Earlier this year, I was approached by an insurance agency to build some customer software for managing insurance quotes. So, I made something and it's great and all, but in doing so, I saw the need for something bigger that everyone can use.
Independent insurance agencies, especially any smaller than 50 people, are dealign with some terribly outdated software. Besides being dated, it's usually mega-expensive and complicated.
Some agencies spend 2 hours going through 7 different insurance carrier portals trying to find the right coverage for a quote. While doing that, they juggle customer relationships, carrier relationships, and a ton of other information.
I thought there had to be a better way. And I worked on that.
That's what eventually became HarborIQ.
The platform is built specifically for these independents. I didn't want to make another generic repackaged CRM for insurance. We offer a free CRM. But, beyond that are insurance-specific intelligence tools that help agents search across carrier documents (there are a TON for every carrier) making information relevant on a quote in seconds.. not hours. Plus, they can better manager their relationships with the carriers they work with.
I love building products and businesses. It's been my entire carer. Both hardware and software. A few years ago, I co-founded a startup that leveraged ML to optimize team placement at multi-national companies and it was acquired.
But, I have to admit, that this industry has been one of the more complex to navigate. I had no idea how complicated it was/is or how risk-averse every single decision would be.
It's been a fun challenge though. One thing has been reinforced from this, and that's just because an industry has done something a certain way for decades doesn't mean it should stay that way.
I'm curious of anyone has navigated bringing in something to new legacy complex industries. Was it worth it?
comments (1)
Independent insurance agencies, especially any smaller than 50 people, are dealign with some terribly outdated software. Besides being dated, it's usually mega-expensive and complicated.
Some agencies spend 2 hours going through 7 different insurance carrier portals trying to find the right coverage for a quote. While doing that, they juggle customer relationships, carrier relationships, and a ton of other information.
I thought there had to be a better way. And I worked on that.
That's what eventually became HarborIQ.
The platform is built specifically for these independents. I didn't want to make another generic repackaged CRM for insurance. We offer a free CRM. But, beyond that are insurance-specific intelligence tools that help agents search across carrier documents (there are a TON for every carrier) making information relevant on a quote in seconds.. not hours. Plus, they can better manager their relationships with the carriers they work with.
I love building products and businesses. It's been my entire carer. Both hardware and software. A few years ago, I co-founded a startup that leveraged ML to optimize team placement at multi-national companies and it was acquired.
But, I have to admit, that this industry has been one of the more complex to navigate. I had no idea how complicated it was/is or how risk-averse every single decision would be.
It's been a fun challenge though. One thing has been reinforced from this, and that's just because an industry has done something a certain way for decades doesn't mean it should stay that way.
I'm curious of anyone has navigated bringing in something to new legacy complex industries. Was it worth it?
justinthebuilde