In today’s episode, Socotra CEO Dan Woods is joined by Tyrre Burks. Tyrre is the Founder and CEO of Players Health, a risk services and insurance firm that protects athletes and sports organizations with a comprehensive risk management platform. We talk about: - What Players Health does and the problems it solves (2:08). - Transitioning from risk management to insurance (4:01). - The importance of insurance for sports organizations (4:18). - Players Health’s tech journey and what they have learned, including the value of starting manual and automating your processes later (11:53). - Pro ..read more

In today’s episode, Socotra CEO Dan Woods is joined by Preetam Dutta, Co-Founder and CEO of Elpha Secure. Elpha Secure is a cyber MGA serving small and midsize businesses. It provides them with proprietary cybersecurity technology and full insurance coverage.   The following topics are discussed:   Why having a great core founding team is essential to handling the complexities around launching an MGA (2:51). How machine learning can be applied to cybersecurity (7:37). How Elpha got started and the problems it solves today (8:57). Surprising cyber risks for smaller companies (11:38 ..read more

In today’s episode, Socotra CEO Dan Woods is talking to Matan Slagter, CEO and Founder of Armadillo, a platform that offers subscription-based warranties to help homeowners repair and replace things that break in their homes.   We talk about:   What led Matan to take the leap from working at AIG to founding his own startup (2:40) How Matan met his co-founder, Lansdon Robbins (8:45) The importance of a strong founding team (11:18) Building a startup during Covid (14:38) Approaching SEO as an insurtech company (21:53) How Armadillo recruits partners (22:32) How Home Warranty works (26 ..read more

In today’s episode, Socotra CEO Dan Woods talks to Gage Caligaris. Gage is the Founder and CEO of Ledgebrook, a tech-enabled E&S MGA looking to provide the fastest, easiest quoting experience to wholesale brokers.   Gage talks about his mission and what the team at Ledgebrook wants to achieve, gives some background on E&S (excess and surplus), and shares how Ledgebrook came about (2:59).   Gage also discusses his transition from purely actuarial work into complex areas like launching new products (5:46), the differences between big insurance companies and startups (11:53), an ..read more

On this episode, Socotra CEO Dan Woods is talking to Buckle’s CEO Martin Young and President Dustin Walsey. Buckle is an inclusive digital financial services platform serving the rising middle class and providers to the gig economy.   Martin and Dustin talk about the founding ethos behind Buckle, the insurance needs within the gig economy, and how projects like Buckle are addressing these demands at a high level (3:23). They discuss the different functions of rideshare companies (10:55), and how Buckle got started (13:12).   Martin and Dustin go on to talk about why they chose to wor ..read more

In this episode of MGA Founders Podcast, Socotra CEO Dan Woods chats with Andrew Jernigan, CEO of Insured Nomads, a company whose mission is to make travel as safe and smart as staying at home.    Andrew talks about how his early travel experiences ultimately inspired him to start Insured Nomads (1:20), what he was doing before he got into insurance (3:12), and what initially motivated him to get into insurance (4:10).    Andrew and Dan go on to discuss the first product Andrew started with (5:27), the business opportunity with telecoms in the African market (7:30), Insured ..read more

In this episode of MGA Founders Podcast, Socotra CEO Dan Woods talks to James Hobson, CEO of Attune Insurance—an insurance company focused on empowering brokers to help small companies get the insurance they need to protect and run their businesses.    Dan and James talk about how Attune works, the main problems Attune focuses on solving, and the similarities and differences between the industry James came from (lending) and the insurance industry (2:50). James also shares his experience as COO of OnDeck Capital (4:30) and some of the useful lessons he learned (5:30), including some ..read more

Welcome to the MGA Founders Podcast, where Socotra CEO, Dan Woods, chats with innovative MGA founders to learn their stories, challenges, and visions.   In today’s episode, Dan talks to Dustin Lemick. Dustin is the founder and CEO of BriteCo, a personal property insurtech ​​transforming the status quo in a timeless industry: jewelry retail.   Dustin talks about growing up in a family of jewelers and how it led him into the world of insurance (4:50), including some of the challenges and quirks of the jewelry business (21:00). Dan and Dustin discuss the unique claims process for expens ..read more

Welcome to the MGA Founders Podcast, where Socotra CEO, Dan Woods, chats with innovative MGA founders to learn their stories, challenges, and visions.   In today’s episode, Dan chats with Douglas Ver Mulm, Co-Founder and CEO of Stable Insurance, an MGA focused on insuring and providing tools for vehicle owners in the mobility economy.   Hear Doug explain more about the “mobility economy” (1:04), which includes rideshare, carshare, and delivery vehicles. Doug talks about the difficulties that taxi and rideshare drivers face in getting insurance and how Stable Insurance is solving thos ..read more

Welcome to the MGA Founders Podcast, where Socotra CEO Dan Woods chats with innovative MGA founders to learn their stories, challenges, and visions.   In this episode, Dan chats with Carey Anne Nadeau and John Henry, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of LOOP, a mission-driven insurtech MGA based in Austin offering fair and equitable car insurance for all.    Hear Carey Anne and John talk about the unique mission of LOOP and how the company is revolutionizing auto insurance (0:51). Listen as Carey Anne shares how her background in city planning inspired LOOP’s data-driven approach to insur ..read more