VC came into play.’
‘It’s rare to see a company that hits the right product market feed from the start.’
‘We want to help companies to avoid making the same mistakes we did when we were starting out.’
‘In Asia there are bigger ecosystems that insurance is part of which is not the case in Europe and the US, big brands have distribution and sell insurance as part of it. I think this will be an area of growth in 2024 in Europe and the US.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ari Katz is a seasoned entrepreneur with 30 years of experience founding and managing software companies with several successful exists. His track record includes over 20 years of creating pioneering insurance solutions revolutionizing the insurance landscape, solutions designed to meet consumer demands whilst offering a competitive advantage and sustainable commercial growth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-katz-537737/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Franklin Manchester: Essential Strategies to Protect Your Data in 2024 Dec 14, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Franklin Manchester, Global Insurance Strategic Advisor at SAS, who, empowers and inspires insurers in 75 countries, including 90% of the Fortune 500 insurers, to make data-driven decisions.

On this episode they discuss insurance trends for 2024, the role of technology, particularly generative AI, in shaping the future of the insurance industry, and how to navigate the talent gap.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I see the enormous potential for SAS and other technology providers, curators of AI, to remake, reimagine, reinvent the insurance industry. Insurance exists because a loss happens and indemnification is that promise. I believe there is a different promise: Prevention, pivoting from indemnification to a value proposition where we can help you before the loss occurs, and that will change the world.
Even though I work at a technology corporation, I’m an insurance underwriter. When you’re going through your knowledge building phase to become an underwriter, you realise that the art of what we do is more important than the science. That starts with curiosity, asking the question and imagining the possibilities. You can’t be an underwriter if you’re not curious about the things that matter most.
I get to have a lot of conversations with people in the global insurance industry about things that are going on. For example, what telematics can do to prevent incidents of distracted driving. The assumption is that teenage and inexperienced drivers are most likely to get distracted while driving, but the vast majority of those of us who need help with distracted drivers are not teenagers. One company experienced a 10% reduction in distracted driving when they recommended silencing your phone while driving for ‘x’ reasons. That’s a result, and an enriching discovery.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I got my start in insurance because I was in a car accident… I found the process incredibly interesting’
‘I believe in the promise that the industry provides; we come at the moment when people need us the most.’
‘The journey is more important than the destination.’
‘I feel like I’m an explorer and every day is a new discovery.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Franklin Manchester is a dynamic and passionate leader in the insurance industry, currently serving as the Global Insurance Strategic Advisor at SAS. Known as an "Insurance Super Nerd," Franklin leads the Market Strategy and Engagement for Insurance within the Global Financial Services Industry Marketing team at SAS.

Franklin holds a BS in Finance and Banking, Risk and Insurance, and a BA in French. His journey in the insurance industry spans nearly two decades, including a significant tenure at Nationwide.

Franklin is not just an insurance expert but also a thought leader, regularly sharing his insights on industry trends and early career tips. He has been a guest speaker at various industry events, including the Gamma Iota Sigma Rho's Fall Speaker Series.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklin-manchester-cpcu-52910321/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

George Morris: Scaling Up Ventures Dec 07, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to George Morris, a lifelong entrepreneur and business coach who has not only weathered the storms of the entrepreneurial journey but has emerged as a guiding light for others on their path to success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My biggest mistake was abdicating responsibility when I should have delegated responsibility. Towards the later stage of one of my companies I was going through a divorce. I thought that everything was good & didn’t see myself as integral in the company anymore, so I turned everything over to my business development lead & the team while I checked out to deal with my personal problems. About 18 months later I didn’t know what decisions had been made & what direction the company had gone. I couldn’t blame them, I was accountable. I should have taken the time to delegate and clarify all the things that needed to be done and check in on people.
If I come across an owner or CEO that’s frustrated or overwhelmed, I have them create 3 columns: Love, Loathe, Indifferent. I get them to write down everything about their business into these columns and get them to focus on the ‘indifferent column to figure out how committed they are to do these things to help the organisation and get them to get help for the things they aren’t committed to so they get done.
Startups tend to want to look for unicorns, the person who is an expert in a particular skillset, hiring for talent rather than fit – the ability to trust or even have conflict with each other. All these talented individuals butt heads, don’t see eye-to-eye, aren’t committed to the same outcomes. For me it’s a bout the team, getting the right people in the right seats and getting things right. This is the first things companies should do.
I am equally as excited about AI as I am terrified of it. It’s going to impact every single job in the next few years. To what degree, I don’t really know, but if we can get to a point of AGI (artificial general intelligence) that will be game-changing because it will be very human-like. It’s tool that we need to incorporate, bring into our skillset and adapt to it but right now we can’t quite see where it’s going to go, in terms of strategy & how it’s going to impact our companies. But, it would be remiss of us to ignore it.

BEST MOMENTS
‘I go into companies and give them a framework to work with that they adapt & make their own & we build it from there so that they have a system that they can run on.’
‘Richard Branson is very good at figuring out what he’s great at, delegating everything else & letting people do what they can go do, he doesn’t seem like a micro-managing leader.’
‘Make sure you’re developing the rich culture in your team & getting the right ethos in your culture.’
‘I use AI to help teams accelerate different elements within their companies.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
George Morris is a lifelong entrepreneur and business coach, known for his unwavering commitment to helping individuals and organizations reach their full potential. As a single father of two, he embodies the values of dedication and perseverance both in his personal and professional life.

https://gmorris.com/connect/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Kamran Hedjri: Revolutionizing Commoditized Payment Processing Nov 30, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Kamran Hedjri, CEO, Chairman, Advisory board member, Entrepreneur in FinTech and Payments at PXP Financial.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started my journey in payments in 1994, I never wanted to be in this industry, it was just something that happened. I was working in IT and programming, was in a couple of startups at the start of ecommerce. There was a lot of new and cool technology being developed and it was the best 5-6 years of my career for learning.
AI is being used to automate processes and get a better, smoother, & more intelligent way of dealing with finance activities including customer service, onboarding, KYC & all those processes to get to a point where you can assess a customer.
It took us a few years to get a unified way of approaching and understanding different sectors. There are differences between the verticals and the approached that we need to apply & we should not try to unify too much, you need to have the specifics for each sector & add your special nuances for all of those sectors in the language those sectors understand.
Don’t be afraid of failing. Fail a lot and early and try to learn from them quickly & work harder.

BEST MOMENTS
‘One of the good things about open banking & finance is that the APIs are getting more & more slim-lined.’
‘Intelligence should be in front of you making things more intuitive & less complicated & burdensome.’
‘The journey’s always ongoing, you’re always learning, building new technology & adapting it.’
‘It’s our job to simplify complexity in a way that can be used in an easy & cost-efficient way.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
CEO, Chairman, Advisory board member, Entrepreneur in FinTech and Payments. Kamran has 20+ years of experience in holding C-level roles in the fintech & payments industry. He has built companies across the payment value chain in Europe, North and South America and is currently on the board of PXP Financial Group and C2D Payment Solution. He has always been focused on driving innovation, accelerating growth, and building a great customer experience.

LinkedIn
https://www.pxpfinancial.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Monica Eaton: Resilient Strategies & Ethical Leadership Nov 23, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Monica Eaton who embodies resilience and strategic foresight.

This conversation covers: origin stories and multifaceted skills, tackling ecommerce pitfalls, business strategies and ethical practices, and predicting the future and human capital.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Part of being an entrepreneur is deciding of who you want to be and who you want to affect, and it becomes a journey of constant trial and error, but the dots never connect in the way you anticipate. My vision with Chargebacks911 was to be the next eBay and I failed my way to success in international business.
I became an expert at chargebacks not because I loved it but because it was unavoidable. I started getting calls from the merchant providers that we did business with, even the ones that closed down my account because I had too many chargebacks. They asked me to give advice on the challenges they were having. So, I set up a website as a consultant.
I’m believe in exposing people from all walks of life to technology if they like it or not. I had no interest in computer programming at school. But one of the high schools I attended didn’t have arty subjects to enroll in, so I was forced into 2 computer programming courses, I found I had an aptitude for it and I fell in love with it.
Any problem you’re solving in business is a combination of reorganising what currently is, creating an environment where you look outside the box, and figuring out the formula for success.

BEST MOMENTS
‘It was either lose my business or figure out what the source of the problem was and solve it.’
‘It feels good to be on the other side and rant at someone about the problems you’re having, but it feels even better to actually help someone.’
‘Solving problems is a form of art, it’s creative.’
‘With technology the impossible is possible, it just takes a little bit longer.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Monica Eaton, a successful entrepreneur since her teenage years, exited her first business before turning 20. This marked the beginning of a multifaceted career, and she is now a key leader in transformative business initiatives. In 2011, she founded Chargebacks911 to address a market gap, evolving it into a high-impact solution for online merchants. Today, Chargebacks911 is an industry frontrunner, known for delivering accountable outcomes. Monica also launched Fi911, providing tech-centric solutions for chargebacks and merchant lifecycle management, aligning with her vision for a seamless and scalable payments industry.

https://monicaec.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Terence Bennett: Cracking The Cybersecurity Code Nov 16, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Terence Bennett, CEO of DreamFactory Software, brings with him a decade's worth of insights into cybersecurity, adversarial simulations, and API advancements. He's a veteran, both in serving his country and in protecting digital domains.

Today, we're delving deep into Terence's illustrious career, the current cyber threat landscape, and the role of emerging technologies in shaping our digital future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

If you spend enough time with computers I think you just figure out there’s a whole other world in this application of computing and technology.
I spent a lot of time in hacking forums online in the early 2000s, through that I got into early web development and learning the different ways to use the internet in ways it wasn’t intended.
10 years later I came back around to cybersecurity as a professional.

BEST MOMENTS
‘RedTeaming is about simulating an adversary as they go about the process of trying to get into a network, computer, or facility.’
‘As cybersecurity, as a field, has matured you’ll find very specific signatures to different kinds of attackers in the way the actually go about doing that.’
‘The challenges are, first and foremost, having enough people with the right skills to actually build APIs. Public facing APIs account for 14% of the total number of APIs that teams are buildings, and in some cases they account for 50-75% of a company’s revenue.’
‘Ransomware attacks are the 800lb gorilla in the room when it comes to threats… as we see organisations accelerating through digitisation/monetisation strategies, they’re connecting more and more data and systems that used to be offline and you can’t avoid that.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Terence Bennett is the CEO of DreamFactory Software, a leader in API code automation based in Northern California. He has over 10 years of experience in cybersecurity, REST APIs, operations, and leadership. Previously, Bennett was the COO of Integrate.io and a member of Google's offensive security "RedTeam".

At Google, he helped craft realistic cybersecurity exercises to test the company's defences. He has deep expertise in cybersecurity, penetration testing, and adversarial simulation. Bennett served in the U.S. Navy for over 8 years as a Naval Intelligence Officer and Surface Warfare Officer.

He was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and worked at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master's degree from the U.S. Naval War College.

Bennett is passionate about giving back through public service. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross - Northern California Coastal Region and the Board of Advisors for Shields & Stripes, assisting veterans with PTSD. As a leader in API automation, Bennett frequently speaks on how code automation is changing software development. He aims to simplify complex integration challenges and help companies go to market faster.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/terencehbennett/
https://www.dreamfactory.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Roi Agababa: Novidea, The Platform For The Insurance Distributor Nov 09, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Roi Agababa, CEO of Novidea. From brokers and agents to MGAs and corporate risk management operations. Novidea is setting new standards in how insurance professionals leverage technology for growth, efficiency, and compliance.

On this episode the pair dig deep into the workings of Novidea's platform to look at how it navigates the maze of challenges that insurance professionals encounter daily, what role does plays in enhancing the distribution journey and the customer experience, and how it adapts to various levels of digital readiness while ensuring data security and compliance.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started my path in technology in software development, mostly around data and metadata analysis. When we started Novidea we looked for an industry which is flooded with data and has data technology requirements and gap. This is how we came up with the idea to focus on insurance and insurance distribution market specifically.
We have one platform that can serve multiple geographies, compliance and regulations to offer insurance companies that operate globally one consistent technology stack rather than a fragmented one.
Novidea is a platform that covers everything in one technology stack. What we offer to our customers to increase operational efficiencies is around automation and business process management across all 3 pillars in one streamlined process.
There are layers and protocols that Novidea has implemented for data segregation between multiple legal entities that use the platform. We have all the governance and controls in place to safeguard that information.

BEST MOMENTS
‘We have a data driven approach: Everything in our platform allows us to measure and improve, we offer our customers the ability, in real time, to get a hold of and understand the data and transforming that into knowledge.’
‘Our platform is futureproof; it’s updated and upgraded continuously.’
‘No longer do you have to go to a data warehouse to get an understanding of what’s happening and the trends, you’re getting access to information in real time so you’re making better and more educated decisions.’
‘We see Novidea as the core platform to manage the entire insurance journey, from the prospect all the way to the renewal and all the financial transactions.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Insurance technology entrepreneur Roi Agababa is the founder and CEO of Novidea, a provider of data-driven and SaaS technologies and best practices to insurance distribution professionals and their customers. The company serves global brokerages, agencies, bancassurance and corporate risk managment operations servicing more than 10M policies worldwide.

Roi Agababa: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roi-agababa-28900712/
Novidea: https://novidea.com/
Get in touch with the team: https://novidea.com/book-a-meeting/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

John Rossman: Building Leadership Skills The Amazon Way Nov 02, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine talks to John Rossman, a pioneering force in the digital era and the mastermind behind Amazon's Marketplace. His time at Amazon has deeply ingrained in him a unique set of leadership principles that he now shares with the world through his best-selling book, "The Amazon Way”. John's mission is to empower others to make their own 'big bets' and achieve lasting impact in their respective fields. His work is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to understand and navigate the complexities of the digital era. So, get ready for an engaging conversation as we dive deep into the world of 'big bets,' digital transformation, and leadership the Amazon way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
I’m an engineer, a problem solver, and that’s what I love to do with my businesses, my clients, with leaders.
I was an early leader at Amazon (2002-5) where I led the launch of the Amazon Marketplace business. When I left there I started working with clients on strategy, problem-solving, digital capabilities and models.
I’ve now written 4 books about how to insert Amazon thinking into your business to compete and win in the digital era.
There are 16 leadership principles at Amazon that really make a difference: The first is Customer obsession – leaders start with the customer and work backwards, they work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust.
If we’re truly going to solve hard problems, innovate, be agile, test things out, we have to be able to push against and persecute ideas early.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Sometimes the idea is just not quite the right idea, and so you learn, adjust, and move forward.’
‘The Amazon Way translates Amazon's unique culture and management practices into insights and opportunities.’
‘Amazon believes in internal competition. It's very Darwinian.’
‘Simplifying processes, procedures, requirements, jobs, technology, projects, everything is super hard work and it’s super critical if you want to scale. Delete, delete, delete is the mantra I impose with clients to take away the calcification of things that build up.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
John Rossman is a renowned thought leader and expert in digital strategy, known for an audacious decision-making style that he refers to as 'big bets.' His approach has been instrumental in shaping the careers of industry titans like Jeff Bezos and Satya Nadella. John's expertise stems from his time as an executive at Amazon, where he was instrumental in launching the marketplace business model. John is a prolific author. His book, "The Amazon Way," is a deep dive into leadership principles which drive Amazon's success. He is a sought-after consultant, helping businesses transform strategies to thrive in the digital age. He is a popular keynote speaker, sharing insights with audiences worldwide. John's mission is to empower others to make their own 'big bets' and achieve lasting impact in their fields. His upcoming book, "Big Bet Leadership," will be available for free on Kindle. John is a catalyst for change, inspiring others to make audacious decisions and come out winners in the hyper-digital era.

LinkedIN
https://johnrossman.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Alex Shevelenko: Elevating Digital Document Experiences Oct 25, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alex Shevelenko, the CEO and Co-Founder of Relayto, brings to the table a compelling narrative of how transforming mundane PDFs and presentations into interactive web experiences is not just an upgrade but a necessity.

Today we will weave through Alex's entrepreneurial voyage, his insights on leadership, the genesis and trajectory of Relayto, and a gaze into the future of digital content experiences. Alex’s perspectives to our dialogue will bring both foresight and actionable intelligence on harnessing interactive content management platforms like Relayto. We unmask the potential of interactive AI-led content management platforms in reshaping enterprise communication and how leaders can leverage this technology to foster better engagement within a world of digitalization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

At my first job, an internship at Microsoft Office in 1997, I discovered the pdf was taking over PowerPoint and Word as the main medium which the customer wanted.
The medium we’re advocating is a consumer-centric medium. They start with the end-recipient in mind and, in the process to make that process a vision we tend to use AI and no-code software.
The more valuable the idea for progression, the worse it’s communicated. The more trivial ideas have a ton of click-bait-y ads that try to get you to buy stuff that you don’t need and solve problems you don’t really have.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Entrepreneurship tends to call on you.’

‘Fundamentally it’s about the consumer of your content… what do they want to do? Increasingly they want a conversation rather than be pummelled with information, they want to be engaged and make the interaction their own.’

‘It’s a privilege and a joy to work on something you really believe in.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Alex Shevelenko is the CEO and Co-Founder of Relayto, a document experience platform that turns conventional PDFs and presentations into interactive web experiences.

With over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Alex has worn many hats across global organizations like Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP SuccessFactors, and Oliver Wyman consulting. His career reflects his passion for innovation and his innate ability to lead and inspire teams.

Alex holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School. As a serial entrepreneur, Alex founded the management consulting firm Glocal Partners, where he advised international companies on growth strategies and innovation.

This experience laid the foundation for his current venture, Relayto. Since co-founding Relayto in 2017, Alex has rapidly grown the company. Relayto has raised $500K in funding to date and hit $1.6M in revenue in 2022. Under Alex's leadership, Relayto transforms how enterprises communicate and engage with digital documents.

When he's not building Relayto, Alex is an avid reader and movie buff. He also loves to travel the world, having been to over 29 countries across 6 continents. Alex brings a unique blend of leadership, innovation, and global perspective.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shevelenko/

https://relayto.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.co

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Pravina Ladva: The Economics of Digitalization Oct 19, 2023

Sabine VdL talks to Pravina Ladva, Group Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Swiss Re. Pravina’s career reads like a playbook for digital transformation and has answers that could redefine the way we look at insurance economics.

This conversation is not just timely, it’s urgently needed in a world where data is the new oil and AI is the new electricity. Pravina tells us about why Swiss Re is taking the lead with its groundbreaking Sigma Research Report from the Swiss Re Institute, what are we – as an industry – standing to gain or lose, uncovering the blueprints for the future of insurance, digital risk, and how technology could either be the ladder or the snake in this high-stakes game of digital transformation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Today you can’t turn a corner without talking about AI, tech and data. This means there’s a huge amount of opportunity that’s been untapped. There are a whole load of new business models that we haven’t even dreamed of yet.
Digitisation is taking the analogue world and putting it into a digital system so that it can be transmitted around the world both in terms of data and conversation in a digital context as opposed to a paper context. Digitalisation is how you take that information and apply it to your business processes.
Many organisations deal with some kind of legacy technology, you need to be aware of you digital environment and work within that as well as what are the opportunities to change it and where some of it is OK, because not all legacy is bad.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you type digitisation and digitalisation the come up together on autocorrect, it shows we really have a mixed view on what they both are and mean.’
‘Every one of my peers that I speak to are all facing the same challenge: There is a war for talent because we all want the same kind of people to come and do similar kinds of things.’
‘No organisation on its own can achieve what it wants to achieve, you need to be very open minded about who you’re partnering with, whether that’s InsurTechs, large global service providers, whoever it is in the end-to-end ecosystem to really bring the value in the right way.’
‘It’s not about your core technology, it’s about what you do with it and how you operate it that makes a difference.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Pravina Ladva started her career at Abbey National/Santander, gaining experience in the financial technology sector, with responsibility for various areas from strategy to delivery and financial results. She joined Barclaycard in 2008 and held various roles including COO Digital Marketplace and CIO Barclaycard Business Solutions. During this time, she led B2B and B2B2C technology and change teams, as well as the build and launch of a digital marketplace platform in the UK.

Pravina Ladva joined Swiss Re in 2017 as Chief Technology and Operations Officer for iptiQ, Swiss Re's digital white-label provider of property & casualty and life & health insurance, and in July 2020 assumed the role of Swiss Re Group Digital Transformation Officer. Pravina Ladva was appointed Group Chief Digital & Technology Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee as of 1January 2022.

https://www.swissre.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Jonathan Green: Using Chat GTP For Profit Oct 12, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jonathan Green, an AI maven and the mastermind behind ChatGPT Profits. Jonathan Green's story is one of radical transformation, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. From once being fired during a blizzard to becoming a bestselling author with over 300 books under his belt, Jonathan has not only recovered but soared to new heights.

In this episode, we'll delve deep into the world of AI and business acceleration. Jonathan will share insights on how to leverage ChatGPT for immediate revenue generation, the role of AI in building mailing lists, and how ChatGPT enables a remote island lifestyle, while running a thriving online business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

There are a couple of reasons to start your own business; financial freedom, decision-making freedom, and locational freedom.
When we were kids using a calculator in math class was cheating, since then calculators have become mandatory. How long before AI becomes mandatory?
If you give a computer bad data you’re going to get a bad result. If we say “Chat GPT do this…”, the AI will obey you precisely, even if given a bad command. Instead, ask the AI what information it needs you to provide, based on your end goal.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Whenever I meet someone who’s travelled I can always tell because they have a stronger sense of self, ego, more self-confidence, they’ve been in tough situations and survived it. There’s a lot of growth that comes from meeting people from different cultures and having different experiences.’
‘Most people who wait to learn to use AI are going to go out of business, people who learn to use Chat GPT are 40% more efficient. That’s a huge differential, an insurmountable edge.’
‘The more tasks that I can push down to my AI tools, the more I can accomplish every day.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Jonathan Green is no stranger to radical transformations. Once fired during a blizzard, he didn't just recover; he soared. Now, he's the bestselling author of over 300 books and the maestro behind ChatGPT Profits. From his serene island base in the South Pacific, Jonathan masterminds AI-driven solutions through platforms like MidJourney, Claude, and Leonardo.ai. With a robust mailing list of 100k+ subscribers and a podcast showcasing 250+ episodes, he’s an indisputable authority in leveraging AI to catapult online businesses into success stories.

His initiatives, AI Freedom and Fractional AIO, are not mere training programs but transformative experiences, designed to generate quick revenue for startups and optimize businesses. No, you won’t find a 9-5 mindset here. Jonathan teaches you to replace that limitation with scalable, high-ticket offers, and automated revenue streams.

Passionate about democratizing AI, Jonathan also uses his expertise as a celebrity ghost-writer to guide entrepreneurs in storytelling that not only sells but turns them into industry heroes. He’s not just in the business of building revenue. He's in the business of building legacies.

For Jonathan, it’s more than just business—it’s a revolution. A revolution you can join to change your life, exponentially.

Links:

ChatGPT Profits

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Dr Andrée Bates: The World of AI in Healthcare Oct 05, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dr Andrée Bates, neuroscientist and founder of Eularis, an AI-centric company that serves as a catalyst for innovation in healthcare.

The pair delve into the pivot points that drive innovation, the ethical implications of widespread AI adoption, and the tangible ways in which artificial intelligence is reshaping healthcare as we know it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Eularis was created to look at mathematics on commercial activities within pharmaceuticals.
Generative AI takes elements of real data, looks at the database which it’s been trained on, makes new connections and generates something new.
We’re going to have to get to a point where we have some kind of digital certificate in our voice, our video, images, that authenticates whether it’s actually us or not, almost like a digital fingerprint

BEST MOMENTS
‘AI is a broad term, there are so many different types of techniques which are classified as artificial intelligence and under each one there are different types.’
‘We can use AI to repurpose existing drugs – and this happened with Covid.’
‘I’ve recently come across AI that is predicting with very high accuracy whether a drug will be successful or not in the long term. That’s set to revolutionise the industry.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr Andrée Bates stands at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. A seasoned neuroscientist and a disruptive tech innovator, she has trailblazed the healthcare industry since the early '90s. Dr Bates founded Eularis, a vanguard firm leveraging AI to address healthcare's most pressing challenges, back in 2003. Under her leadership, Eularis has catalysed growth for all the top 50 pharmaceutical giants, driving profits and expanding market share through AI-empowered projects in clinical trials, R&D, and medical affairs.

After launching her career in academia, Dr. Bates made a seamless transition into the corporate sphere, where she continued her legacy of firsts. She is credited with establishing the world's first digital health company in the 1990s, followed by the pioneering of commercial AI applications in healthcare. This entrepreneurial spirit has positioned her as a go-to advisor for an impressive roster of healthcare CEOs.

Her influence extends to academia and industry circles alike. Dr. Bates is a sought-after guest lecturer in prestigious MBA programs including INSEAD Business School and Fordham University, where she instils the next generation with a nuanced understanding of healthcare innovation and AI. A prolific author, her works have graced peer-reviewed journals and industry reports. Her international speaking engagements span continents, ranging from Europe and North America to Asia.

Never one to limit her impact, Dr Bates actively champions female entrepreneurs worldwide. She serves as a mentor through Thrive Mentoring, contributes to the programming committee of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), and is a founding member of Chief, a network designed for women leaders.

Find out about Dr. Andrée Bates and Eularis

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andree-bates/

https://eularis.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Emily Tsitrian: Bossing Up or Disrupting Fintech and Millennial Management Sep 27, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Emily Tsitrian, Fintech powerhouse, seasoned leader, and the author of 'Make Me The Boss,' a transformative guide and toolkit for millennial managers navigating the new complexities of leadership in our current social climate. A world defined by Covid, #BLM, and #MeToo.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I think a lot of people in my generation have had an experience where, in your early 20s, you're interested in doing big political/social things, however the way to actually change things is to work in technology. Overnight you can make an app and see how thousands, millions of people change how they work, live and exist due to technology.
Payments technology has largely been considered to be a commodity, because almost every business needs to accept payments. In the past 10-15 years the payments layer of the entire Fintech stack, from payments to accounting, to accounts receivable, to reconciliation, to tax ultimately has now become more of a strategy rather than something that is an afterthought.
The dynamic in the American workplace has shifted quite a bit and has changed how we work. Do I want to be doing 9-5 work if there’s things like climate change and social upheaval that feel more real and present to me?
The worst thing that can happen is that you fail. Failing at a company is not a big deal, it’s OK if it doesn't work.

BEST MOMENTS
‘At a fundamental level it’s all about risk, and managing risk. I think there’s going to be a lot of crossover over the next decade or so.’
‘What you set up in the early days can become very entangled with your downstream systems and it can be hard to disentangle as you scale, it’s something you want to put a little bit of thought and strategy into as you’re starting out on your entrepreneurial journey.’
‘If somebody had told me I was going to be an entrepreneur I would have laughed, even a year ago. I always loved working in really big companies doing really big things. And rubbing shoulders with VPs and executives and very much saw myself climbing that corporate ladder. It’s funny how life works.’
‘I never want to be laid off again ever, and the only way to truly ensure that is to become an entrepreneur.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
In a Fintech universe often viewed through the traditional lens, Emily Tsitrian is the game-changing asterisk. A seasoned leader with over seven years in tech management, Emily has captained teams across diverse terrains—from established public companies to explosive unicorn start-ups, including almost two years with the Fintech behemoth Stripe.
As the co-founder of Yeeld, a consulting firm specializing in payment implementations, she's not just navigating the complex fintech landscape; she's helping redraw the map. But her expertise isn't confined to fintech. She's a professional services manager who doesn’t just manage, but leads—guiding teams with strategic insights that go beyond spreadsheets and quarterly reports.

Discover Emily
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilytsitrian/
https://theyeeld.com/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Make-Boss-Surviving-Millennial-Corporate/dp/0578971836

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Mark Fidelman: Tokenizing Industries Sep 20, 2023

On this episode, Sabine VdL talks to Mark Fidelman, founder of SmartBlocks.Agency, and a globally recognised thought leader with over two decades of tech-fuelled wisdom.
Whether you’re a CEO pondering your next strategic move, a CTO looking to harness emerging technologies, or a CDO keen on transformative solutions, buckle up! We’re about to deep-dive into a world where the token is mightier than the sword.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It's always more fun to join up and coming companies before big businesses come in and take over, but I quickly realised I wasn't building anything by doing this.
The crypto I tend to focus on is the tokenisation/fractionalisation of assets where you break up real estate or something really valuable and you allow the democratisation of that asset to anyone that wants to invest in it.
Tokenisation is much safer than crypto. There’s no such thing as ‘hacked wallets’ because everything’s white listed, it’s attached to you, so if somebody steals those tokens out of your wallet you can go back to the issuer and say “cancel those and reissue mine”, you can’t do that with crypto.
To me crypto is Monopoly money, what I’m doing is real, with real money.

If you were to invest £1,000 every single month in one of the projects that are paying 10-15%, in 10 years you’d have a £30,000 per month income for life – some of that is because the real estate was sold, but on average it works out this way.

BEST MOMENTS
‘For young entrepreneurs the top 5 areas are AI, engineering (like SpaceX), cryptocurrency (find a niche), Ecommerce, and tools and technologies (SaaS-based products that solve a really nuanced problem that no one else is solving).’
‘I chose tokens when I fractionalise businesses because it’s a lot easier to set up, then you have a blockchain that does all the management, you’re not working with the stock exchange or have expensive systems in place.’
‘It’s the future, if you look at Black Rock, Bank of America, Citi, they’re all saying the same thing: everything’s going to be fractionalised. They’ve already tokenised billions of dollars of bands because you can then trade that anywhere in the world, you’re not subject to local laws.’
‘95% of crypto is just a scam, they’re worthless, they’re not backed by anything, they’re just a big ponzi scheme. Though there are 5% that will change the future, we just need to better educate people on what’s what.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
As the founder of SmartBlocks.Agency, Mark Fidelman is a pivotal player in crypto and ecommerce with a career spanning two decades. He's not just a veteran; he’s an industry influencer—endorsed by Forbes and celebrated as a Top 50 Social CEO by Huffington Post.
Mark is a growth catalyst, having spearheaded initiatives for NFT trailblazers like WAX.io. His credentials go beyond mere business acumen; he's a respected keynote speaker, a Forbes contributor, and the mastermind behind the YouTube channel, Cryptonized!, where he dissects the hottest trends in crypto.

You can discover what Mark’s about further below:
http://twitter.com/#!/markfidelman
https://www.cryptonized.substack.com/
https://www.smartblocks.agency/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidelman/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Jerry Fetta: Building Personal Wealth Sep 13, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jerry Fetta, who is on a mission to demystify wealth management, making it accessible and relatable for everyone. As the brains behind Wealth DynamX, Jerry's fingerprints are on numerous success stories across the US, helping countless individuals lay the foundation for solid financial futures.
Beyond his role as a financial expert, Jerry has penned three books. In the latest he lays bare the trials and tribulations he faced, both personally and professionally and how he overcame these, showcasing a resilience that's nothing short of inspiring.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I grew up with a lower income experience, my parents didn’t have a lot of money. When I was 8 years old my parents got divorced, we lost our house, the car got repo’d and both my parents became homeless. I didn’t have a lot of examples of people succeeding with money or as entrepreneurs.
Sometimes, there’s an advantage to growing up without money. It instilled in me hard work and as an entrepreneur I’m a lot more comfortable with risk because I’ve come from a place where I’ve had nothing and am not afraid to go back there if Ineed be.
As a culture, we believe that if we go to school to get the grades, college to get the degree, get the job, then we save up for retirement, try to pay off the house and build up a nest-egg, then at 60-65 years old we can finally enjoy what we’ve put together. My Mom was my first client and we did all that and at 60 she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she passed away 6 months later. As a son it was a shocker, but as a financial professional I saw the plan unravel and I didn’t want to have that client experience again or experience personally, I want to enjoy life now.
As CEO, my day-to-day is a lot of observing, I shadow my staff members and I'm present on their calls and meetings. I do several hours a day of reading and studying business and administration and how to be a better business executive.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Wealth DynamX helps families, individuals and entrepreneurs in North America achieve greater financial education, stability and freedom in the future.’
‘I became a bodybuilder and thought I’d do that forever, but I started to get into the financial industry at 18, got all my licences and the rest has been a natural progression of evolving and growing and putting my vision into reality over the last 11 years.’
‘School is necessary, we need to learn the basics, but I think it does a really poor job on two things and is an area where we can simply improve is telling people the purpose of school. It’s a very long period of our lives where we don’t really know why we’re there.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Jerry Fetta is a beacon in the world of finance, with a mission to simplify the complexities of wealth management and make it relatable to all. As the visionary Founder and CEO of Wealth DynamX, Jerry has dedicated his career to assisting numerous clients across the U.S. in building a solid financial foundation. Jerry's unique approach, rooted in authenticity and applicability, has set him apart in the industry.
Get access to Jerry's free book "The Blueprint to Financial Freedom."
https://jerryfetta.com/b2fpromo

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Megan Bingham-Walker: Why Embedded Goods-in-Transit Insurance Sep 06, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Megan Bingham-Walker, Co-founder and CEO of Anansi, a cutting-edge company on a mission to revolutionise the goods-in-transit insurance industry.
Today, we will dive deep into Megan's journey as an entrepreneur, her vision for the future of goods-in-transit insurance, and the unique approaches and strategies that have propelled Anansi to success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I spent a few years working with the Government, 5 years in venture capital specialising in CleanTech investing in early-stage startups.
I really wanted to found a business in the area of machine learning and data and how you could solve problems using them.
At Anansi we built a platform to essentially automate the process for goods-in-transit insurance.
The problem retailers face at the moment is that they may not even know when an item is lost or damaged until a customer tells them, so even having an early identification of that is a big step up.
Insurance is about information, essentially we are an information industry. The new aspect of what we’re doing is bringing this transactional data so that we have a very quick turnaround of 60 days max between when an item is shipped and when we process the claim, and the contract is completed.

BEST MOMENTS
‘The biggest problem we’re solving for the retailers is admin.’
"We've all experienced something going missing or getting damaged-in-transit, it’s the number 1 cause of customer complaints and never purchasing again. Having a bad purchase experience is a real decision point for consumers.’
‘Anansi is a West-African folklore character – I have some family connections to West-Africa and the Caribbean – it’s a spider character which is the keeper of knowledge.’
‘What’s exciting about the insurance industry is that there is so much opportunity for innovation and there are still so many areas where you can bring new data and processes, particularly on the claims side, to improve things that I think it’s a very rewarding industry to be part of.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Megan is an award-winning entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Anansi – a company on a mission to make goods-in-transit insurance faster, fairer and more flexible for retailers who thrive on bringing innovative new technologies to market.
She is also an Ambassador of the charity Pump Aid which is empowering communities, transforming lives, with a mission to end water poverty in Malawi by 2030. In her spare time, she loves weightlifting, formula one, dancing, hiking, and skiing.

About Anansi:
Goods-in-transit insurance platform Anansi creates tailored, embedded, and low-admin insurance products for retailers, logistics providers, and marketplaces. Its open API and web app solution digitises manual processes, including claims, with parametric claim triggers automating repetitive processes. Its integrated platform uses Open Banking to allow customers to pay for cover and receive claims payments directly and instantaneously into their accounts. It is the only automated solution in a $33 billion market to offer data-powered signup, parametrically triggered claims and pay-outs when a parcel is lost or delayed, and a simple damage submission process.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Jacqueline Legrand: The Pioneer of Weather Insurance Aug 30, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jacqueline Legrand, a name that resonates with transformative leadership in the global insurance industry. From orchestrating the radical transformation of Brokerslink to co-founding Maptycs, an InsurTech firm that is redefining how we perceive weather risk analysis and risk exposures, Jacqueline's legacy is nothing short of extraordinary.
With her finger firmly on the pulse of digital transformation, she advocates for a harmonious marriage between technology and insurance. We're about to delve into a narrative beaming with transformative milestones, insights into the potential of geospatial analytics, and the challenges and triumphs of revolutionising an industry full of tradition.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started my career in corporate with IBM, after 8 years I moved to insurance, fell in love and spent a big chunk of my career as a broker working with complex property programmes, which is where the idea for Maptycs (mapping and analytics) was born.
I really believe that independent broker networks have a very compelling proposition today in the global brokerage industry because the local brokers are deeply rooted in their local industry and culture.
The big thing I’ve learned and will always use is: What is the vision and the value proposition for each and every stakeholder? What is the business model? What is the execution plan? What is the road map?
We saw an acceleration in natural disasters because of climate change, and at the same time an explosion of high quality location intelligence data. Timing is key in any startup company. The challenge was with all these claims and losses and all this data that could be used to make better assessments, pricing, and risk mitigation. This is what we do at Maptycs; integrate the portfolios of our clients alongside a la carte external data.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Make sure, as a global broker, you build programmes for your client/global reach manager that are not only in line with their strategy, but also align with the local market practices and regulations.’
‘Your colleagues on the ground play a critical role, and you need them whether it is to negotiate local coverage or to work on a claim with the local expert or adjuster.’
‘We really enable corporate insurance brokers to have a good assessment of their product risk exposure because now they can see either one location at a time or accumulation across their portfolio and they can mix and match their data with risk data.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
With a footprint that stretches over 30 years across the global insurance tapestry, Jacqueline Legrand stands as a testament to transformative leadership in the industry. From the bustling markets of the US to the dynamic terrains of Brazil, France, and Portugal, her journey in C-suite and Board-level roles has solidified her as a luminary in the realm of insurance.
As the CEO and co-founder of the groundbreaking InsurTech firm, Maptycs, Jacqueline is at the forefront of revolutionising property risk exposures. Through the lens of advanced geospatial analytics, she's reshaping the way commercial lines of insurance providers approach weather risk analysis.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Michele Cimmino: A Dive Into Agile Transformation Aug 23, 2023

Sabine talks to Michele Cimmino, CEO of Lasting Dynamics which, far from being a generic software firm, epitomises precision and coding to partners' distinct needs in order to ensure an exclusive synergy for mutual growth.

Michael discusses visionary leadership at Lasting Dynamics, championing quality and innovation, ensuring a diverse tech mastery, and building a global force in the startup ecosystem.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Lasting Dynamics was started in 2013 to provide the IT market with quality.
Large enterprises usually target a span of 12 months to deliver an MVP (minimum viable product), by the time an MVP is delivered to market in 12 months it’s already too late.
When you have engineers who truly understand cybersecurity then it's easier to be compliant with policies.
When you build something from the ground up, or start integrating the pieces into a digital product, with a forward-looking mindset you will not waste months in additional testing. This is an engineering mindset called “bottom-up”.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Quality assurance is also about analysing the requirements, it’s not only about executing some tests, it’s about understanding what will be needed and how this can be provided.’
‘The most important part of the game is to be transparent and loyal to your partner or customer. That always pays back.’
‘I like the idea that the most important goal and value for everyone on a project should be the final result of the product and everyone should sacrifice a bit of personal interest towards that goal.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
In the dynamic world of software engineering, few names resonate as powerfully as Michele Cimmino. As a master of full stack web and mobile development, Michele's leadership at Lasting Dynamics has carved a niche in the tech spaces of Spain, Italy, and Norway. Dive deeper at Lasting Dynamics and you'll discover a hub where innovation meets commitment.

A champion of quality, Michele's passion drives him and his adept team to consistently re-evaluate and refine their methodologies. They are agile, experimental, and always ahead of the curve, drawing insights from the latest in automation, innovation, and QA processes. His current explorations into Agile, OKRs, SCRUM, TDD, and the principles of Shu Ha Ri demonstrate a ceaseless thirst for knowledge.

Lasting Dynamics, Michele's brainchild, isn't just any software company; it's a boutique, meticulously crafting code to fit partners' unique needs. This exclusivity ensures mutual growth, as they partner with only a select few each year.

But there's more: The Academy, another feather in Michele’s cap, streamlines the onboarding process, a testament to his visionary approach. Moreover, under his guidance, the launch of SaaS platforms like Roundrush for workflow management and VetrinaLive for e-commerce adds to his impressive portfolio.

With a tech stack that's as expansive as it is impressive, ranging from Node.js to Python, React to Vue.js, PostgreSQL to AWS integrations, Michele's proficiency is unquestionable. He's been at the helm of AI-driven mobile apps since 2015, dabbled in the realm of blockchain and cryptocurrency from 2017, and from 2019, has steered Lasting Dynamics towards Growth Hacking.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Sara St. John: The Frugalpreneur Aug 16, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sara St. John, someone whose unique entrepreneurial journey embodies the essence of growth and innovation.

As the brain behind several startups, Sara has used her experiences to pen books, run a blog, and most notably, host the well-regarded podcast 'The Frugalpreneur.' Through these mediums, she’s been inspiring and equipping individuals with the knowledge and tools to kickstart and maintain their online businesses even under tight financial constraints.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Amy entrepreneurship journey started in 2008. I’d had 6 different jobs that year and realised that working for other people wasn’t my thing, so I decided to start a photography business doing weddings and portraits but it was expensive to maintain equipment and software, so I started an online business model and tried several different things because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. This led me to write ‘Frugal Entrepreneur’ which was about the different ways to make money online and how to do it on a budget. I launched the podcast to promote the book, but got more leverage through the podcast and I’ve kept it going for a few years now and have started a podcast production agency. I’m all in on podcasting now, but it took me 10 years to get to that point.
One misconception that people have about building a great podcast is that it’s expensive. I started with a $60-80 USB mic that plugs straight into your computer and you can record in Zoom for free, then all you need is a podcast host to distribute your files to the platforms which is as little as $5-20 a month. It’s the best way to get more exposure.
Everyone should have a website. People think that having a social media page is enough – and you should have social media too – but you need to have your own site, because you never know what’s going to happen with social media. You should also get an email service provider like SendFox which every time you publish content it’ll automatically create a newsletter and send it to your email list.
Shiny object syndrome is a big problem that a lot of entrepreneurs have, whether it’s that you have a million different business ideas and you’re always moving onto the next one – which takes up a lot of time and money. It could also be new gadgets and tools. You need to recognise that you have shiny object syndrome and reign it in. Try to use free tools and all-in-one systems like Systeme.io or Clixlo which will have everything you need for one price in one place.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Whether you have your own podcast or not you should guest on other people’s podcasts because you’re basically leveraging and getting access to their audience who might come and check out your podcast or become a client.’

‘A lot of people assume their podcast is going to take off right away. If you’re a celebrity already it probably will, if you’re a regular person it’s going to take a while.’

‘When you’re starting out, try to go the free route with software as long as you can and then only pay as you need to. AppSumo has a one-time payment for various softwares.’

‘I try to keep my budget to under $100 per month for software and the basic maintenance of an online business. It might go a little more if I’m running an ad but, even then, I try not to spend more than $100 per month. But everybody has their own amount.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Sara St. John Sara St John is a seasoned entrepreneur, prolific author, avid animal lover, and an ardent globetrotter. With an entrepreneurial career spanning over a decade, Sara has birthed and nurtured several successful startups, honing her expertise in budget-friendly business management. Her journey has imbued her with a wealth of insights and strategies which she generously shares through her podcast, The Frugalpreneur.
As the host of The Frugalpreneur, Sara brings a fusion of rich business acumen and an infectious passion for budget-conscious entrepreneurship.
Sara's mission extends beyond practical advice. She is a passionate advocate for the power of podcasting as a business tool, and she relishes every opportunity to delve into this topic on her show.
If you want to know more about Sara, check her LinkedIn profile and her “preneur” series here.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com
Charitable: https://chrt.fm/track/D19185/

Frank Mendoza: From Data Analytics to Responsible AI Aug 09, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Frank Mendoza, a revered figure in the realm of data analytics and AI strategy.
His contributions to Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Kelloggs, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Jim Beam as the founder of Catalytics have revolutionised the way these organisations leverage big data, artificial intelligence and advanced analysis.
Frank offers practical recommendations to implement AI, making this seemingly daunting technology accessible and actionable demystifies AI, shares his strategic insights, and helps us scout for growth in this exciting field.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Over the last 8 years I’ve worked with some really top brands to introduce analytics concepts like machine learning and chatbots. The hype has really got big in the last few months around what’s called generative AI, which is a little bit different from what we’ve historically called AI or machine learning, but in a nutshell it’s got people really excited and companies really want to take advantage and be able to demonstrate a competitive advantage to some of their competitors. It’s a really exciting time to be in this space.
One of the challenges/constraints all companies face, large or small, is time. Big companies have the ability to throw money at it, small companies don’t have that luxury, but they really need to focus their attention. When I approach a company to talk about the potential of leveraging AI, I want to focus on where exactly they’re going to be using it and making sure there’s a direct tie to business value. There are so many tools that have been thrown out onto the market it’s caused a lot of analysis paralysis and businesses are struggling to figure out which tools they should use, where, why and who should be using them. You really need to have a strategic approach to how you’re leveraging these technologies to make sure you’re getting the biggest bang for the buck.
Customers have given you the privilege of providing you with information about themselves that’s very important to them, but for you as well to grow your business. How you use that information, where you provide that information to models, all those things are very vital to ensure that you’re doing the things necessary to protect that information. OpenAI and Chat GPT have the ability to retrain on the questions that you’re asking – those are situations where you really want to provide guard rails/guidelines to your organisation about what you’re allowing them to put into there.
Generative AI solutions have been trained on publicly available data, images, etc. Our society is moving - I believe – in a positive direction, but it has not moved all the way to where it needs to move. The net result of that is that there is a lot of information out there that’s still filled with biases, hate, etc. You want to make sure that when you’re leveraging these tools that you take into account these biases and those inherent challenges with leveraging these models and ensuring that you have a level of human judgement in the loop.

BEST MOMENTS
‘We’re now shifting the paradigm from inventing with tools to tools inventing. There are things the tools are doing that are creating something that hasn’t existed before.’
‘One thing that no organisation can waste is resources and time.’
‘Every organisation is unique and the applications of AI are going to be unique to those as well.’
‘The ability for you to execute AI is predicated upon your quality of information. I encourage organisations to start looking at that and take advantage of “data enablement” to enable businesses to move forward. It’s a daunting task but you don’t want to boil the ocean, that’s where I help organisations understand where exactly they should put their focus, energy and effort.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Frank Mendoza is a highly respected and award-winning analytics leader with over 20 years of experience in Strategy, Customer Experience and Data Science.
He is the founder of Catalytics, a service company that helps Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Kelloggs, Keurig Dr Pepper, and Jim Beam to execute actionable AI and Data Analytics strategies to solve their toughest business challenges.
Frank shares that 2023 is the year of AI and AI is becoming more prevalent in various industries. However, many companies are still intimidated or confused by its use and capabilities. Frank is there to help implement AI into any business and helps identify the best approaches to do so via practical recommendations as AI should be a tool that augments and empowers companies to grow and innovate.
Frank can be found here.
And you can also reach him at Catalytics

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com
Charitable: https://chrt.fm/track/D19185/

Benjamin Friedman: The Factional CxO Aug 02, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Benjamin Friedman who, over a 20+ year career has navigated the perilous waters of startup finance and operations, riding the bumpy waves of startup growth and guiding his companies through successful M&A transactions, equity raises, and debt financing.
To cap it all, Benjamin is a firm advocate for values such as collaboration, optimism, and open communication, and has consistently strived to connect company goals, team initiatives, and individual performance in his roles.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

At graduate school I’d studied nonprofit management and worked at a nonprofit for a few years and found it was very process driven, we kept talking about what to do but never actually trying things. I’m much more results oriented, so I moved into an e-commerce company which doubled every year and it was an amazing ride. I became addicted to the startup journey.
A lot of startups have a unique journey, every founder is an individual, but there are some common themes. Successful startups have founders that are clear on who they are and what they’re trying to accomplish. That might seem easy, but it’s actually very hard work to regularly check in with yourself. The other application is around vision and values; those will remain constant even as the business pivots, evolves, changes and challenges occurring. The final piece is feedback loops, successful founders are constantly seeking advice from advisors, investors, other founders and their team, they’re constantly seeking feedback – they may not act on it every time – new ideas and how to get things done.
Align outcomes, results and activities. A lot of people get worked up by working really hard and spending a lot of time and effort but activity alone won’t generate the outcomes that you’re looking for, you have to see what results are coming from that activity and then you have to see if those are affecting the outcomes that you desire. Are you looking at it through industry metrics, internal metrics? You need to be constantly running experiments to see if ‘x’ improves your quality, your efficiency for you or your customers. You have to constantly evaluate your process but aligning your activity results and outcomes is really critical.
Bringing in fractional experts can do a number of things; they can help you look holistically across the business and make connections between different functions, how do sales, marketing, finance and product all connect and what are the ways to optimise them collaboratively to grow your business. How have things been done in the past and how can they be applied to your business in order to grow as fast as possible? Cost and risk are considerations as well, by looking at fractional resources you’re mitigating both; you pay people who come in much less than someone doing the job full-time, especially if you don’t know how they’re going to work and how they’ll fit with your team.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Being open to other people’s opinions is going to make you stronger on your journey.’
‘It’s very important to balance strategy and implementation.’
‘We often think about productivity as running fast, but if you’re not sure of what direction you want to be running, it doesn’t matter how fast you’re going, you're going to be heading in the wrong direction.’
‘Unsuccessful founders keep doing the same thing their customer needs, successful ones ask “what is it you need now?” and they’ll provide that.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Benjamin Friedman, the mind behind Build Scale Grow Inc., is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of leadership in finance and operations. Throughout his career, he's skillfully navigated the entrepreneurial landscape, leading successful M&A transactions for five companies in the last decade.
As the founder of Build Scale Grow, Benjamin is committed to helping startups overcome challenges and scale quickly, offering solutions to resolve immediate problems while installing long-term, scalable systems. His work is steeped in experiences from diverse roles, including Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer, extending to areas such as sales, marketing, people operations, legal, technology, and product.
LinkedIn: Benjamin Friedman
The company: Build Scale Grow
The Book: Scale: Reach Your Peak

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Saagar Govil: Reinventing the world of security with AI Jul 26, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Saagar Govil, Chairman and CEO of Cemtrex Incorporated. With a tenacious spirit and an unwavering focus, Saagar has led Cemtrex from its initial days of making under $3M in revenues to a thriving powerhouse raking in over $100M, with over 350 employees in 6 offices worldwide.
Under Saagar's vision and leadership, Cemtrex is a diversified technology company that's relentlessly driving innovation in an array of sectors, including smart technology, virtual and augmented realities, advanced electronic systems, industrial solutions, and, most intriguing, intelligent security systems powered by AI.
In this episode, they dive into the world of AI and security and explore Saagar's inspiring journey, mission, and passion for technologies, from IoT to space tech.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Cemtrex started out as a small family business and over the last 10 years we’ve focussed on driving growth. We started out as a small environmental technology company and we struggled to grow in that industry because the appetite for that in the market has only come to fruition recently. I figured out the best way to grow was through acquisitions of businesses that had bigger potential, because you get more reward for the hard work you put in.
We’re seeing a transformation of the security industry as we look to adopt and implement AI systems into the market. The unique thing about what’s happening today is that for the first time ever computers can now see better than humans. What that allows is for companies to use and leverage technologies in a way that’s never been possible before to drive better security outcomes. That could be from preventing incidents from happening to responding to them better in real time and to more accurately apprehend the suspects after an event occurs.
CCTV cameras with advanced features in the past used to be triggered by motion and they would trigger events, alarms, etc. The challenge with that is that if a tree is swaying in the background it could trigger these alarms which is frustrating for operators. With the advent of AI you can track specific objects more accurately and clearly so that if a certain asset in the frame is moved then send an alert. That solution is really easy to implement out of the box today.
Unfortunately, the world is more and more dangerous. 90-95% of schools have CCTV and yet we’re still hearing about mass shootings taking place all the time and it’s a tragedy. This tells me that a) the basic tools are already installed and b) they are actually not that effective. The ways we can implement AI today to drive better outcomes is apparent in that we can do better with identity management using facial recognition, we can track who should be at school at a certain time, we can send out the right alerts if there is a disgruntled person on the premises or tap into sex offender databases to alert the authorities that they’re on the perimeter.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Sometimes it’s not about how hard you work, it’s about where you’re spending your time and your effort.’
‘AI is definitely going to make businesses and specific assets safer.’
‘When you have a security co-pilot that can understand what’s going on on the video feeds you can start to interact with that GPT/co-pilot, you can manage security needs much faster or in real time, that’s where we’re going to see the industry moving in the next couple of years.’
‘There are ways to build these types of technologies that maximise people’s privacy but also ensure the safety of those that are occupying the space at any given point in time.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Saagar Govil is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cemtrex Inc., a company that owns and operates multiple businesses building industrial solutions and intelligent security systems.
Saagar is a serial entrepreneur interested in IoT, Wearables, Robotics, Advanced electronics, and Space Tech. In his leisure time he enjoys watching the Knicks, golfing, travelling, and sailing.
Cemtrex
Cemtrex, Inc. is a diversified technology company that's driving innovation in a wide range of sectors, including smart technology, virtual and augmented realities, advanced electronic systems, industrial solutions, and intelligent security systems. Cemtrex Inc. owns and operates multiple businesses and they are building industrial solutions and intelligent security systems.
Website: www.cemtrex.com

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Dr Melissa Sassi: From BigTech To Building Ventures Jul 19, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dr Melissa Sassi, CEO and Co-Founder of Skills Hustle, a pre-seed edtech company committed to closing the skills gap and transforming learners into earners. Skills Hustle's platform takes an innovative approach, offering gamified, interactive, and practical modules that engage learners on a deeper level. With a focus on community building, the platform provides access to thought leaders, networking opportunities, and real-world challenges such as innovation challenges and hackathons, enabling learners to develop practical skills and solve real business challenges.

In this episode Melissa shares her insights, experiences, and innovative ideas in leveraging technology and education to drive social impact and foster sustainable growth.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I’ve spent the last 10 years of my career working between Microsoft and IBM, and I’ve always created my own jobs, I’ve never flowed through the ‘right’ career progression plan. I ran startup accelerators; at Microsoft it was all about building internet and energy access solutions around the world and bringing digital skills to connect it. At IBM I focussed on data protection, privacy and security in heavily regulated industries like FinTech, HealthTech and InsurTech. I’ve also had a couple of stints on Wall Street and had my own nonprofit teaching tens of thousands of kids to code in 12 countries. Currently I run a venture studio with my partner.
One day my daughter, who was living in Tunisia with her father at the time, said she didn’t have access to a computer in her classroom. They had one shared across 40 kids. I realized there’s no way that she’s going to be prepared for the future of work and the digital economy. I could get her devices for home, but what about all the other kids in her classroom? So I went on a mission to get computers for the class. But as I did this I realized the bigger picture that access to tech, skills, the internet and what role they play – including affordability – in driving outcomes in healthcare, education, economics, getting a job, everything we have and do centres around tech. I realised half the world isn’t connected to the internet and I looked at what I could do to change that.
My partner and I are still working on how to demystify what a venture studio is or what a venture builder does versus a VC, an accelerator and an incubator. We combine all those things together.
In the future I’d love to see situations where my founders raise a shit-ton of money, come up with amazing solutions that are powering the world, changing things that make the world a better place but also making money at the same time. I believe in doing well while doing good.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Everyone is a FinTech these days, including Timbaland.’
‘I had it ingrained in my soul that I needed to work, to be productive, independent, to be able to take care of myself. From hard work comes outcomes in life that are financial in nature, it may be experiences, but you’ve got to work to achieve.’
‘I was part of a broken system and I perpetuated a broken system without knowing it.’
‘We focus on growth from 3 perspectives: Technical enablement, thinking about what the business model is, and access to partnerships.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr Melissa Sassi has dedicated her career to the intersection of technology, education, economic development, social impact, startups, and sustainability. With extensive global experience, including visits to 60 countries, she brings first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Melissa's doctoral thesis focused on the transformative role of digital inclusion in solving the SDGs. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Skills Hustle, a pre-seed edtech company, Melissa aims to bridge the skills gap and empower learners to become learners. Skills Hustle offers an interactive and practical learning platform, with a focus on gamification and real-world application. Through live sessions, mentors, innovation challenges, and hackathons, learners acquire valuable skills while solving authentic business problems. The platform also features a community portal for ongoing engagement, networking, and access to thought leaders and opportunities. Core content areas include digital skills, habits and attitudes, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasassi/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Brenden Kumarasamy: Delivering effective board level communication Jul 12, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Brenden Kumarasamy, founder of Master Talk, a platform dedicated to nurturing top tier communicators in diverse industries. Breneden has honed his craft coaching executives and entrepreneurs helping them ascend into the top 1% of communicators in their fields.
Brenden also runs the popular Master Talk YouTube channel where he has democratised access to his communication tools.
In this episode we dissect Brenden’s journey, his philosophies, the art and science of effective communication, and his vision to transform the way we communicate.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My journey started in college where I studied accounting where I created presentations around numbers. Somebody told me that if I wanted to work for one of the big four accounting firms, I needed to participate in these things called ‘case competitions’ which are essentially competitive presentations where you present in front of executives and the best people get jobs.
I started coaching the other students on how to communicate (mostly for free) to help them win competitions and I accidentally developed a gift for how to speak. While working for IBM I was making videos for fun in my basement, just as a hobby. But that hobby turned into something a lot bigger than I initially thought it was going to. After two and a half years I made the difficult decision to quit my job and do Master Talk full-time.
YouTube is the hardest one out of all the platforms to grow, but it’s also the most beneficial one if you stay in it the longest. The 5/20 rule: If I post 1 really good piece of content that’s long form every week for the next 10 years I’ll be successful on YouTube. I’ve already written all my content for 2024 that I’ll film with my production team in the next 3 months. That’s how forward thinking I think about the brand. Never miss a week.
There are parts of education, consulting, helping other people transform industries that AI will make better. For example, search queries, so I might not need as many people on a research team. But what AI cannot automate is education. No one is going to spend $2,000 to fly out to a conference to watch an AI speak, the human is really important in this situation.

BEST MOMENTS
‘I did not want to be an entrepreneur, I wanted to be an executive. ’
‘A big mistake a lot of content creators make is when they think about personal branding, they focus a lot on what’s hot: Linkedin, Tik Tok, etc. I always thought about my personal brand in decades not days. Who do I want to be in 10 years?’
‘People focus way too much on having 1000 followers, not 1000 conversations. If I do 10,000 podcast interviews, it’s impossible for me to not have 100,000 followers. Luckily, I didn’t need to do 10,000, it took 500.’
‘If you 10 years from now had the chance to look back at your life right now, what would they disagree with you on? Oftentimes it’s not information, it’s implementation that’s missing.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Brenden Kumarasamy: It all begins with impact. Despite all the presentations I’ve given over my life, I still remember to this day how scared I was to post my first YouTube video. I didn’t look like anything in my workshops or presentations, but I went ahead with this project for one reason: Impact.
A wise friend once told me that I couldn’t possibly coach every human being on Earth with the limited time I had in my life, so I needed to go on video to share my message with the world. I got over my fear, practised 100’s of times on camera until I was finally able to say that I was “YouTube Ready”.
All’s to say that when you care about others and only want to add value, you’ll be able to overcome any fear/obstacle in the service of others.
Website: https://www.mastertalk.ca/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendenkumarasamy/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Brandon Leibowitz: Free Your Outreach With An SEO Strategy Jul 06, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Brandon Leibowitz, the mastermind behind SEO Optimizers, a dynamic company that's been assisting small to medium-sized businesses in getting noticed online.

Brandon’s passion for growth and his unwavering belief in the power of digital marketing is why we invited him today. In this episode the pair explore the steps businesses, big and small, must consider enhancing their digital marketing efforts, from defining clear goals, understanding your target audience, optimizing your website, and creating valuable content, to leveraging social media, utilizing paid advertising, and measuring your campaigns' success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Digital marketing today is the constant evolution and changes in algorithms and ranking factors that search engines use to determine website rankings. This makes it challenging for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and adapt their strategies accordingly. Additionally, there is a lot of competition in the digital space, and it can be difficult for businesses to stand out and reach their target audience effectively.
To become better at digital marketing, both large and small businesses can take the following steps: Define clear goals, know your target audience, optimise your website, create valuable content, leverage social media, utilise paid advertising, measure and analyse, stay up-to-date, seek professional help.
Every few months Google will have a big update and that’s where you have to find out what they want because they don’t really tell you what they’re looking for so that you spend money on paid ads, they don’t want to you master SEO.
You’ve got to stay ahead of things one day at a time. Who knew ChatGPT was going to come out and make such a disruption in the market a couple of years ago? It’s tough to predict what’s going to happen, just stay up to date, read different blogs and forums, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos and stay in the weeds as much as possible learning as much as possible from other people and figure out what might happen in the future. There’s no real way to stay ahead.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I have been involved with digital marketing since 2007 and want to share my knowledge about SEO, Social Media Marketing, and Google Ads.’
‘Identify what you want to achieve with your digital marketing efforts. This could include increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving brand awareness, or increasing sales.’
‘Consider partnering with a reputable digital marketing agency or consultant to help you develop and execute effective digital marketing strategies that achieve your goals.’
‘Key words are so important. You can build a website, but if you don’t market it it’s going to be hard for people to find it. I make sure that when people search on Google that your website pops up.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Brandon Leibowitz runs and operates SEO Optimizers, a young company supporting small and medium-sized businesses to get more online traffic and become visible to their target audience, which in turn converts into clients, sales, and leads.

Brandon started in digital marketing in 2007 after graduating from college with a degree in Business Marketing. In my first job, I handled the marketing aspects of an e-commerce website. He helped companies get ranked at the top of Google by using search engine optimization tactics and bringing in traffic via social media and paid ads. In 2008, Brandon realized that most businesses would need a website to stay competitive in the future. Having a website is only one piece of the puzzle. Ultimately, these companies need someone to help market their website to bring in traffic that will, in turn, convert to clients.

Since then, Brandon decided to stick with digital marketing and started his own company, SEO Optimizers. One of Brandon’s stories: a friend built a website for him in exchange for doing SEO for his insurance website. Brandon ranked him above government websites for all his essential business keywords.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonleibowitz/

If you want to know more, check Brandon’s free gift below: https://seooptimizers.com/gift

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Clemens Behrend: Web3, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies Jun 29, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Per Axberg, an entrepreneur with a rich background in building customer-facing support solutions in Web3. Clemens spent over 5 years building Bitpanda's customer community department from scratch and scaling it from pre-seed to unicorn status. And it is important to understand that the power of web3 is in building unique communities.

During their deep dive, Clemens and Sabine talk about: His interest in Web3, Bitcoin and Crypto, why he believes that those 3 components are key to build unique communities, and Clemens shares a few tips for those of us interested in learning and trialling such technologies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

From 2017 to 2022, I led and set up customer support at Bitpanda, the first Unicorn in Austria and a neo-broker that offers all asset classes from cryptocurrencies, stocks, and commodities to almost four million customers 24/7, 365.
In my youth I played a lot of computer games and realised that you could earn money because people were selling items. So I launched my first business, an online shop for virtual items. Though this I discovered my passion for customer support and keeping my 1,000-2,000 clients happy. This biggest mistake I made was relying on 1 payment method. Then a friend of mine showed me BitCoin and that was the solution to my problem. After that, I started purely focussing on cryptocurrency.
The most important thing that people need to realise when building a unicorn, especially in the crypto industry: Crypto is 24/7, it’s not like the stock market that closes on a Friday afternoon it’s also on the weekends. Out key success factor was being based in Austria and we had an impressum, which is not that typical for the crypto industry, people never knew where the location of their finances were, but this gave us a transparency and also trust from our clients. It meant we were always reachable with 24/7 support.
Bitcoin was the first of the cryptocurrencies and I would say the only really decent one, all the other cryptocurrencies are copies because the source code of Bitcoin is open source and everybody can publish and own cryptocurrencies. They symbolise companies, so investing into Bitcoin and into cryptocurrencies are two very different things and have different risks. People need to do research before investing.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Last century private currencies had been predicted, so the concept behind Bitcoin is not that new, it’s just beautiful to see how it’s now come into practice.’
‘In Web2 you log in to a page and there’s a Google SSO with just a username and an email, in Web3 you connect with your wallet, you can transfer financial data on the blockchain.’
‘Bitcoin’s uptime is still amazing: Over 99.9% with only a few outages of a few hours or so, the last of which was 10 years ago. When compared to traditional payment methods like Visa, Mastercard or even Swift, Bitcoin is doing great. ’
‘Make it as easy as possible for your customers to complain, because the biggest issue to any business in Web3 is when you have people who silently quit and don’t tell you why. When you receive a complaint see it as a last chance to convince the person to stay.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Clemens holds a BSc degree in Economics and has a rich background in building customer-facing support solutions in Web 3. He spent over the five years building Bitpanda's customer support/community department from scratch and scaling it from pre-seed to unicorn. His knowledge in the field is extensive and he is known for his strong analytical and managerial skills.

Website: https://web3cx.io/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Per Axberg: AI Driven Legal Contracts Jun 21, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Per Axberg, CEO of Legly – a revolutionary platform that leverages the power of artificial intelligence to provide critical insights on B2B contracts, both before and after signing. This helps sellers, purchasers, and lawyers engage in efficient and accurate contract review, thereby saving precious time.

During the discussion, they dive deep into three fascinating topics: Learning about Per's journey and the inspiration that led to the creation of Legly, and what it was that spurred him to set up this AI-driven platform for B2B contracts? Explore why SaaS platforms for legal contracts are not just an added convenience but an essential tool for today's entrepreneurs, and how they play a role in supporting and streamlining business operations? Delve into the three most crucial best practices that entrepreneurs and legal departments can adopt to make the most of those platforms, particularly when scaling their enterprise.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We built a platform where you can match lawyers and use their spare capacity. We can buy the time that they haven’t sold already, they spend less time selling themselves and they still make a profit from it. We can also sell their time for less money to startups. Global companies started using this service, they needed lawyers to check incoming contracts – bulk, boring tasks – to see if there are risks, if there’s anything that breaches their preferences and guidelines etc.
Technology has started to get better and AI has started to be able to do things for commercial purposes, at the same time we met with the head of law at one of these big companies who made a WILD (warranties, indemnity, limitation liability and delay) card for his sales people, he said if we focus on these four things we’ll get rid of most of the risks. This was the beginning of Legly, today it’s much, much more than that.
Legly is a robot that acts pretty much like a lawyer would. You can upload one contract for free to try it and you will get the document back in a minute or so with highlights in different colours and comments on the side telling you what to focus on, what is important. You could also tailor that to what are the breaches of your guidelines and so on. It helps companies to check contracts pre-signature. We can also take this machine and apply it to contract portfolios for law firms checking on legal due diligence when you’re buying or selling a company to look for certain things in the documents.
Legly helps you to find lots of things in the documents, helps you to go through contracts much, much faster. Particularly it helps lawyers to find things in the contract before signing that they may not be used to checking for, to be able to find breaches to the preferences before involving the rest of the organisation, before waiting fort some weeks for the legal team to come back with feedback and so on, and thereby be able to handle much more of the contract process.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Before, you had to read through the documents, and there could be thousands of them, but now you just drag and drop, pretty much, and you get a list directly.’
‘Usually sales people are the people who see the documents from their customers and they are the ones who know the deal, know the business, knows who the customers are and their relationship. They are much more suited to check these documents, as far as they can.’
‘We’re not replacing any lawyers. Rather than them having to check the whole document, they might just get 2 or 3 questions. That’s much more efficient.’
‘You have to start testing these tools and gaining an understanding of it so that you can structure your work in a better way that suits these kinds of technologies because they will become a ‘hygene factor’ in the future.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Per Axberg is the CEO and co-founder of Legly. Legly has developed a contract review automation tool that uses AI and ML to review and provide feedback on B-2-B contracts before signing. Legly is a great example of how legal tech not just make legal counsels sleep better, but also can increase capacity of non-legal experts such as co-workers at sales and purchase teams.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/per-axberg/

Legly uses artificial intelligence to review and provide feedback on B2B contracts before signing. This way sellers, purchasers and lawyers can do a better contract review in less time.

You can discover Legly: https://www.legly.io/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Cyrille Godinot: Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Solutions Jun 14, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Cyrille Godinot, an industry titan whose career spans over 32 years across Marketing, Sales, Business Development, and Service Operations.

Currently, Cyrille is contributing to the tech powerhouse, Schneider Electric, where he has spent nearly 11 years. His significant role involves developing solutions and services, directly impacting the digital transformation of the electronic, insurance and Inspection ecosystems.

His responsibility also lies in leading marketing deployment activities towards strategic accounts to leverage Schneider's EcoStruxure IoT solutions, ensuring they provide safe, efficient, available, and cyber secure electrical infrastructures.

On this episode they discuss: Cyrille's illustrious career, his insights into evolving market trends, especially regarding the adoption of new technologies and the influence of digital transformation and IoT on the B2B services sector, Schneider Electric's EcoStruxure IoT solutions and understand Cyrille's vision for the future of the industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I’ve been boots on the ground directly with customers, I’ve been involved with service operations, and I came to realise that the best way you can build a long-term relationship with customers is by delivering their expectations. You need to listen a lot, that’s how I moved into marketing.
When you are going through digital transformation you have to consider all the impact that it raises. If you start from historical products, they now need to have sensors and must be able to communicate with an upper layer that understands the sensors. You have to agree on a data model to collect the data, how that data is represented. Then you need to define how you’re going to leverage that data and build value for asset management, performance, sustainability, safety, availability, all the value you want to bring for your customer. Transformation is very much about aligning everybody according to one structure of having the right data coming to the right place. At the same time, our partner’s ecosystems need to evolve to tackle the new complexity of digitisation.
One of the big challenges right now is the unification of the data model. Electrical current could be measured in amps, miliamps or kiloamps. Which unit you use may change depending on the device, so at some level you need to be able to represent the same data with exactly the same thing otherwise it will be confusing when you go to analytics to compare them.
Ecostruxure is opening opportunities in leveraging data from new business models. In this we see a tree domain that is very interesting related to risk management and insurance. When you collect a lot of data on a property you’re going to have something that is a proxy of telematics in car insurance. This could be used for risk prevention, underwriting scoring, looking at track records about claims and operations, most of that will be leveraged by anyone that has a use case for that data, to improve the relationship with the end client for example where messages can be sent when a discrepancy arises to alert them. I could leverage that data myself and build analytics and only propose a risk score for example. Another model is how to bridge a product to embedded insurance which will enable us to consider new services that we can build in partnership with risk management companies.

BEST MOMENTS
‘In the digitisation transformation that we’re all going through there is a huge opportunity to create a new business model to disrupt the existing one and it all starts with collecting data.’
"We're coming from an industry where historically competitors were not in a mode of aligning and each one had their own model, but at the end of the day current remains a current and being able to express a unit that is understandable is inevitable.’
‘It starts with risk prevention. Because we collect data continuously, we are able to provide alarms. This is most of the value, how it differentiates. Live data can give immediate reaction for the site manager and the insurance can be aware of the situation so that they can take action and mitigate.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Cyrille Godinot has been in Marketing, Sales & Business Development and Service Operations since 1994 in various Industries and successfully achieved fast growth across Europe, Asia and USA.
Specialties: Business Development, Strategic Marketing, Partnerships, Deal Closing; Offer Creation, Digitization, Photovoltaic s, O&M Services, Sales Management, Outsourcing, Maintenance, B2B Service Operations, Spare Parts
Cyrille leads marketing deployment activities towards strategic accounts to leverage EcoStruxure IoT solutions and provide them with safe, efficient, available and cyber secure Electrical infrastructures.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrillegodinot/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Stephen Lathrope: Using Geospatial Data To Drive Dynamic Underwriting Jun 08, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Stephen Lathrope, a seasoned executive and proven business leader who has worked as a partner, CEO, and executive director, of private equity-backed financial services and technology businesses. Stephen has also lead large teams within a very well known consulting firm.

Today Stephen leads the insurance practice at ICEYE, a geospatial data provider to the insurance and government sector. According to a report produced by MarketsandMarkets, the global geospatial analytics market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.2% from $68 billion dollars in 2022 to $120 billion dollars by 2027. One of the main drivers is the increasing demand for location-based services across various industries, including transportation, construction, and agriculture but also for urban planning and management, disaster response, and environmental monitoring.

Over the course of the podcast, they explore what is geospatial data used for? How does geospatial inform the future underwriting and claims? Deep dive into examples as to where geospatial data is best used, and Stephen to give us some advice for insurance companies looking to incorporate geospatial data into their underwriting and claims processes.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

ICEYE has been around since 2014 as an organisation that is one of the growth ion new space technologies. The founders miniaturised synthetic aperture radar technology and were able to put them onto miniaturised satellites. The first use case for that for monitoring ice flows in the northern seas for freight planning, hence the ‘ICE’ part of ICEYE. What it does today is build and operate its own constellation of radar-enabled satellites, and for insurance we use those to observe hazard and damage related to natural catastrophe and we can also monitor assets on the ground. We can measure very small movements in vehicles, buildings,the surface of the Earth.
The opportunities around catastrophe events like that for insurers are really significant. What we can do with new technology is provide a much more rapid insight into where the water is and where the high-water mark has been very quickly within an event. We can provide our customers with an initial view of where the water is within a few hours, we provide a very detailed reports of flood depth and the depth of water with a very useful degree of accuracy.
Our customers associate that with the perimeter of individual buildings and that enables them to very quickly identify which of their customers need assistance most urgently, how much water is likely to be around a property causing how much damage and where to allocate resources on the ground. The kind of data we provide is used to size the overall cost of an event and the individual potential damage cost associated with individual buildings.
One of the very common challenges that we have to work through with our customers is to ask “do you really know where the properties that you’re insuring are?” It’s a factor just how often we can say the water is at 1 metre depth at a particular latitude and longitude and the insurer is trying to work out where that is relative to the properties that they know they have that are affected by the event.

BEST MOMENTS

‘ICEYE is bringing wholly new technology to bear in an industry that has got loads of opportunity to do things differently and better for customers and stakeholders using the insights that we can provide from space and with data and analytics.’
‘The majority of what we’re doing in insurance, and with government, is around natural catastrophe: response, and near-term preparation for events that look like they’re about to happen.’
‘There’s only going to be more frequent, more severe flooding. As we speak there’s a fairly major even happening in Mississippi which we’re capturing images of from our satellites and reporting upon right now.’
‘We’ve just launched our beta for insurance and wildfire that’s similar. Again, the ability of the radar to see through smoke, cloud, day or night and report while the fire’s still burning means insurers can have data that’s really detailed, really rapidly.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Stephen Lathrope is a proven technology / financial services business leader with 10 years’ experience in CEO and executive director roles on boards of Private Equity backed, international financial services / technology businesses, and 20 years’ experience in business and technology consulting.

Sales / growth specialist, with track record of delivering sales-driven growth in software / services across UK and international markets.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-lathrope-8128046/

About ICEYE

ICEYE is a Finnish microsatellite manufacturer. ICEYE was founded in 2014 as a spin-off of Aalto University's University Radio Technology Department, and is based in Espoo.

Website: https://www.iceye.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Gary Garth: The Zero to 100 Million Sales Blueprint Jun 01, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Gary Garth, an experienced entrepreneur and the author of ‘The Zero to 100 Million Sales Blueprint’, a book targeting the entrepreneur that wants to scale their business with a replicable, reusable and scalable sales methodology.

On this episode, the pair discuss how Gary found himself living in Medellín, Colombia, developing the Zero to 100 Million Sales Blueprint, what is Elev8 Media and when did he realise that work pressure may lead to addiction and mental health issues, and Gary’s tips for sustainable growth.

Make sure you listen until the end of the episode because Gary has a very nice surprise for you all!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I exited a very successful business in 2020 but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, I took a sabbatical year where I travelled around the world trying everything from plant medicine to figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to do something different and make a lager impact. Columbia had always been on my mind and Medellín had a vision of becoming the Silicon Valley of Latin America. So, I went to check it out and now I’m all in with several offices, an incubator, an accelerator, a marketing agency and some real estate investments. This is home now. I’m the Viking of Medellín.
It’s a hard journey. A lot of entrepreneurs have this fantasy vision of what it takes and 8 out of 10 cease to exist into year two and only one of those entrepreneurs makes it beyond $1 million in annual recurrent revenue. What’s shocking is that most of those that become successful is that they experience burnout. When you dive into a venture like that you have to be prepared mentally, physically, spiritually for what’s ahead; the adversity and how to overcome that.
A lot of companies that pitch to me often have ground-breaking concepts, great ideas and they have prepared everything and anything you can consider, they’ve almost gone into analysis paralysis in terms of how the product should be shaped and so forth. But sales is left to the end of the equation. I ask what’s your estimated cost of acquisition, what’s the total addressable market, how are you going to penetrate that, who are your competitors, how are you going to differentiate from them? They don’t have the answers to any of those questions.
I’m giving back through my book where I talk about training thousands of reps over my career, over 200 re-sellers in a previous project, I’ve worked closely with Google’s and Microsoft’s sales teams, so I’ve been able to see what patterns occur, what works and doesn’t work, and what it takes for folks to sell and create a true revenue machine. I’ve also created a planner to combat burnout where you can focus on gratitude, set goals, build habits and all the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years.

BEST MOMENTS

‘There’s all these social media tips and hacks on how to be the next Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, but it’s 16-hour days, there’s no short cut.’
‘To be successful you need to put sales and revenue first. If you don’t have cash you’re out of business.’
‘Every entrepreneur has the desire to change and shape the world. The only way to do that is sustainability, to become profitable, that’s how you can grow, reinvest and expand.’
‘Double down. Don’t back down. Things may seem uncertain and there’s a lot of scepticism in the market, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity. If you’re hesitant about launching, expanding to a new market, if you want to wait for x, y, z scenario changes don’t wait. Go for it.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Gary Garth is the Founder and CEO of Great Dane Ventures, Elev8 Media, and Accelerator Platform™.

He also leverages his resources as a sales leader and angel investor, helping high-potential startups go-to-market, scale, and become profitable via 360 degrees sales and marketing support, incubator programs, advisory services and proprietary technology, engineered with the purpose of empowering entrepreneurs.

He has been featured in Inc., Forbes, Success, and many other prominent publications. A serial entrepreneur since 2002, Gary has started and successfully exited six companies, including large outbound sales call centres, radio advertising networks, and an award-winning, eight-figure digital marketing agency.

Born in Denmark, Gary now lives and works in Medellín, Colombia.

You can discover Gary Garth here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garygarth/

About Elev8

ELEV8 is a Digital Marketing Agency and Growth Accelerator Program exclusively designed for the Addiction Treatment and Mental Health Center industry. ELEV8 solutions are engineered end-to-end with proven marketing and sales strategies, full transparency, and a meticulously data-driven ROI approach. With ELEV8’s solutions, clients drive admissions at a consistently profitable rate via 360 degrees digital marketing, sales enablement, CRM, and tech stack implementation. With newly founded offices in the heart of Medellín, Colombia, the ELEV8 team is composed of international A-players in the digital agency space, are all working towards one shared vision— to become the world-leading digital marketing agency for Addictions Treatment Centers.

Download the book: The Zero to 100 Million Sales Blueprint

Check out the site: https://elev8.io/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Amy Buchan Siegfried: Last Night’s Game May 24, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Amy Buchan Siegfried, an experienced founder, CEO, entrepreneur, investor, and speaker. Amy is the Co-Founder of Last Night’s Game, a platform that breaks down sports in an easy-to-understand way, through email and weekly podcasts. She also serves as the “on-air talent” and face for the company.

From creation to execution, Amy has managed organisations and significant initiatives, including fundraising, marketing, program development, and community relations to empower others with ideas, information, mentorship experience, and resources.

Sports Tech includes over 17,000 startups ventures 30% of which have raised $35 billion of VC funding with 11 active unicorns. Business models range from fantasy sports, eSports or Casino games to Fitness and Wellness tech often used in health insurance.

On this episode the pair discuss Amy the investor, the entrepreneur and the women in tech, why Last Night's Game, niche markets yield success, the challenge and the opportunity for women entrepreneurs, and tips and best practices.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I love to recognise the talent of those that are out there hustling trying to make things happen, and making those connections and making things happen for them. You want to support those who have the ideas, what’s 15-30 minutes of my time for somebody who’s trying to make their thing happen? Getting things started and taking the first step is the hardest part, if you can give that extra vote of confidence or ideas or connections, that can help them be successful. The ideas to differentiate yourself only come from talking to others because, when you’re the founder, you’re stuck in your own head and don’t see all those other things. Be a sounding board, be available.
Last Night’s Game was set up about 20 years ago. I was working as an intern at the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team and one of my girlfriends asked why certain things were happening and I thought she was really missing out on an opportunity to connect with her co-workers. We were working in a male-dominated industry and sports is a common language that allows you to level the playing field in the office. So, I thought about how to teach her about sports in an interesting way. My brother and I devised a way to make sports approachable so they could use it in day-to-day interactions, or dates, etc. But it took until 14 years later before we had the time to work on and launch it.
I’m successful because of what I learned in the corporate world. It was a good structure for me. So often now the corporate world is depicted as the bad character in a movie, but it’s not, there’s a lot we can learn from it. You learn to work as a team in the corporate environment, you have to work in someone else’s structure, alongside personalities that are not like you. There’s still a way the corporate world can evolve, and we should all be evolving no matter how big your business is so that we don’t end up as a ‘has-been’ company that nobody wants to work with.
The foundation of having relationships is still critical today. We’re more connected than ever but more removed than ever. How do we maximise and humanise that connection? Get out and meet people, build relationships. If you’re not comfortable being the people person, hire someone who is. It’s the same as building a team around you that isn’t like you, doesn’t think like you, doesn’t live on the same block as you. A diverse team brings a different perspective, and everyone has their different talents.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Sports is like food: It’s a common language that we can all speak, everywhere you go has a national dish and a national sport and everyone’s really proud of that.’
‘How are you making yourself different from everybody else? That is how you get funded, if you’re different that’s an excellent thing.’
‘The biggest challenge in investing in businesses, from an angel investor viewpoint, is that everyone wants to be everything to all people. You can’t be, it’s not possible. Identify your target market.’
‘Our whole goal is short and sweet. We all know we have information overload, but we crank out a lot of content.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
After seeing how the ability to talk sports gave her the upper hand as a woman in business, Amy and her brother Scott created Last Night’s Game to give their friends the same advantage. Last Night’s Game empowers its readers to join the sports conversation, even if they don’t know the first thing about sports.
Her career has included working for a Major League Baseball team and in other male-dominated industries. A third-generation entrepreneur, Amy once flew around the world in 58 hours and 37 minutes, has lived internationally and is a master of small talk, bringing people together and the handwritten note. You can often find this married lady working with the entrepreneurship community nationwide and teaching her toddler about sports, food and other things he’ll have to use to make small talk one day.
Reach out to Amy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybsiegfried/

About Last night’s game
Empowering you with the latest sports and pop culture news, so you never have to resort to talking about the weather. Last Night’s Game empowers its readers to join the sports conversation, even if they don’t know the first thing about sports.
The conversation doesn’t have to be that painful. Having worked in the sports and corporate world, Amy knows how sports can level the playing field and how helpful it is to have a team behind you. Last Night’s Game goal is to make it easier for you to stand out in the crowd. Follow updates on the sports and pop culture world so you never have to be left talking about the weather.
Discover: https://lastnightsgame.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Chris Hutchinson: Delivering Financial Rental Resilience May 18, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Chris Hutchinson, CEO of Canopy, a company on a mission to revolutionise renting and help people grow, both financially – by creating a better life for themselves – and easier financial resilience.

As the CEO of Canopy, Chris is an optimistic result orientated senior leader with clear interest in building highly effective teams.

During the course of the podcast, the pair discus how Chris moved from his CFO role to landing the top seat of Canopy, why financial resilience is such an important topic across markets, and the three most important takeaways from scaling a startup during an economic downturn.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

It’s really important to have a background with numbers. Businesses are inherently all about delivering a product for your end customer. But, fundamentally a business isn’t going to be viable and successful unless it comes down ultimately to numbers. The other key thing to remember is that a lot of the finance people (CFOs, Finance Directors, Head of Finance) are often second in charge to a founder of a CEO prior to moving into the CEO position and as such have a much broader breadth of understanding of a company than most people in an organisation do before they take that hot seat.
One of the things I absolutely love about the modern age of business is that it feels that we’ve really moved on from negotiation, win/lose economics, and being taught to get one over on the competition, even in a partnership scenario, into something which is far more prevalent like a win/win partnership solutions where you both benefit.
I’m very good at seeing quickly which ideas are worth executing and then executing and delivering on it. I feel this is powerful because it’s a skill often overlooked in startups where vision is always seen as incredibly valuable and the passion of the founder is undoubtedly one of the most important things that gets it off the ground. Inherently, the reason most startups fail between seed and series A stages probably isn’t because they don’t have a great idea, it’s because they are unable to execute on that idea.
Canopy is trying to shake up the rental industry in the UK initially, but then broadening to international expansion in the future. Essentially we’re a tech-driven company that improves the lives of letting agents and tenants by offering a solution that identifies the right tenant for the right property really quickly, really easily. We then help build a brighter future for those renters by building their financial health, resilience and trying to create an equal opportunity for them whatever their background and goals.

BEST MOMENTS

‘As you grow in your career in finance you have a relatively unique position where you’re involved in pretty much every area of the business while also sitting on top of big, key, strategic positions and decisions.’
‘Are you building a team because they’re going to deliver for you and you’re going to demand everything of them and they’re going to need to meet those expectations, or are you hiring people who are really, really good at what they do and they have the expertise that you don’t have?’
’70-90% of renters aspire to being a homeowner, but lots of them just want to enjoy their lives while living in a property, have a little bit more money in their pocket, to save up for a holiday/car/etc.’
‘You can definitely do more with less. Whatever you think you can do, you can do more with the same amount or you can definitely do the same that you’re expecting to do now but with less. You’re spending too much money, you’re definitely doing stuff that you don’t need to do, you can optimise, you can cut down, focus prioritise and deliver more return on investment.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Chris Hutchinson: Results driven. People focussed. Eternally optimistic.

Strategic senior leader with significant experience in the FMCG and Financial Service sectors.

A proven track record of success across diverse roles in both Unilever and Bupa Global now driving start-ups through sustainable growth and funding.

Worked Canopy. Advisor
Startup CFO
Started career with BUPA.

About Canopy

We’re on a mission to revolutionise renting and help people grow, both financially and towards a better life. That means making things faster, easier and fairer for everyone – renters, agents and landlords alike.

At the heart of our system is the RentPassport, a totally free digital profile that takes the hassle out of house moving. Renters can create a profile in minutes and use it every time they move, and agents and landlords can instantly pre-screen tenants – saving everyone’s time and cash and getting renters moving faster. We believe every new move is a chance to grow.

That’s why we help renters grow their credit rating by tracking their rent payments – improving their financial wellbeing, one month at a time. It all adds up to a comprehensive profile that reassures landlords – and turns the house-moving slog into a stroll in the park.

Want to join the movement? We’re growing fast and always looking out for the next bright spark to join the team. Check out our job listings below, or just drop us a message and say hi.

Canopy, InsureStreet and Insure Street are trading names of InsureStreet Limited which is an appointed representative of Resolution Compliance Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 574048) to carry on insurance distribution activities.

Website: https://www.canopy.rent/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Sean Boyce: From scaling SaaS products to enabling financial inclusion May 11, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks Sean Boyce, an expert product builder who helps companies, large and small, realise their vision when developing and owning world class SaaS products without needing to make all the mistakes that are typically made by most product companies.

Sean has successfully scaled his own product companies including StaffGeek and Podcastchef. Today though NxtStep Sean helps B2B SaaS businesses to build the products that matter most for their target audiences.

On this episode the pair discuss: FinTech trends, automation, and Chat GPT, market challenges and what is happening within current capital access needs, why it’s essential to democratise access to drive financial inclusion, and Sean will share some thoughts on how to build good SaaS-based B2B product offerings.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I’ve always been involved with and fascinated by technology, both hardware and software, but I got very excited about the possibilities of software earlier on in my career, particularly automation. It has the possibility to out the people in the process in a better position to be able to leverage the technology and software to make incredible leaps forwards in progress. I worked in corporate and startups, building companies of my own in tech and finance.
I like to spend time diving deep into industries, spending time with subject matter experts and better understanding from them the progress they’re trying to make and what’s holding them back from making that progress. Usually there’s a bottleneck in the process somewhere, and I look to try to figure out what is the fastest, most cost-effective way that I can leverage technology or put a strategy in place which enables them to make considerable progress in a shorter period of time, much more cost-effectively than however they’re trying to solve that problem today.
Chat GPT is pretty remarkable and has made its way round the world relatively quickly since they released some of their latest updates. That’s really interesting in terms of what that product is capable of. I think we’re going to see a new ‘gold rush’ leveraging tools like that based on what people have been able to see it’s capable of in order to use as a tool, or a component to build other tools and resources for people to get a lot of value out of. One of the most revolutionary elements of Chat GPT is that it’s a leap forwards in progress in how we access information – or it’s going to be, as it get continually polished – as opposed to most people’s current strategy, which is to leverage a search engine like Google where I’m presented to a list of results after I ask my question, some of which may or may not get what I’m looking for based on how I asked the question and whether or not that information is out there and available yet.
You have to update and evolve your strategy for innovating and investing in your company based on the implications of global changes are for your organisation. As money is no longer as accessible or cheap as it once was, fundraising and gaining access to the capital you might need to do what it is that you want will probably be a bit more difficult which raises the bar for who is going to receive capital and when, making competition more fierce. Try to make as much progress on your own with the resources you have, if you can. It will usually end up being advantageous in the future.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’ve always looked to automate the time-consuming but error-prone elements of any processes that we might need to do so that people can leverage the technology in a better and more empowering way, so they can make considerable progress with a lot less resources much, much faster.’
‘I’ve seen Chat GPT being used in everything from automating significant, time-consuming elements of content creation and copywriting all the way through to using it to write code for you to build applications and building blocks as opposed to writing anything in a customer fashion.’
‘Whenever possible, making processes that are really important simpler ultimately makes them more effective.’
‘.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sean Boycehelps SaaS businesses realize your vision of owning a world-class software product WITHOUT needing to make all the mistakes that typically sink most product companies. Sean has already made those mistakes as he has successfully been able to scale his own product companies (staffgeek.com and podcastchef.com).

Sean loves to received questions on how he can help founders and their products. Just email him at sean@nxtstep.ioor booking time to discuss whether it would make sense to work together using the link below.

https://nxtstep.io/

ABOUT CONNECTIV

Connectiv is a live events studio that for the past decade has dedicated itself to creating industry-leading gatherings. Our passion and our expertise are owning and operating at scale, vertical-specific conferences.

The events we have created attract more than 15,000 people each year. In 2021 we will be bringing to market two new vertical shows including Manifest - the future of logistics. Where industry transformation is front and center, while the change in industries is inevitable what will never change is our mission to help facilitate face-to-face interactions. We believe the in-person experience is the best way to push conversations forward as well as discover disruptive trends that are changing content consumption and consumer behaviour.

Website: https://connectiv.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Jay Weintraub: Connecting Complex Industries With Connectiv May 03, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jay Weintraub. If there is a term that describes Jay over the past 15 years are the words "event entrepreneur. Jay transformed his early digital marketing domain expertise into an industry-leading event shaper.

Today, Jay’s portfolio consists of: Blueprint (real estate tech), Manifest (logistics tech), Medicarians (age tech), and Cumulus (agri / food tech). He has delivered four exits, and his passion for thoughtfully connecting people – Connectiv – a portfolio of industry-defining events.

While events are what the communities seek, Jay wants to serve unique experiences. He shares that success is not measured by the number of attendees or sponsors. Instead, the team at Connectiv judge ourselves by our impact on some of the world's largest, most complex, and necessary global industries.

On this episode the pair discuss: Jay’s main areas of interest post-InsureTech Connect, why industries? What purpose? How does Jay serve sectors by delivering highly engaging conference experience and meet face to face? What can we learn from cross-fertilizing learnings from attending other events from problem solving to collaboration.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The beauty of an event is, oftentimes, you’re trying to capture a movement, you’re trying to find appoint in time where the world is changing and when that is. There’s so much uncertainty. Simply face-timing with the right people can add an immense amount of value.
Is the movement in InsureTech about new product, new ways to underwrite, different ways to do claims, was it back to customer service or engagement? It could be everything. The question is: Which one is right for you?
If we can find ways to make things predictable and repeatable we can do more and more scale-ably. That’s one of our goals. For a company like ours that convenes large scale events, the milestone is about how we touch more lives. For us, touch more lives is connecting more industries in the same way. There’s almost always some company that touches multiple verticals.
No one wants to be first, everyone wants to be first to be second. The hardest part about what we do is that, like everything else, scale matters. It’s really hard to get to a 7,000-10,000 person show starting off at a 300-500 person show. What makes the challenge is that everyone thinks it’s super scalable (like tech), in our type of business it’s not just about raising a ton of money, getting the biggest sales team with the biggest funnel, it’s not a single widget that you can scale across an infinitely large team. It’s about the one-on-one connections which is more akin to scouting, venturing or startup roles, there a lot of not-so-glamourous work: research and figuring out who’s is relevant.

BEST MOMENTS

‘One of the magic things about insurance is that it’s impossible to name something that insurance doesn’t touch.’
‘We’re trying to get more connected as a whole.’
‘Data itself is a commodity, you can buy a list of companies. But you’re not going to advance your company by buying that big list and trying to mail that big list. The only way you’re going to do it is by asking: “Is this person relevant?” It’s the personal outreach and understanding your goal.’
‘Who do you want to be? Sometimes you have to accept you can’t be everything to everyone. The best companies do this, especially in insurance, there isn’t anyone who’s number one in every line of business.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jay Weintraub: If there is a term called "event entrepreneur," that certainly best describes my last 15+ years. I transformed my early digital marketing domain expertise into an industry leading event. Four exits later, and my passion for thoughtful connecting forms the basis for Connectiv – a portfolio of industry defining events.

While events are what the communities we serve experience, our success is not measured by the number of attendees or sponsors. Instead, we judge ourselves on the impact we make to some of the worlds largest, most complex, and necessary global industries.

Today, our portfolio consists of Blueprint (real estate tech), Manifest (logistics tech), Medicarians (age tech), and Cumulus (agri/food tech).

I have been fortunate enough to speak across the globe and am an investor in 60+ companies as well having been an advisor to a dozen more.

Should you wish to connect, feel free to email jay at connectiv.com.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayweintraub/

ABOUT CONNECTIV

Connectiv is a live events studio that for the past decade has dedicated itself to creating industry-leading gatherings. Our passion and our expertise are owning and operating at scale, vertical-specific conferences.

The events we have created attract more than 15,000 people each year. In 2021 we will be bringing to market two new vertical shows including Manifest - the future of logistics. Where industry transformation is front and center, while the change in industries is inevitable what will never change is our mission to help facilitate face-to-face interactions. We believe the in-person experience is the best way to push conversations forward as well as discover disruptive trends that are changing content consumption and consumer behaviour.

Website: https://connectiv.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Nathan Stuck: What it Takes to Become a ‘B Corp’ Apr 26, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Nathan Stuck, an award-winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder & CEO of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture and impact consultancy that helps companies certify as B Corporations. He also founded and chairs B Local Georgia, a non-profit dedicated to growing the number of purpose-driven businesses in the Peach State.
Nathan teaches an experiential MBA course on B Corps at the University of Georgia and serves on the board of B Academics, a non-profit committed to research and experiential B Corp learning opportunities around the world.
As of March 2023, the latest available data indicates that there are over 6,435 B Corporations in over 159 industries and 88 countries worldwide. The number of certified B Corps are steadily increasing with the largest growing number in the US. 48% of all B Corps are publicly traded companies and B Corp employs half a million workers worldwide.
On this episode the pair discuss: Why Nathan decided to focus his attention on B Corps, what does B Corp mean, why does B Corp movement matter, and what does it take to become a B Corp?
KEY TAKEAWAYS

I always knew I wanted to work in business since high school, later I got an international business degree. By 2012 my career was going pretty well but I went through two lay-offs in six months in 2013. Then I tried to figure out what I was going to do next in my early 30s. I was working gig jobs while waiting to start an MBa and saw a lot of other people doing the same while trying to raise families and there was no hope. It was eye-opening to see what capitalism had become. I discovered B Corp in the second year of my MBa and the sky opened, and the angels started singing, and I realised I’d found my business community of people who believed in using business as a force for good in society.
I’d invested so much in myself: late nights, early mornings, things that I didn’t get paid for, but I paid in time, equity, tears, sweat. I was finally starting to see the reward and I decided it would make a good book. It had to sound like me, I make fun of myself and talk about the stupid things I’ve done in my life, jobs that I took, times when I failed miserably, stretching outside of my comfort zone not well. I didn’t want it to be like every other business book where “I’m the most successful human being ever born”, this is more: “I’m just like you, I’ve had a bunch of jobs that I didn’t like and here’s how to hopefully come out of all of that prepared for opportunities.”
B Corps are for-profit businesses with a certification that is a lot like LEAN for a building – an outside non-profit comes in and looks at the business holistically: How transparent you are, your corporate governance, your workers, what kinds of benefits you offer, your pay multiplier from top to bottom paid employee, what leave you offer for parents and caregivers, your community impact, your environmental footprint, and your policies for your customers. It scores you out of 80 and validates that.
As soon as Gen Z and Millennials found their voices they got together to say business as usual isn’t working for everybody. They’re fed up with why things aren’t more equitable, why we’ve allowed the status quo to continue when the status quo doesn’t work, and how do we leverage the business community to solve some of society’s biggest problems?

BEST MOMENTS
‘It isn’t necessarily capitalism that’s evil, it’s what we’ve let it become. There’s a whole community of business leaders, owners, and changemakers that are trying to change the world through business.’
‘It’s fun to see where you’ve come from, and what you’ve faced, and how you overcame it. A lot of times it’s those moments that unlock the opportunity to find happiness and your purpose in life.’
‘Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.’
‘I like Mondays so much that I start working on Sunday.’

ABOUT THE GUEST
Nathan is an award-winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder & CEO of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture and impact consultancy that helps companies certify as B Corporations. He also founded and chairs B Local Georgia, a non-profit dedicated to growing the number of purpose-driven businesses in the Peach State.

He has appeared on multiple podcasts, spoken at events across the country, and hosts the Be the Change Georgia podcast.

His first book, Happy Monday: Designing Your Career with Purpose, came out earlier this year.

Website: https://www.profitablepurposeconsulting.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Tunde Salako: InsurTech Africa Apr 19, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Tunde Salako, an active entrepreneur within the Africa FinTech, HealthTech and InsurTech scene. Tunde wants to connect the dots between inclusion, insurance and technology In Africa.

Tunde co-founded HealthTech startup, Hadiel, to drive more health inclusion in Africa and is also the managing partner of the Africa InsurTech Lab, a platform aggregating InsurTech entrepreneurs, startups, corporates, enthusiasts, investors sharing trends on how technology is reverse engineering insurance on the continent and between continents.

Investment in the African startup ecosystem accelerated over the past two years with over $3 billion when investment opportunities fell for startups across Europe for instance.

During their discussion, Sabine and Tunde dive into 1) FinTech and InsurTech in Africa, 2) opportunities and challenges faced by the local market, and 3) drivers behind the $3 billion of investment made within the African market over the past two years.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

My background was as a medic, I trained as a physician, and for the past 16-17 years I’ve been on the insurance side of the fence despite the fact I remained within the healthcare system as well. In 2019, I started to go deeper into the insurance ecosystem after more interest was being taken in Africa, but there was no documentation or platform pulling it all together. So, we decided to showcase this to the world and build confidence in relevant areas, so Africa is not left behind.
10-15 years ago, if you wanted to build a website, you had to pay a high cost. By 2017 that changed. Now, building a website is something that’s a walk in the park for everyone, and there is a surge of technology hubs around the whole of Africa (over 700 today), which are very bullish on teaching, coding, programming, and building local talent.
The international ecosystem is now looking into what is happening in Africa, particularly regarding FinTech. Despite the fact there was a slowdown globally, it took until quarter 3 of the year before we started to see that kind of slowing down in Africa because the investors and VC ecosystem are bullish about putting out investments into the local ecosystem. That translated financially into by the end of 2021, the total funding in Africa was about $4 billion, out of which about 55% of those funds were to the FinTech ecosystem, and in 2022 that figure rose to $4.8 billion, still with about 55% to FinTech.
When you look at the next 3-7 years, we can churn out stellar innovation because of the technology that is now available in the insurance ecosystem. One of the things that is very clear is that now, with the major players in the industry and InsurTechs that are coming up with innovations, there are going to be more opportunities for partnerships and collaborations either by mergers and/or acquisitions.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Africa needs to be heard. There's a lot of things going on down here.’
‘We want to put a spotlight on the growth and the capabilities that have been developed year-on-year in terms of technology on the continent of Africa.’
‘We now have local talent that can build solutions that are amenable to our environment and the key problems affecting the African ecosystem.’
‘Incumbents want to focus on how they reduce risk and how to provide value to the customer, while at the same time leaving the technology to the startups.’

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Tunde is the CEO of Hadiel, manages Africa InsurTech Lab and an advisory council member of Founders Factory Africa. You can find out more about Tunde below.

Tunde Salako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tundeosalako/
Website: https://africainsurtechrising.com.ng/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Pablo Duarte & Hilario Itriago: InsurTech LATAM Apr 12, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Pablo Duarte and Hilario Itriago, founders of The LATAM InsurTech, a fast-growing insurance technology accelerator for startups wanting to enter the Latam market via Miami.

Both Pablo and Hilario have been leading insurance innovation in LATAM for years. They both come from industry, and you will discover during our discussion that we are all in the fractional world of tech, where we split our time across those projects that matter most to us. For instance, alongside supporting The LATAM InsurTech, Pablo is also director, client engagement at Bain and Company, and Hilario is also the president at BOXX Insurance, a leading cybersecurity provider.

During the podcast, they discuss the InsurTech ecosystem in LATAM, how they support the incumbent, broker, and startup worlds, InsurTech LATAM in numbers, and their InsurTech portfolio and opportunities across the LATAM market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The insurance space as we know it has a phenomenal opportunity with the transformation that technology brings to it. There's clearly a before and after technology that came into our world. That technology is now in the hands of consumers, and we believe that is a massive change. One of the critical things that we want to make sure happens in our markets is that more people get insurance. We're convinced that the more people get insurance coverage, the better their social and economic development will be.
InsurTech can bring products closer to the everyday individual who can benefit from insurance coverage and do it straightforwardly and efficiently. This opportunity must be leveraged by both incumbents and InsurTechs alike – and they both can do so. As collaborative as insurance has been over the centuries, the opportunities of InsurTech are no different. We believe that incumbents and InsurTechs can collaborate across the entire value chain and that we can promote and try to influence that happening more and more, the better everybody's going to be, from the industry insiders to the consumers.
The InsurTech sector in Latin America continues to be very active. Unlike what we’ve seen in other markets where valuations plummeted, we haven't seen an effect in the LATAM market. There are over 400 InsurTechs in LATAM. The growth rate is about 20% year-on-year, and about 6% of the companies die yearly (just like any venture ecosystem). Some of the fastest-growing markets are in Columbia and Brazil, with one-third of the market in Brazil.
We saw the early days of InsurTechs focussing on personal distribution, that type of disruption which typically is the sexy aspect of where people want to go. But over the years, we’ve seen that more and more companies are tackling the commercial space – whether it's small commercial or more traditional, larger-scale commercial business. There's a great deal of opportunity in the sustainability aspect of the commercial insurance space. We're starting to see more and more opportunities there and, therefore, more and more InsurTechs. That's one of the angles that will make many of the economies in the region see more solutions and innovations in that space that could also be taken to other markets.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I've been on this InsurTech journey since 2016. Back then InsurTech was just starting in Latin America, so there wasn’t much activity going on, and sometimes we even wondered if we made the right choice to get into InsurTech then!’
‘Through InsurTech, we see greater customization and personalization of value propositions. That is key because traditionally, insurance has been very structured and hard to feed into customers' specific needs.’
‘Argentina is a country that has been known for innovation way before FinTech and InsurTech, it's a very entrepreneurial country, and precisely because of the economic circumstances, they have a robust pipeline of solutions created and grown in Argentina but want to go elsewhere for growth.’
‘In terms of smaller markets that punch above their weight, our first InsurTech unicorn comes from Chile. It's a great balance between large pipelines of InsurTechs coming from big markets and smaller quantities but tremendous quality coming from smaller markets.'

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Find out about our guest using those links.

Pablo Duarte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duartepablo/
Hilario Itriago: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitriago/
InsurLab LATAM: https://www.latam-insurtech.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Tim Lovett & Jeff Shi: Solving for small commercials Apr 05, 2023

It’s not easy for small and medium-size businesses to find the right protection, even though many more small business opportunities have emerged since the pandemic.

Today, Sabine taps into the knowledge of two industry veterans: Jeff Shi of InsurTech Groups and Tim Lovett of The Hartford, and asks them to understand the current situation with small commercials in the US market.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The size of the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market varies greatly depending on the region and the industry being considered. Globally, SMEs account for a significant portion of the economy, employing a large percentage of the workforce and generating substantial economic activity. Estimates suggest that SMEs make up over 90% of businesses in many countries and are often considered the backbone of the economy. However, due to their diversity and dispersed nature, it can be challenging to estimate the exact size of the SME market.
Insurers may have pulled away from small commercial coverage in the past two years for various reasons, including changes in regulations, declining profitability, or shifting business strategies, as well as increased competition, higher risk, new regulations in data and ethics, and shifting business strategies.
The small commercial lines market can present several challenges for insurers, including: higher risk, increased competition, complexity of coverage, limited data availability, and pricing pressures. These challenges can make it difficult for insurers to operate effectively in the small commercial lines market, resulting in some companies pulling back from this market segment. However, despite these challenges, there is still significant demand for insurance coverage among small businesses, and many insurers are finding ways to overcome these challenges and offer competitive products.
The products, services, and business opportunities that insurers evaluate today within the small commercial insurance market include technology-enabled solutions, specialized coverage, customized products, bundled products, alternative distribution channels, and risk management services. These products, services, and business opportunities aim to improve the customer experience, increase profitability, and differentiate from the competition in the small commercial insurance market. However, insurers must carefully evaluate each opportunity's viability and potential, as success will depend on factors such as market demand, competition, and the overall regulatory environment.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Small businesses often face a higher level of risk than larger businesses, and insurers may have decided that the risk associated with insuring small businesses was too high.'
‘Small businesses often face a higher level of risk than larger businesses, making it more difficult for insurers to assess and price risk accurately.’
‘Small business owners are often price-sensitive, and insurers may face pressure to offer competitive pricing, which can impact profitability.’
‘Insurers are exploring alternative distribution channels, such as insurtech start-ups, to reach small businesses and offer more convenient and accessible insurance solutions.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jeff Shi is the founder of InsurTech Groups, where he connects consumers with top industry partners, using advanced processes leveraging innovative technology. Jeff helps consumers to better understand their policies in an effort to meet each of their unique needs.

Website: https://www.insurtechgroups.com/

Tim Lovett has been at The Hartford insurance group for nearly six years. Tim helps small and medium size companies make better choices. He has a background in claims management and distribution, both of which allows him to educate and assist agents in growing their small commercial portfolio.

Website: https://ir.thehartford.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Aaron Jones: Why considering Generative AI with Yepic! Mar 29, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Aaron Jones, an award-winning entrepreneur working in Artificial Intelligence. Aaron co-founded Yepic AI, a company in the generative AI space whose flagship product “vidvoice.ai” is a state-of-the-art video translation technology that dubs your lips in real-time. Think about your Star Trek moments when Kirk says, "Scotty, Beam us up!" in any language.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Before I was an entrepreneur, I was a cameraman at K Productions, producing a TV show for Sky. I was also an assistant vision mixer adjusting the lighting on the cameras. I thought a career in acting was for me when I was younger, but then I realized that I wanted to make a difference in the world. Everything I've done since then has been around the idea of whatever I spend my time on. I want it to make an impact and change people's lives.
At university, I started an ethical fashion brand which got me into eCommerce. I don't care much about fashion, but I do care about people. There was a great story about people producing a product locally that was sustainable and recycled, and I started a foundation in Cambodia to fund education. The idea was that every time you bought a product, you'd be funding a child's education to get parents to earn more and children to learn to break the cycle of poverty. I did that for several years and received an honor from the Queen for my work and numerous awards. Like all great ideas, they evolve, and we realized that if we wanted to make an even bigger impact, we needed to make a place for other designers to grow their brands and sell more products so we could build more schools. That’s how the business evolved into a company called See Fashion – which was a terrible idea. Never work with fashion designers if you want to make money.
We pivoted away from fashion to technology, enabling eCommerce brands with a product and a business to sell more. We did this by connecting all the stores as an intelligence web, using visual search as a hook to encourage users to show us what they were interested in buying by uploading photos to the app/store. It soon became an API business, and we sold APIs to companies like Yves Saint Laurent and huge corporations. The most valuable part of the business was the visual search. We did not own the IP, and because GDPR came in, our sharing network had to shut down as I had not sold the company when I had the opportunity to be acquired.
That journey led me to meet with the Founders Factory team more than three years ago. It started consulting on an eCommerce enablement project using Generative AI to enhance and generate imagery. It blew my mind that researchers generated images from nothing, and I became obsessed. We've since probably created the first ‘stable diffusion’ before research papers made the subject popular. Still, ours wasn't very stable and needed an extensive data set to generate the images. This means that, for an eCommerce brand, it wasn’t that feasible. After this, we got into video and formed Yepic AI.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Entrepreneurs are a bit of everything. Starting a business in a new and exciting space Is exciting, but it also requires you to wear many hats at the beginning.’

‘Don’t work with designers, exit and take acquisition offers, do something meaningful.’

‘A problem that a lot of Generative AI companies are facing is when the hype burns away, to sell it to businesses as a click-through enhancement/ increase to drive more sales, you need to prove that your image drove the sale. So you certainly more than imagery!’

‘There’s been loads going on in the background for a long time, but the public has suddenly become aware of it, and they’ve realized that Generative AI isn’t just deep fakes, among others. You can create stuff. You can generate images in Canva now. You can edit people out of your photos using AI. The creative possibilities in the eyes of the public have opened up massively.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Aaron Jones is an award-winning entrepreneur working in Artificial Intelligence. Aaron co-founded Yepic AI, a company in the generative AI space whose flagship product “vidvoice.ai” is a state-of-the-art video translation technology that dubs your lips in real-time. Vid Voice is being used in business meetings, telehealth, live events, and film dubbing. It's the first and only service of its kind, which will be made available via Zoom.

Aaron was recognized in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, making him the youngest person to receive a British Empire Medal for services to Industry. He was also awarded Alumni of the Year 2018 by Essex University and shortlisted for Forbes 30 under 30.

Check out the Yepic platform here

Learn about Aaron here

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Tristan Pelloux: 1-0-1 on Scaling FinTechs Mar 23, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Tristan Pelloux, An expert who is passionate about FinTech and Innovation. After several years in Corporate Strategy and Finance at Virgin Money, Tristan decided to launch Strategwhy, an independent management consultancy. He is also the Chief Pencil Officer at Fintech Review, online media on the Fintech industry.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I was producing lots of insights for Virgin Money (where I worked in corporate finance) trying to figure out what was going on in that world, the trends, innovations. I thought it was a shame that the audience was so small within the company, so I set up the media site in 2020 to spread my thoughts about what was going on. It’s evolved from a personal site where I wrote blogs to more of a platform with other people sharing FinTech insights and interviews with business leaders and entrepreneurs in the field. This is my passion work and I do consulting, which is how I pay the rent, where I work with companies across Europe and help them with their strategy and helping them to scale to reach a new level.
I am Mr Organisation, I like to make lists, do tests, I like plans. I tell my clients we’re going to meet twice a week, this is the agenda of the meeting, this is what we’re going to do this week, this is what we’re going to do next week. It’s about maintaining order. This doesn’t mean you can’t be inventive or innovative, you just need to channel things and do it in a very planned way, otherwise your energy is going in too many directions and you’re losing time. If everybody is aligned, they know what’s going on, there is a clear plan, and you divide the tasks between people then you achieve much more.
Things move faster and can evolve faster in a startup than in a corporate business where you’ve got access to a lot of experts and resources. It’s super interesting to see how you can do the same project in two different environments; you need much more adaptability in a startup and the goals are much more about growth, with corporates there are more structures and restraints where everybody needs to be on the page before you can move forward.
One of the challenges in FinTech is there are too many companies going after the same customers and there’s not enough money to be made out of retail customers. It’s not enough to be making money out of interchange. This can be great for the customer to have so much choice, but it’s also confusing because there are so many players and it’s fragmented. Lots of FinTech’s are battling to become the ‘super app’, and we’ll see which will emerge. Still, so many of them don’t have good business models and are loss-making, it will be challenging for them with less funding available. But there are opportunities in the B2B space.

BEST MOMENTS
‘The environment is very different now than it was two years ago. It wasn’t easy to sell but funding was easier, and it was easier to scale. The challenges are the same for everybody from startups to big businesses.’
‘What’s important for businesses right now is strategic focus and execution – instead of going in many directions at the same time, do one thing very well. That’s how I’m helping businesses.’
‘The next two years are going to be difficult for FinTechs because rounds will be down, some others will get no funding at all. There may be consolidation, so FinTechs in a good position will be able to scale faster through inorganic growth.’
‘Some services that were not economically viable to provide to the mass market now are through the use of technology. So, at which point are you going to provide some sort of personalised service when you can do it cheaply?’

ABOUT THE GUEST
After over five years in corporate strategy and finance at Virgin Money UK in London, Tristan Pelloux launched Strategwhy, an independent management consulting company, to provide independent guidance and advice to business leaders and founders of startup and scaleup companies across the world.
https://fintechreview.net/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL
LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden
Instagram: sabinevdLofficial
Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial
TikTok: sabinevdlofficial
Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com
Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Michael Doyle: Raising $5Bn of capital for growth ventures Mar 16, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Michael Doyle, a brand and capital raise Guru who founded Brand Iron 20 years ago. Michael combines his branding and market making experience with his investment reporting analyst strengths to shape a company dedicated to creating congruent brands supported by strong financial and investment stories. With this approach Michael helped companies he supported over the years raise over $5 billion of capital.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Most people think of branding as how they present themselves and their company. I take branding beyond simply the message into something that produces tangible results. By integrating branding into all areas of business – Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance… you can create a dynamic value proposition that comes alive, gets leads, and generates revenue.
We work with companies to identify what’s unique about their brand, how we successfully package and communicate that, and how we put together and take them to market to drive real results and help them achieve their outcomes, whether that’s driving revenue, driving growth, expansion of a new product of service into the marketplace, or expanding into new geographies.
The formula to raising $5 billion is really understanding your niche, how and why you’re better, and how to package that into a really clear and concise message. That’s the brand story. What most companies really have a difficult time with is telling a really sound financial story. When I start out with most companies they give me financials and spreadsheets, my job is to extract that information. The other side is communicating, highlighting and showcasing the team and their experience to effectively execute this plan and make investors feel comfortable that they know what they’re doing and confident that they’ll deliver and make this a reality.
In order to make ‘x’ revenue we have to get so many people to make buying decisions. To make those buying decisions we have to drive so much traffic and convert them from interested into buyers by clicking on an ad, a blog or a video. It’s a mathematical formula. We need to understand what it’s going to take, what our message needs to be, what are the most effective mediums, what’s the timing? All these ingredients have to come together to deliver the results we want to deliver.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You need to understand what your ‘holistic brand’ is. It’s not just logos and websites – which are important – you've got to have a good culture and have the team that's going to deliver, communicate, and convey the claims on your website and brand materials.’
'We don't want our companies to be vapourware. We want them to be real and do what it says they will do. By doing this, you can produce some great results.’
'Whether you're a startup, SMB, or a large enterprise, you should always start with the end in mind. What are the end goals you want to achieve?’
‘Nothing ever works perfectly. The key is starting with assumptions and then adjusting and optimizing and fine-tuning it to where it's producing your desired outcome and results you're trying to achieve.'

ABOUT THE GUEST

CEO & Brand Champion of Brand Iron, a brand consulting & marketing firm that forges brands and drives revenue. Raised over $5 billion for clients. Helped 40 companies get acquired and 20 companies taken public.

I'm an advisor to PE firms, RE firms, and Tech companies, especially around capital raise efforts, branding, and positioning companies for acquisition. I also do much work with platform companies that PE firms own and help them grow and scale. I've been a part of 3 successful exits, including selling my own company and being part of an IPO. We own equity positions with top-performing SaaS/Tech and Real Estate companies. We also have helped companies raise over $5 Billion in capital and have been advisors to over 40 acquisitions.

https://brandiron.net/process/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Axel Thibon: Wizest... Investing Made Easy Mar 09, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine talks to Axel Thibon, founder of Wizest, the next generation of investment trading platforms. With his team, Axel aims to make personal investing more accessible, more engaging, and more consistent with today's digital platforms and changing consumer behavior. Today, people think that investing is complicated and intimidating. What if there was a platform to pair novice investors with financial experts?

Before Wizest, Alex worked in banking for over six years. He led and guided 4 M&A/integration projects for banks ranging from $300M to $15B and led strategy and transformation initiatives in Renault Nissan Mitsubishi for nine years, Sabadell United Bank for five years, and has taken all that expertise to Wizest for the last four years. Axel has managed and launched a brand new digital bank from scratch.

Sabine and Axel discuss why we need to make investing simple, the challenges with the current mass market wealth management platforms, how Wizest works, and the target market and sources of success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Wizest democratizes access to the stock market through technology so everyone can invest just like the top 1%. A Wizest client has access to a team of financial experts who invest on their behalf, and the client gets to choose which expert they have on their team with one simple click, instantaneously copying their portfolios.
Axel had an interesting path before doing Wizest. He was a mechanical engineer for the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi group in charge of developing parts for electrical vehicles. When attempting personal investment for the future, Axel found the process complicated and unsupportive, and this is when he became inspired to enter the banking world, gaining experience from launching a digital bank from scratch, and eventually dedicating his efforts to making investment simpler with Wizest.
Wizest solves the problem that limited capital investors have with the minimum investment barriers that banks place on investors, the investor’s lack of experience and knowledge of the stock market, and the reluctance felt by the investor by the lack of inclusion and transparency of earlier platforms.
When you use Wizest for the first time, you see people. It is very welcoming and personal, with the financial investors sharing their personal profiles first, so you can get to know them before you see their recommended portfolios and understand their styles of investment.
Wizest is working to form partnerships with corporations to increase their reach by offering Wizest memberships to their employees. This kind of service is to offer a service in between savings and wealth management or private investment. There is global potential for this kind of financial accessibility solution.
Axel recommends approaching investing as a personal experience. Rather than just approaching a bank and taking the standard road to retirement-type investments, take some time to consider your current financial situation and your goals fully. Stick to your plan and try not to react to every financial crisis.

BEST MOMENTS

‘This is a journey that is shared by many of us. When we want to start investing with limited capital, we tend to go with cheap or even free solutions. If you don't have any finance background and don't know what to buy and what to sell, it's tough.’

‘It's not about the service itself, which is about being able to invest or trade, but how the investing happens. So that's what we decided to change with Wizest, which is different from the others because it's not only making it more convenient and accessible, but it is also changing how it is happening.'

‘From there, the user can choose one or several investors they like to build a team. They can build a team that is going to work for them. When I say that when you have $2,000, $5,000, and $10,000 to work with in Wizest, you then work with your team. Your experts help you build your real portfolio. The way you manage your portfolio is not by managing your underlying holdings but by managing your team.’

‘It’s not like setting up a lemonade stand. To be able to launch Wizest, we have to be able to make sure we have a secure solution that is compliant with regulations and that we have the right sort of technical integrations.’

‘When you put the plan in motion, the most important thing most people forget is sticking to the plan. Don't be affected by what is happening today or tomorrow in the market or overreact and be scared because when we look historically over the last hundred years, the markets are always up and down.'

ABOUT THE GUEST

With his team, Axel aims to make personal investing more accessible, more engaging, and more consistent with today's digital platforms and changing consumer behavior. Today, people think that investing is complicated and intimidating. What if there was a platform to pair novice investors with financial experts?

Before Wizest, Alex worked in banking for over six years.

Led and guided4 M&A/integration projects for banks ranging from $300M to $15B
Led strategy/ transformation initiatives
Managed a digital Bank and launched a new bank from scratch

https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-thibon/

ABOUT WIZEST

Described by Forbes as “far more authentic than Robinhood will ever be," Wizest is the next-generation investment trading platform. Our technology is democratizing access to the stock market so everyone can invest, like the 1%. Build a team of financial experts to invest on your behalf by copying their portfolios in one click. Optimize with performance leaderboards, pick experts you relate to and align with your values, then learn why they make their trades in your news feed. There’s no limit to the expertise at your fingertips!

Wizest aims to democratize the stock market and make investing accessible for everyone. The team believes everyone should be able to invest and achieve their financial goals, regardless of their experience or background.

Discover more

https://www.wizest.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Dennis Kelly: Digitizing direct mail with Postalytics Mar 02, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dennis Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Postalytics, a fast-growing software company that automates direct mail marketing, measures the results from direct mailing activity and connects such campaigns to CRM and marketing automation systems to accelerate the way online marketing connects with offline marketing.

With expertise building VC-backed businesses and self-financed businesses, Dennis is a 6 times entrepreneur with the companies he built. He exited 4 of these businesses to larger corporations.

Postalytics has grown fast with no VC investment and today is scaling in the US and Canada with an aspiration to come to Europe.

During the podcast, the pair cover 1) Dennis’ lessons on building VC-backed and self-financed businesses, 2) what PLG (Product-led growth) means, 3) why every business needs to learn a little bit about PLG and 4) Postalytics’ proposition and roadmap to success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I grew up on a farm where my family and I worked very hard and were entrepreneurial in trying to make extra money. I’d reach out to neighbors and people in the community to offer my services and help them with whatever they needed doing. Some of those lessons apply today, such as... not being afraid to knock on someone's door, telling them what you're doing and how you can help them.
Postalytics is a direct mail automation software tool designed to solve three big problems with the direct mail marketing workflow. This legacy marketing channel has been around for many years and is still very useful and successful, but it hasn't had much technology applied. We've taken some of the best practices from digital marketing and combined them into a software tool that enables marketers to deploy direct mail campaigns in minutes rather than weeks rapidly.
We connect direct mail – a physical channel where a printed piece of paper is sent through the postal service – to the marketing tech stack (CRM, CDP), which drives and accumulates knowledge of what happens in a direct mail marketing campaign through Postalytics. Similar to how all digital marketing channels are driven from central locations.
We've created a method of assigning a unique QR code to each recipient of a piece of mail. The opportunity is to use that physical piece of paper that offers you something while holding it and drive them to your website through the QR code – which everybody is comfortable with now.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Each time you participate in the design and launch of a startup, there's always tremendous learnings you can take away from that experience.’
‘One of the challenges with any offline marketing channel is measuring what is successful and who is/isn't responding. We've created some proprietary methods of measuring both the delivery of the mail and who’s responding and where they are going on your website.’
‘It's impossible for the QR codes to be manipulated by a third party because each one is unique and fully encrypted.’
‘The cost of creating a highly scalable, high-performance platform in the cloud has plummeted. You can do so without spending a huge amount of money. Our business model allows us to capture customers without a tremendous capital outlay. We didn't need to raise much money to get this business off the ground. Once the business got going, it became self-sustaining.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Denis Kelly is CEO of Postalytics, a fast-growing software company that automates direct mail marketing, measures the results, and connects it to CRM/Marketing Automation.

Postalytics evolved out of Boingnet, a software tool used by direct mail service providers and agencies to provide landing pages and email campaigns that complement personalized direct mail.

I was co-owner of Wireless City - a chain of 37 Verizon Wireless stores based in Florida, Massachusetts, and Georgia. The company was acquired by Go Wireless in October 2011. Before Wireless City, I was CEO at Adesso Systems, an enterprise mobility software company. Previously, I was CEO and Co-Founder of Adjoin Solutions, Inc., an early Web Services Management market leader. Adjoin was acquired by Computer Associates in July 2003. Before founding Adjoin, I was VP of Web Services at Palm (PALM), leading the Palm.net wireless business, the MyPalm web and mobile portals, and other Palm web properties. Previously, I was COO & Co-Founder of AnyDay.com (sold to Palm), headed sales for Achieve Healthcare, the largest provider of enterprise software and services to the post-acute healthcare industry. And COO at Genesis Business Systems (sold to Achieve). Dennis holds a BA in economics from Colgate University.

I build companies, typically having something to do with technology. My role typically spans product development, sales, marketing, finance, and HR. I started life as a sales guy, spent time building products, and running data centers, have been CEO of venture-backed startups, and have built self-financed businesses.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisjohnkelly/

ABOUT POSTALYTICS

With automated direct mail marketing, marketers use Postalytics to stand out from their competitors. Drive new leads and sales with personalized direct mail that complements email and digital marketing. Deep integration with HubSpot, Salesforce, and other CRM/Marketing Automation tools enables direct mail to look, act and feel like a digital marketing channel that happens to produce trackable postcards and letters.

Website - https://www.postalytics.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

James Marshall: Spinning Fox the product-led design agency Feb 23, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to James Marshall, managing director of Spinning Fox, a product led design agency focused on helping large and small businesses solve problems more creatively.

James has 11 years of delivery experience and a proven ability to manage super large global accounts having worked for companies including HSBC, Nike, Unilever, PepsiCo, Adidas, Dyson, Samsung, Barclays and Ford. He is passionate about creating tech and operational solutions to solve business and consumer problems and drive opportunities much faster than traditional approaches.

On the podcast, the pair discuss: 1) James’ journey into the design thinking and user experience world, 2) why operational efficiency is so hot right now, 3) the power of taking an outside in perspective, and 4) good problem solving requires for us all to take calculated risk.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I wasn't that good at school, it didn't suit me very well, but things clicked when I went to university to study graphic design. I worked in my early career as a designer, but I had ambitions to own my own company, but spotted quite quickly that I needed to develop more business skills. I moved to London to work in digital agencies and took a sidewards step into programme leadership, where I worked with incredible clients. That's where I found I was passionate about delivering digital product solutions.
Spinning Fox was created after we witnessed digital product teams trying to deliver digital products and platforms and fail, which was quite common, and through those failures, you get learnings. We wanted to build a company to create products and use our learnings to solve problems and develop solutions for clients. Underlying that is a love for design and tech and using it to solve problems.
At a high level, the approach we try to take is firstly around discovery, immersing ourselves in our client's world. We can fast track that process through doing some mini-workshops, meeting with stakeholders, meeting the user, ideally, to understand the opportunity as quickly as possible and then defining things, identifying the user’s needs, pain points, and starting to work out the solution. Then we move into rapid prototyping and getting into a cycle of testing and iterating, getting feedback from the user as quickly as possible before moving into implementation. We have full end-to-end delivery capabilities with our team of engineers and QA baked into our process.
We've had instances where the best solution for the client is something we can't do, but we'll work with them as a partner and find a third party to work with and help support in delivering that. We're not afraid to say that. We won’t always engineer things to force it into the areas where we have significant expertise and prior knowledge. It’s about being honest and transparent with a client.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I learned early that if I wanted something, I had to work for it.’
‘Spinning Fox is a collective of technologists, innovators, strategists, designers, all with one shared passion: Solving problems. That's how we deliver value to our clients.’
‘Everything we do puts the customer at the heart of everything throughout the process to validate that we're on the right track.’
‘There's no time to stand still as a digital product agency. If you do, then you’ll become a dinosaur in five minutes. You have to be very aware of what's happening in the future. Being able to adapt your business model quite quickly is key.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

James Marshall is a delivery specialist passionate about creating tech and operational solutions to business and consumer problems or opportunities. He is motivated by working in an environment of like-minded multi-disciplinary teams.

With 11 years of delivery experience James has a proven ability to manage projects with values over £1m for global accounts including HSBC, Nike, Unilever, PepsiCo, Adidas, Dyson, Samsung, Barclays and Ford.

Programme management of projects including product and service design, experiential, interactive retail, digital within visitor attractions, large scale web/app builds, end-to-end customer experience strategy and business transformation.

Experience implementing process and operational improvements and training teams to run projects using Agile delivery techniques. Fully certified ScrumMaster and DSDM AgilePM with strong and agile experience.

Strong client servicing skills through working as the main client contact across many projects and accounts.

Strategic thinker and problem solver with the ability to use knowledge and experience to generate new business opportunities and deliver against client goals for programmes of work.

Email: jmarshall@spinningfox.com

Website: https://www.spinningfox.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Guillaume Bonnissent: Achieving digital underwriting excellence Feb 16, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Guillaume Bonnissent, CEO and co-founder of Quotech, a data provider and technology platform which aims to give access to the very best data to insurance practitioners - from executive decision-makers, brokers, underwriters, actuaries and even data scientists.

Guillaume has twenty years of insurance experience as both -> an underwriter and senior executive. Throughout his career, Guillaume encountered one constant issue: the poor quality of data available to decision-makers at all levels, mainly due to legacy constraints.

During the podcast Sabine and Guillaume cover: 1) leveraging 13 years of underwriting expertise to build Quotech, 2) delivering underwriting excellence in the 21st century, and 3) growing and scaling Quotech and finally 4) Guillaume’s roadmap to success.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Insurance companies must become better underwriters to remain competitive in the marketplace. Underwriting excellence is essential for an insurer to understand, price, and manage a customer's risk to minimise losses from potential insurance claims. Achieving this balance between profitability for the insurer and adequate protection for the insured is becoming increasingly difficult due to the complexity of engagements spreading across the insurance market.
Our brokers give clients quick and insightful risk management advice while helping them fill in their application forms. Our underwriters access better, richer as well as more consistent data and analysis to apply their underwriting judgement. Our actuaries and underwriting managers analyse and review the underwriting judgement and all the data and analyses reviewed by the underwriter.
Our process includes automated collection and analysis of each business class's most relevant data points, a complete audit trail of the data and decisions made against it, and management of the different authority levels, risk appetites and rating models.
Underwriting excellence in insurance is the process of assessing, pricing and managing a customer's risk to achieve the optimal balance between profitability for the insurer and an adequate level of protection for the insured. The goal is to deliver a product that meets the expectations and needs of both parties while mitigating any potential losses from an insurance claim.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Digital Insurance Platform estimated at $102.2 billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of $169.2bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9% over the analysis period.’
‘Insurance companies must become better underwriters to remain competitive.’
‘Achieving the balance between profitability for the insurer and adequate protection for the insured is becoming increasingly difficult due to the complexity of the insurance market.’
‘Underwriting excellence involves multiple steps, such as analysing customer data and risk factors, assessing potential losses, and deciding on a fair price for coverage. Experienced underwriters must be able to review relevant information efficiently and accurately make sound decisions about each risk. Building strong relationships with customers is also important.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Guillaume has 20 years of insurance experience as both an underwriter and senior executive.

Throughout his career, Guillaume encountered one constant issue: the poor quality of data available to decision-makers at all levels, mainly due to legacy systems.

I've held different positions in Underwriting and Operations, both in the Lloyd's and Company markets, and have underwritten other lines of business, from Credit Risk Insurance to Property Reinsurance.

I am very interested in Data Science with proficiency in R and Artificial Intelligence.

ABOUT QUOTECH

Quotech is a data provider and technology platform which aims to give access to the best data to all insurance industry practitioners - from brokers, underwriters, actuaries and data scientists to claims adjusters and business developers, all the way up to the Board of Directors. Quotech wants to help everyone in the insurance distribution chain to make better decisions based on accurate, material and relevant information.

Quotech creates beneficial insurance technology applications, making data-fuelled processes dramatically more efficient for commercial underwriters and brokers. Our founder, Guillaume, is our difference. We're also led by an experienced syndicate builder and MGA underwriter who's also a programmer. His first-hand understanding of re/insurance processes allows Quotech to deliver practical, efficient solutions that enhance and streamline workflows.

Website - https://quotech.io/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Sara Simeone: 101 on NFTs With Niftyz Feb 09, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sara Simeone, CEO and Co-Founder of Niftyz (formerly Digital Oracles), and Co-Chair of Start-up Working Group, Crypto Valley. Sara is a strategist with a commercial mind, she was one of the first to publish a paper in 2018 on how machine learning and blockchain will have an impact on the future of digital marketing.

Sara worked with a portfolio of leading global accelerators, incubators and VC professionals to tackle company maturity and co-develop programmes that both nurture potential and offer innovative capabilities to early stage ventures.

During the course of their discussions, both ladies discussed 1) the Metaverse, NFTs and Web 3.0, 3) why Sara launched and developed NFTs and 3) where the market for NFTs is going, and 4) what are the investment challenges and opportunities to deliver for the immersive internet in the right way.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I’ve been at the forefront of new technologies and new things happening on the web since the beginning of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. That’s what brought me to where we are today. I researched how machine learning and blockchain will impact the future of data, and in 2017, I got in touch with the Crypto Valley Environment and began to build a network in Italy and the UK.
Web 2.0, which is the world we live in now, is dominated by platforms that we use to share content and information online. Sometimes, unbeknownst to us, our information is sold online. It’s a business model that Facebook (meta), Twitter, and many other publishers out there use to leverage to generate money. Web 3.0 in a container of new terminology. We’re looking at it as a decentralized web where we decide how our information is used and who we share it with, though there are still a lot of limitations from a technical point of view as well as a significant knowledge gap.
Metaverse and NFT are very much connected. Niftyz looks at NFTs as the keys that unlock specific content that is stored either on-chain or off-chain, unlocking a lot of information, data, tools, features, badges, and exciting new things on the metaverse. If we don’t understand NFTs and how to use these new tools, it will be challenging to get access to the metaverse itself.
We’ve been trained by the web, and society that we have to monetize the outputs that we create. With Web 3.0 I see another angle, what I call ‘the input economy’ where I can start monetizing at every single step that goes into creating that output. From this perspective, we can see NFTs as empowering the monetization of this value-creation process. For instance, if my brand creates mock-ups of my fashion items, I could potentially create an NFT version of the mock-up and ask my community to vote by purchasing the one they like the most. This market research can be used in the future to create a physical item that people want. From here, AMAs with the designer, virtual fashion events only for users, etc.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Niftyz is basically a platform that wants to enable businesses and brands of all sizes and industries that want to get into this new world of NFTs.’
‘Everybody’s trying to get into the Metaverse, and brands are building teams with competencies around this, but it’s more of a PR/marketing play at the moment, whereas in the future, it will give some returns.’
‘NFTs have a bad reputation. In every phase of the internet, cowboys are trying to get rich quickly. Now, NFTs have begun to be adopted by artists because they’ve found a way to get in touch with a different type of audience.’
‘Web 3.0 is creating a new value for our know-how. That’s the ethos behind Niftyz, empowering people, businesses, and brands to monetize their know-how in a brand new way.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sara Simeone is CEO and Co-Founder of Niftyz (formerly Digital Oracles) and Co-Chair of Start-up Working Group of the Crypto Valley.

She is also a technology industry mentor, strategist, and growth management specialist with particular strengths in the optimization and commercial development of early-stage, rapid-development tech businesses.

Her ability to predict commercial and technical challenges far ahead of critical milestones is proven. As a respected strategist, she works with a portfolio of leading global Accelerators, Incubators, and VC professionals, tracking companies’ progress and maturity and co-developing programs that both nurture potential and offer 360-degree support to innovative early-stage ventures.

With an ability to decipher complex business concepts and technologies, she creates data and KPI-based go-to-market strategies that really work. Practical experience includes managing and mentoring senior teams, negotiating multi-million-pound contracts, guiding companies to achieve maximum results without compromising team morale and P&L management.

In 2018, Sara Simeone published her master's thesis on how machine learning and blockchain will impact the future of digital marketing. She was one of the first marketers in the world to publish a piece on the topic. This piece of research gave her access to several professional opportunities: mentoring startups at CV Labs in Crypto Valley (Switzerland); consulting for emerging technology companies in the UK and abroad, and lecturing at Manchester Metropolitan University as an Associate Lecturer of Digital Marketing Strategy.

Sara Simeone: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarasimeone/

Website: https://niftyz.io/#/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Previsico's CEO + co-founder on predicting and preventing flood risk Feb 02, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dr. Avi Baruch, co-founder and COO of Previsico, and Jonathan Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Previsico. Previsico is a surface water flood forecasting specialist, enabling people and organisations to minimise the impact of flooding.

Flooding cost the global economy more than $82 billion in 2021, accounting for nearly a third of all losses from natural catastrophes, reports the Swiss Re Institute in a 2022 study. Estimates from Statista show that 29 million people were affected by Flooding in 2021. Flooding is the second largest weather-related peril after droughts.

During the course of the podcast, Avi, Jonathan, and Sabine discuss: 1) Flooding and the difference between natural hazards and man-made disasters, 2) Previsico’s four step-method to reduce flood risk, 3) build back better and why we ought to protect the small and medium-sized business from flooding, 4) protect, predict, prevent and 5) top tips to reduce the risk of flood.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

During the course of my PhD, I realized that academia wasn’t for me, but saw so much potential in the technology we were building to monitor flood water in real time to give early warnings. I felt the only way to really get it to be used effectively on the ground was to spin-out the company. We explored quite a few different markets to find out which would be served best by it and that’s where I met Johnathan.
In order to reduce flood risk, there are four main steps we recommend you take: Step 1 – Understand your risk, there are a lot of really good risk-monitoring products already out there on the market. Step 2 – Invest in the right risk measures, these include flood defences or setting up non-return valves. Step 3 – Have a flood action plan, knowing what to do when you’re expecting a flood, moving stock, turning electricity off, who’s responsible for the response? Step 4 – Use an early warning system, this is the final part of the jigsaw when building flood resistance. If you take all those steps you can substantially reduce the risk and hopefully prevent a disaster from ever occurring.
Resilience measures are often really simple things, like turning off the gas, electricity, water. That alone can save a huge amount. Moving your car to a safer place, really simple stuff that makes a huge difference. People in communities like Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, for example, where back in 2015 they were closed down for months after a flood are not reopening after three days, it’s a massive change because they understand what to do. Other communities that are not used to floods are more challenging because you’ve got to know what to do with the warning you’ve been given.
COP26 made a big play around the fact that the UK government cannot defend the country against flood, the country has to learn to adapt to flood, and adaptation means starting to take responsibility for flood plans and resilience measures. That’s being backed up by the insurance industry making really important moves in terms of ‘build back better’, where a property has been hit by flood, that homeowner will be given up to £10,000 additional funding by a number of insurers to help them put in flood resilience measures to protect against flood going forward.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Flood risk is rising, there’s more extreme weather, the weather is more volatile, climate change is causing heavier downpours – particularly in the summer – and longer, wetter winters.’
‘There’s no such thing as a natural disaster. There’s natural hazards and human disasters. If you know where the hazard is going to be and you are able to prepare for it effectively, it doesn’t need to be a disaster.’
‘If people are used to having to cope with floods they tend to know what to do. Our solution is a great value-add that we can bring to that situation.’
‘We shouldn’t be building new developments on floodplains, especially when we haven’t fully addressed the impact that flooding will have on those properties.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Avi Baruch

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinoam-avi-baruch/

Jonathan Jackson

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jackson-a393102/

About Previsico

Previsico is a surface water flood forecasting specialist enabling people and organisations to minimise the impact of flooding. Backed by Foresight Group and underpinned by two decades of research at Loughborough University, Previsico’s world-leading solution is used by insurers, businesses, and the government to reduce losses. Our mission is to be the leading global provider of cutting-edge flood prediction that saves lives and livelihoods while significantly reducing the cost of flooding. Having launched in January 2019, we have a growing team of ~25 people with offices in Loughborough and London.

Website: https://previsico.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Jeff Williams: Discovering Kayrros’ geospatial data Jan 26, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jeff Williams, Managing Director for Kayrros USA, a technology-focused earth observation analytics company using unconventional geospatial data to bring new insights to the world’s biggest industries, including energy, commodity, and insurance.

Jeff has an incredible background in top 5 consultancy and M&A skills acquired in the energy sector. He uses these skills every day as he deep dives into the challenge created by methane on its impact on environmental change.

During the course of our conversation, the pair discussed: 1) Kayrros as a series C scaleup focused on delivering solutions using unconventional geospatial data, 2) Kayrros - Off the shelf platform… with white box data analytics and scoring mechanisms to meet the need of today’s underwriters and regulators, and 3) Kayrros, the long-term geospatial partner for the insurance sector looking at solving wildfire and other connected catastrophic events.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I got my start, like many Texans who want to get into technology, I started working for a large consulting company at the tip of the spear of energy tech. There I started working with large energy companies on data, and realized that all their data is spatial-related. They have assets all over the country, a sensor network that they weren’t leveraging, but more importantly, we were solving problems that were facing challenges of where to go and where not to go. I then started working with geospatial startups and realized there’s a robust amount of data out there that companies aren’t leveraging correctly. Six months ago, I started working at Kayrros where they’ve made real profits within the commodities and energy network. I fundamentally believe I can use the foundation that they built to work with the insurance industry and expand that foundation from the commodities and energy industry into insurance.
We’ve built our insights to include asset monitoring for energy companies to detect climate data–tracking emissions. We’ve evolved from just an insights company to a climate data company. We see the cause of methane emissions, and now we want to start tracking the effects, which include wildfires and floods, and the industries that are really going to be affected by those issues are insurance and banking, which is why we’re really starting to focus on those as the following industries to work with.
We track pre-risk, we have a risk score, and we’re using several different geospatial datasets – weather and landslide risk. We also track live monitoring, using satellite data to track live fires with rapid updates that we can give to our clients. Also, post-fire, we provide a damage assessment. What we’re focussing on is not one specific thing. We’re affecting several parts of the insurance company, including underwriting, customer communication, and claims.
A challenge that we see with geospatial data is there has been insufficient refresh, really bad granularity, and a lack of transparency. The lack of transparency has really hurt the geospatial industry over the past couple of years. We don’t view ourselves as a black-box solution. Many of our potential customers just get handed a solution by other companies. What we want to do is work with our customers and provide a white box solution where they know exactly what all the data inputs are, and we do that with them.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Companies like Kayrros really want to provide the right insights, and geospatial data really provides those insights for them.’
‘Kayrros got its name using satellite data to detect global crude tank levels. We used radar to detect how much crude oil was in tanks.’
‘Track climate data using satellites, drones, AI, and cell phone data.’
‘We’re fighting the geospatial fatigue in industries. We’re doing that by positioning Kayrros as a true geospatial partner, not a vendor.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Jeff Williams is the Managing Director of Sales & Business Development for Kayrros, where he is responsible for driving the Kayrros North American growth strategy.

Jeff's roots run deep in Houston, as demonstrated by his love for the Astros. Last but not least, his greatest accomplishment is his family, which includes his wife and two kids, Lucy and Jake Williams.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreydwilliams/

About Kayrros:

Kayrros is a technology-focused earth observation analytics firm using unconventional data to bring new insights to the world’s biggest industries. By harnessing the power of satellite imagery, natural language processing, machine learning, and advanced mathematics, the team at Kayrros deliver actionable intelligence on virtually any asset across the globe, in near real-time, for better decision-making.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kayrros/

Website: https://www.kayrros.com/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Federico Spagnoli: Prudential and Embedded Health Jan 19, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Federico Spagnoli, at the time President and Head of Emerging Markets Ecosystems for Prudential Financial LATAM, now Vice President of International Total Wellness Solutions.

Federico is well known for his work launching Vitality in South America and providing health services to over 1.5 million South Americans, who can today download an App from their mobile device to get access to a multitude of health services.

During this podcast, Sabine and Federico evaluate 1) Federico’s vision about enhancing people’s physical, mental, and financial wellness, 2) where the world of health insurance is going regarding protection and prevention, 3) relevant strategic distribution approaches by augmenting the broker channel, and 3) tips for those interested in monetization models.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I joined Prudential 6 years ago doing an executive program with SAID within Oxford University focusing on disruption and innovation. Part of the theme of my paper was related to disruption in the insurance industry because we haven’t seen this in the industry in many years. When I started focusing on the critical driver affecting our customers. I realized there were a lot of opportunities there for us to start thinking very differently about how we approach business today.
These past six years have been the first time I’ve worked in the life insurance industry. I was asked why life and health insurance companies aren’t doing more to prevent conditions and situations that eventually will become a claim, like high cholesterol, which – in some instances – include a pill that can reduce mortality rates by 50%. That led me to look at the aging population, which, along with global warming, is one of the biggest challenges we’re facing as a society. We need to look at the ability to retire comfortably and the ability to afford rising healthcare costs. This made me think about a lot of new technologies and data capabilities that are coming to market that life insurers could use to start preventing, anticipating, and mitigating bad conditions.
Mortality risk is not top of mind for customers because today, we live longer. The problem we face today concerns aging populations and how to reduce the risk of being unhealthy through behavior change. Physical, mental, and financial wellness is the ability to understand your emotions around money and develop healthy feelings and a personal literacy around money and wellness. Physical, mental, and financial wellness topics also encompass the tools and strategies that help you feel secure and in control of your personal life.
The insurer can engage directly with the customer through the SuperApp, where behavioral economics and gamification allow for the insurer to influence the customer’s behavior by providing annual physical checks and rewards through coins, integrated into a marketplace with choices for rewards, and continuously bringing fresh and exciting content to the viewer.

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you follow a customer-centric approach, you can't view customers with one lens. Not being able to afford healthcare services could result in mental health issues because one has anxieties, which also affect one's physical health -- all generated by limited financial means. We have to look at them all together and provide a single integrated solution.’
‘We’re now shifting from life insurance protection to lifetime protection.’
‘New generations are thinking more about global warming, social impact, financial inclusion, and a more balanced lifestyle. In insurance, we are already connecting with these customer groups over a long period of time because of the nature of the insurance that we sell. We can start introducing several solutions as part of a platform that can address and be much more relevant to our customer’s needs and behaviors and influence them.’
‘Customers that are using the Prudential platform provide a Net Promoter score that is twice higher than those customers that don’t use the platform. The highest level of satisfaction has a direct impact on renewal rates, and platinum customers show higher life expectancy and lower claims ratios.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Federico Spagnoli is passionate about Ecosystem/Strategy and Innovation. General and Life Insurance professional with international experience. Expertise in re-underwriting insurance portfolios, strategic planning, M&A, and business development.

Over six years in Prudential Financial. PII Regional President of Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Peru (through the JV with ILC/Habitat AFP). Direct responsibility for Prudential Seguros Argentina and Prudential Seguros México.

Responsible for managing the PII's relationship with AFP Habitat and acting as Europe - Latin America head of strategic business development.

Member of the Board of Directors of Prudential Seguros Mexico and AFP Habitat

About Prudential Financial:

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) was founded on the belief that financial security should be within reach for everyone. For over 140 years, Prudential has helped our customers reach their potential and tackle life's challenges for now and future generations to come. Today, the group is one of the world’s largest financial services institutions, offering individual and institutional clients a wide array of financial products and services. With operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, Prudential Financial is known for delivering on its promises to its customers and is recognized as a trusted brand and one of the world’s most admired companies.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Alexis Cierra Vaughn: Preventing cyber crime with Cowbell Jan 12, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alexis Cierra Vaughn, the Senior Director of Agency Marketing at Cowbell and the producer and host of the Cowbell Factor, a podcast that is rated at the top of its category across several key international markets.

Alexis is an outstanding professional and a mum with so much passion for business and enabling the success of others.

Alexis has been 13 years within the insurance sector and has built a strong expertise in explaining in simple words what Cyber security means AND why one needs to protect oneself against cyber risk.

During the course of the podcast, they discuss three main topics: 1) Alexis has been in insurance for 13 years. SO Let’s discover a millennial’s path into insurance, 2) Cowbell's journey to becoming a cyber security risk prevention leader, 3) How the product works and why it is essential to educate the user and... 4) the Cowbell Factor!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started out my 13-year career in insurance as an agent, and within my first three years, I made a significant impact by being great at relationship-building. My background was in retail sales. I was asked to get into the insurance industry several times, but I thought it would be boring. I took a leap of faith and studied for a license to see if it interested me… I immediately fell in love with it. It was perfect for me.
I then thought: “How do I help other single moms do this?” I didn’t want to keep all the diamonds and jewels to myself. I wanted to ensure I shared the wealth. So, I went independent and started my own agency with 26 single moms and taught them all there is to know about success in the insurance industry.
I focus on creative approaches and different ways of getting the message out there about the importance of having cyber insurance, specifically to the small-and-medium-sized business market – anyone from $0 to $1 billion in revenue.
Cyber includes fishing emails, fishing text messages, and how people take QR codes and swap them. In a post-pandemic world, we are all connected to the internet in some type of way. We’re literally in an interconnected environment where we’re always on our phones, iPads, laptops and moving so quickly that we’ll miss tiny things like one letter change in the domain – for example, websites with .co instead of .com. That’s so important. Your first line of defense is always your employees. You want to make sure you have multi-factor authentification in place. It might take an extra 5 minutes to log in, but, I’m telling you, it’s so much better to spend that extra 5 minutes rather than fork out $5 million because you’re a victim of a ransomware attack.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I took a networking approach, and within the first two years of having my agency, I grew my business from 25 to 1,165 clients off pure networking and building relationships in the community.’
‘I break everything all the way down and make such a complex product topic, like cyber insurance, becomes digestible for agents, brokers, and policyholders.’
‘I believe that the direction cyber insurance is going in should be the life insurance to a small business. If they don’t have cyber insurance and they are a victim of a cyber attack, it could put them out of business.’
‘As a millennial, our biggest thing is we want to make an impact on our community and globally. We’re constant learners, and the insurance industry really creates a space where there’s always something new on the horizon, every product is ever-changing and the cyber landscape changes on a daily, if not hourly, basis.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Alexis is a 13-year Award-Winning Insurance Expert and Senior Director of Agency Marketing at leading InsurTech Cowbell, where she oversees all agency engagement efforts for 18,000 producers appointed with Cowbell. Alexis is also the Host & Producer of "The Cowbell Factors" Podcast she created to bridge the gap between the Cybersecurity and Cyber Insurance industries. The show is ranked #28 in the US, #16 in India, #35 in the UK, #20 in Israel, and #100 in Australia on Apple Podcast Business News. The show is now available on iHeartRadio for national distribution after only five months on air and can be found on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. She is also a highly sought-after Cyber Educator in the agency community.

Cowbell is a pioneer of Adaptive Cyber Insurance, a leader in providing coverage for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that is adaptable to today’s and tomorrow’s threats and the advanced warning of cyber risk exposures.

Alexis was recently named by "Insurance Business America," as one of the top 85 trailblazing Elite Women in Insurance for 2022" and a top "Influencer" on the "Top 100 Insurance Innovators" list as well in 2022.

Alexis has over 16 years of experience spearheading sales, fundraising, recruiting, and marketing for companies in the middle of transition uplifts. Alexis has a very diverse background in Insurance, Cloud-based Technology, Benefits & Human Resource Consulting industries. Alexis has also managed Global Business Development Teams in the USA, Canada, and LATAM markets. Alexis has led countless marketing initiatives that increased market awareness, generate leads that have resulted in significant revenue in the Oil, Film & Entertainment, Government, Insurance, Logistics, Human Resources, Retail, Higher Ed, and Technology industries.

About Cowbell-Cyber

Cowbell is the leading provider of cyber insurance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the pioneer of Adaptive Cyber Insurance. Cowbell delivers standalone cyber coverage tailored to the unique needs of each business. Our innovative approach relies on AI for continuous risk assessment and continuous underwriting while delivering policyholders a closed-loop approach to risk management with risk prevention, risk mitigation, incident preparedness, and response services.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cowbell-cyber/

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Xavier Gomez: FinTech Trends 2023 Jan 05, 2023

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Xavier Gomez, a Fintech Thought Leader and specialist in Investment Banking and Wealth Management with solid expertise in Fintech, Digital Assets, and Private Equity.

Xavier writes and speaks about the emerging trends within our digital economy, with a sharp lens on what is disrupting finance, namely financial inclusion and regtech.

Xavier is also the co-chief editor of Invyo Insights, a Global Fintech Intelligence platform powered by Invyo. Xavier and his team partner with the best experts and entrepreneurs in the region to cover the latest trends in all topics related to Digital Banking, Payments, InsurTech, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Inclusion, and Financial Literacy.

Over the course of their discussion, the pair dive into the Digital Economy, FinTech, and WealthTech trends that affect the world of finance today and in the future.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I started my career as an investment banker in equity capital, moving between top management positions and trading algorithmic and self-derivatives. I then moved into wealth management, so I have a good knowledge of the banking and finance sector, particularly in terms of digitalization. Invyo is a data-driven startup that uses machine learning to help private equity firms and VC to take investment opportunities to compare the data of the different kinds of investment they can do and also to detect what is wrong in terms of competition. We provide a solution for everyone from VCs, principles and partners to be driven and empowered by the data so they don’t waste time collecting the data themselves as they have all the elements possible.
We have had so many opportunities in the last five years with the explosion of startups, business models, etc. It’s a lot of work for investment actors – especially as they’re all a little bit old-fashioned – they invest in technology. Still, they don’t apply the technology to enable it to be augmented by the data as investor and private equity actors.
Being an influencer or the term influencing doesn’t matter. Why? I started by following others, who were all very kind to me and gave me advice, and pushed me to publish more, and I just want to share my insight and knowledge to educate people in the ways of financial literacy. By chance, a lot of people like what I publish.
AI will be an up trend for the next ten years. With this kind of upwards trend, it is clearly a big top trend for the coming years. AI will also augment nearly every job in every business across industries. It will be used to manage and automate the complex inventory management processes that happen behind the scenes. It’s impressive in terms of customer experience because AI/machine learning can improve their experiences, and more or less, with FinTech solutions, you can have a priceless experience.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We use a machine learning element to adapt solutions to the investment cases. Each is a little bit different. The philosophy of one partner will be different from that of another one. This is the beauty of machine learning with data.’
‘I spent many years in London, and I know the French accent is very successful with women 😊 !!’
‘Artificial intelligence will become real in organizations and enable any business to leverage its power to create more intelligent products and services. We saw this recently with the birth of OpenAI. This is the start. I didn’t expect it to come so far so early.’
‘The metaverse is a concrete application in the GameFi (gaming finance) industry, where we see a lot of big developments. It's a $300 billion market with a lot of exchanges of payments. I don’t care for the term “metaverse,” but it’s become a shorthand for a more immersive internet. It’s expected to add $5 trillion to the global economy by 2030, and we will see by the end of 2023 an indication of what kind of direction the metaverse will go for the next decade.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Xavier Gomez is a Fintech Thought Leader and specialist in Investment Banking and Wealth Management with solid expertise in Fintech, Digital Assets, and Private Equity.

Xavier writes and speaks about the emerging trends within our digital economy, with a sharp lens on what is disrupting finance, namely financial inclusion and regtech.

Xavier is also the co-chief editor of Invyo Insights, a Global Fintech Intelligence platform powered by Invyo. Xavier and his team partners with the best experts and entrepreneurs in the region to cover the latest trends in all topics related to Digital Banking, Payments, InsurTech, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Inclusion, and Financial Literacy.

About Invyo

INVYO is a leading technology solution provider specializing in data processing and analysis. Venture Capital looking for a new data-driven approach? Discover INVYO's newest solution designed for VC investment: https://marketing.invyo.io/en/vcdataasaservice See more www.invyo.io

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com

Meeri Savolainen: Inzmo... Driving home rental resilience Dec 29, 2022

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Meeri Savolainen, CEO and co-founder of Inzmo, a fast-growing European financial services provider, making renting a home affordable for everyone.

Inzmo is considered to be the fourth runner in creating a new standard for how people rent their homes. With more than 70,000 customers and over 400% growth in 2022, Inzmo has acquired recognition and investments from several insurers in Europe

As an entrepreneur by trade, Meeri is passionate about breaking new ground to lead social change. She shares that the core innovation lies in understanding customer needs, struggles, and their values. "At Inzmo, we design our services around this purpose - this is what makes us authentic. We put the customer first.”

During their discussion, they cover what makes Inzmo a leader in its category across European’s rental and cash deposit market, Meeri’s interest in communication, relationships psychology, and strategic intervention, Inzmo’s innovation journey across Europe… Opportunities and challenges, and Team Inzmo: What is next to scale?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I was a corporate and tax lawyer for quite a few years at Ernst & Young, and I started thinking that I wanted to grow more, take more risks and become an entrepreneur. When I began Inzmo with my co-founder, we wanted to create a digital disruption in the insurance industry because it was lagging behind on the technology side. As things proceeded and developed, we wanted to create a strong brand in the insurance sector. We wanted to mediate our own products. We didn’t just want to be an IT company or an enabler for insurance companies. Since 2016 we’ve become more consumer-faced.
We’re creating innovation in the insurance industry by automating processes in underwriting and, first and foremost, the whole customer experience. We believe success in the future for insurance companies and InsurTechs relies on customer success and experiences.
We understand that the majority of our customers are also vendors, and 80% of those customers are living paycheque to paycheque. This means that they have a financial burden daily, and 40% of their income goes to pay for rent, utilities, etc. These are the people we want to help with our different financial and digital solutions.
Insurance is a very male-dominated industry, though it is getting better. I’m proud to say that at Inzmo, 50% of the employees are women, and 60% of the c-level/ management staff are female. Being a woman gives us much more opportunities to stand out. It’s also good for PR – especially for a small company like Inzmo, which doesn’t have a limitless budget – to get visibility. It does, of course, have its downsides as well. Women struggle more to get VC funding because they need to prove their success more than men. After all, there’s still a strong bias, even though the data proves otherwise.

BEST MOMENTS

‘We’re always trying to find our niche. We don’t want to be another traditional insurance company or fight with the bigger companies.’
‘Renting rather than home ownership is a growing trend globally because people want a flexible lifestyle. We want to be an enabler in this new lifestyle.’
‘Inzmo means “insurance” and “mobile,” insurance that is always accessible – it’s instant, it’s always there, and very easy to follow.’
‘We’ve been focussed on the German market so that we could prove we’d done well in one very significant market, but in the next 12-24 months we’re ready to expand to other European rental markets, the most interesting to us are Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Meeri, also called Mrs InsurTech, is strongly driven by innovation, meaning the development of new products, services, and processes within a forward-thinking world.

She specialized in developing innovative, creative and visionary products and services for the insurance sector.

A serial entrepreneur with a passion for breaking new ground to lead social change, with management experience and the ability to lead and build high-performing teams.

She is interested in communication and relationships psychology - currently focussing also on developing her knowledge in Strategic Intervention (also known as SI). SI is dedicated to extracting the most practical and effective forms of strategic action and communication from various disciplines: Ericksonian therapy, Human Needs Psychology, organizational psychology, neurolinguistics, psychology of influence, strategic studies, traditions of diplomacy and negotiation, and others. A practical method for acting strategically to get things done is also that human needs are fulfilled and elevated.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meeri-savolainen-b5a85b25/

About Inzmo

Inzmo is a fast-growing financial services provider in Europe, making renting a home affordable for everyone. The team’s aim is to become #1 provider of zero-deposit solutions for EU renters. We believe the core innovation lies in understanding customer needs, struggles, and their values. Inzmo designs services around this purpose - this is what makes the team truly authentic. Inzmo puts the customer first. Always. The team thinks big, takes risks, innovates constantly, hires the best, and strives to earn customers' trust.

Inzmo is the fourth runner in creating a new standard for how people rent their homes. With over 70,000 customers and over 400% growth in 2022, Inzmo has acquired recognition and investments from several insurers in Europe. In 2017, the company was recognized as the best fin-tech company in the StartUp Europe Awards by the European Commission, and in 2019 awarded as the Insurance Shaper of the Year. Inzmo's customers are renters, primarily for mid-term and long-term rental homes. Today, finding a home online might be easy, but the road to moving in is time-consuming as the 600 billion EUR annual private rental market in the EU is still operating offline. To finalize a rental agreement, one must provide proof of income, a cash deposit (3 months rent), home contents, and liability insurance. This takes 1-2 weeks and thousands of euros for cash deposit. Inzmo is solving all these four pain points with one insurance product that you can get in seconds online for a small monthly premium. As Inzmo focuses on covering each customer when he or she signs up for a rental home, the team sees this as an opportunity to serve the customer for the whole rental cycle with different insurance products and services.

More on Inzmo on their site and LinkedIn profile.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner.

Twitter: SabineVdL

LinkedIn: Sabine VanderLinden

Instagram: sabinevdLofficial

Facebook: SabineVdLOfficial

TikTok: sabinevdlofficial

Email: podcast@sabinevdl.com

Website: www.sabinevdl.com