introducing hellas direct - boussias conferences · it’s all about the people. 05 reward existing...
TRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCING
HELLAS DIRECT
LAUNCHING A NEXT-GENERATION INSURANCE
COMPANY IN GREECE
WTF?!
DIGI HR CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 2019
A next-generation insurance company.
01
HELLAS DIRECT: RETHINK INSURANCE.
A next-generation, full-stack insurance company. Personal-lines focus. Digital in everything we do. Empowered by cutting-edge technology and machine learning.
A roster of all-star investors. Portag3, IFC (World Bank) and world-known family offices. Raised EUR 23.8m to date. First Endeavor Catalyst investment in Europe.
A long-term strategic partner of Swiss Re and Munich Re. World’s leading reinsurers. EUR 200bn+ in assets each. Access to flexible financing.
MODELLED AFTER AMAZON. EFFICIENT ACROSS THE FULL VALUE CHAIN.
Operational excellence. Lean and mean. Efficient across the full value chain.
A clear value proposition. Better product, better price, better service. Compete head-to-head with global powerhouses (AIG, Allianz and AXA).
Insurance in a box. Bitesize. On demand. Distribution agnostic. Focus on B2C and B2B2C partnerships. Work alongside brands consumers love. Maximize reach.
Strategic goals. Grow top-line. Expand product. Boost bottom-line.
Beyond insurance. A 360° view on the consumer. Network economies. Ecosystems.
Drive transparency and fairness. Thought leadership. A historically opaque industry.
CHANGING THE GREEK INSURANCE MARKET, ONE POLICY AT A TIME.
Launched. Against all odds.
Deepest recession ever recorded. GDP down 25%. 27% unemployment (youth at 60%).
Financial sector collapse. Largest sovereign bail-out in history (EUR 310bn). Half of TARP.
Political tailspin. Austerity. On the verge of Grexit. Seven prime-ministers in three years.
MACRO: THE GREEK CRISIS. THE WORST OF TIMES.
02
First insurance company to be licenced in 15 years. Cyprus-based. Right to passport across Europe. Freedom of services and freedom of establishment provisions.
Solid shareholder base. Contrarian, against-the-tide investors. Extensive experience. Steered away from industry players and private equity firms.
Top-tier reinsurance partners. Innovative full-risk structure (quota share and excess-of-loss). 5% cost of capital when Greek sovereign bonds were trading at 15%+.
Technological edge. Explored 65 insurance platforms. Decided to build our own. Agility, control, asset value.
A CONTRARIAN INVESTOR’S DREAM.
Sleepy incumbents. Global players there, but not active. B teams. Complacency.
Highest margins across Europe. Tidal shifts of capital. Barriers to entry.
Vulnerable profit pools open to attack. Start with motor. 80% of the non-life market.
MICRO: GREEK INSURANCE A BLIND-SPOT MARKET. EMBEDDED, INTRINSIC VALUE.
Where are we now?
GOING PLACES. KEY MILESTONES TO DATE.
EUR 25.0m run-rate GWP. 5.0% month-on-month. 240,000+ transactions a year. Recognised by Financial Times as 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe. Additional EUR 3.0m in services revenue. Currently touching 450,000 consumers.
Multi-product. Multi-country. Multi-distribution. End-to-end, including claims.
Changed Greek insurance for ever. Shortest insurance policy: 1 day. Fastest car claim ever paid: 48 seconds on a Revolut card. By the end of 2020, we want to be able to settle 50%+ of our claims within the hour.
03
Still at the very beginning. Less than 2.0% of the Greek market and only just launched in Cyprus. Excellent unit economics – LTV/CAC: 15x. Retention: 92%. NPS: 89%. #2 digital insurance brand in Greece, within 5 years of launch.
Accelerating growth via strategic partnerships. Shell, Aegean, Primetel, Revolut and others. Exploring different tie-ups, acquisitions and ecosystem strategies.
Recently set up the largest MGA business in Greece with one of the most reputable broker networks. Backed by Munich Re as a risk-carrier. Fronting fee, ancillaries income, claims handling. Targeting the offline part of the market.
STEPPING ON THE GAS. IT’S ALL ABOUT GROWTH.
Focus on key insurance metrics rather than tech ones. Long-term value. 42,000+ claims settled since launch. Average 5-year loss ratio of 56%.
A (REAL) INSURANCE COMPANY. PROVEN AND DEFENSIBLE UNIT ECONOMICS.
Building our moat. A competitive edge.
BUILD AN AGILE, SCALABLE ORGANIZATION. HIRE A ROCKSTAR TEAM.
Smart, passionate people with the drive to change the world. Round pegs. Misfits. Train them, support them and get out of their way.
97 employees (4 PhDs, a stand-up comedian and a bee-keeper!). 65 in Greece – 32 in Cyprus. Average age: 31 years. 103 tattoos. Diversity – more women in key positions than any other company in our sector. 40.2% women – 50.0% by 2020.
Recognised as an employer of choice. Awarded twice as a Best Place to Work.
CREATE A COMPETITIVE EDGE. INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY, PROPRIETARY DATA.
A tech, analytics and product-engineering culture. 27 engineers. EUR 7.5m+ invested in technology to date with multiples of that planned in the coming years.
Cutting-edge tech stack. Micro-services. Agile. 720k lines of code. Proprietary data.
A number of innovation awards, including the prestigious Marie Currie. Working alongside leading European universities and Italy’s National Research Council.
A new kind of thinking. Challenge all assumptions. Fighter spirit. Impact not process.
Be model citizens. Work hard to fix roads and support neighbourhood garages. Scholarships and relocation bonuses to help reverse the brain-drain.
Invest in a brighter future. Partner up with schools (e.g. the English School in Cyprus) and actively help out organizations we believe in (e.g. Red Cross in Greece).
A DIFFERENT MINDSET. RETHINK EVERYTHING.
04
It’s all about the people.
05
Reward existing employees – loyalty to the company.
Align individual performance – focus on a single metric (shareholder value).
Retain talent – faced with increasing competition for highly-skilled professionals.
ALWAYS VIEW HIRING AS AN INVESTMENT. HIRE SLOW, FIRE FAST. BE FAIR.
Hire slow, fire fast. Promote from within. Up-or-out approach (forced churn).
Three rounds of interviews. At least 6 people. Last round always with the founders.
Emphasis on team-play and fit. Hire outsiders – easier to train than to retrain.
A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO HIRING, TRAINING AND DEVELOPING TOP TALENT.
Hire smart, passionate people with the drive to change the world.
Encourage them to rethink everything. Challenge all assumptions. Nothing for granted.
Train them, support them and get out of their way.
ESOP AND LONG-TERM INCENTIVES TO ACHIEVE THREE KEY GOALS.
Behind the scenes. How we do things.
06
Quick decision-making. Take risks. Measure things that matter.
Impact not process. We are here to change the world. Focus on the goal in sight.
Over-communicate. Be proactive. Embrace uncertainty.
ALL-ROUNDED INDIVIDUALS. BRUTAL HONESTY. ABILITY TO SELF-CORRECT.
Play to people’s strengths, but invest time with key talent to develop all-rounders.
Brutal honesty. Continuous feedback. Build trust.
Healthy friction as a means of learning. Radical transparency.
A SPECIAL-FORCES APPROACH. SMALL, COMMITTED, MULTI-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS.
Work around small teams. High alignment. High autonomy.
A fluid, evolving team structure. Flat and cohesive. Break the monolith.
An apprenticeship model. Accountability. Encourage joint ownership.
RAPID, DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING. IMPACT NOT PROCESS. FOCUS.
Bringing it all together.
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A mission-driven organization with a strong culture.
Structured around value proposition. Better product, better price, better service.
Agile blocks with a clear mandate and distinct objectives.
• Discipline. Strict on what is within scope. Self-diagnosis. Quick corrective actions.
• Flexibility. Adaptable, accountable, receptive to change.
• Scalability. Build for the long-term. Create option value. A VC approach.
HELLAS DIRECT: THREE DISTINCT DIVISIONS.
