In 2009, an unknown investor from Russia came out of nowhere to make one of the greatest late stage venture bets in the history of Silicon Valley. Why did FB choose an outsider to lead our Series D round? Here’s the inside story:
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🔎 $RTP/@hippo_insurance: SaaS harnessing AI to revolutionize the home insurance industry 🦛🏠
- Everything you need to know
- One-stop-shop for all things smart/connected home
- Higher growth & revenue than closest public competitor $LMND/@Lemonade_Inc
Time for a thread 🧵⬇️
Hippo was founded in 2015 by Assaf Wand, an ex-McKinsey consultant and Eyal Navon, serial entreprenuer and software engineer.
Wand's interest in insurance was inspired by his father's lengthy career in the "antiquated" insurance industry. $RTP
After two years of R&D, fundraising, and product development, Hippo launched in April 2017 in California.
The company's marketing was centered on the delivery of a 60-sec quote for insurance policies, transparent process, and smart home integration.
https://t.co/msy9u2ZpST $RTP
By March 2019, with Hippo insurance available to more than 50% of the homeowners in the US, the company reported a 25% month-over-month sales growth and total insured property value of more than $50 billion, with a 93% customer retention rate.
https://t.co/D5AyWgonVp $RTP
Hippo is going after a slightly different market. Most of the new insurance companies have pitched services to renters and city dwellers made up of the mostly millennial demographic, while Hippo is aiming its services squarely at homeowners. $RTP
https://t.co/MYo9HWDmdV
- Everything you need to know
- One-stop-shop for all things smart/connected home
- Higher growth & revenue than closest public competitor $LMND/@Lemonade_Inc
Time for a thread 🧵⬇️
Hippo was founded in 2015 by Assaf Wand, an ex-McKinsey consultant and Eyal Navon, serial entreprenuer and software engineer.
Wand's interest in insurance was inspired by his father's lengthy career in the "antiquated" insurance industry. $RTP
After two years of R&D, fundraising, and product development, Hippo launched in April 2017 in California.
The company's marketing was centered on the delivery of a 60-sec quote for insurance policies, transparent process, and smart home integration.
https://t.co/msy9u2ZpST $RTP
By March 2019, with Hippo insurance available to more than 50% of the homeowners in the US, the company reported a 25% month-over-month sales growth and total insured property value of more than $50 billion, with a 93% customer retention rate.
https://t.co/D5AyWgonVp $RTP
Hippo is going after a slightly different market. Most of the new insurance companies have pitched services to renters and city dwellers made up of the mostly millennial demographic, while Hippo is aiming its services squarely at homeowners. $RTP
https://t.co/MYo9HWDmdV
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Great article from @AsheSchow. I lived thru the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980's/early 1990's asking myself "Has eveyrbody lost their GODDAMN MINDS?!"
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.
For three years I have wanted to write an article on moral panics. I have collected anecdotes and similarities between today\u2019s moral panic and those of the past - particularly the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) September 29, 2018
This is my finished product: https://t.co/otcM1uuUDk
The 3 big things that made the 1980's/early 1990's surreal for me.
1) Satanic Panic - satanism in the day cares ahhhh!
2) "Repressed memory" syndrome
3) Facilitated Communication [FC]
All 3 led to massive abuse.
"Therapists" -and I use the term to describe these quacks loosely - would hypnotize people & convince they they were 'reliving' past memories of Mom & Dad killing babies in Satanic rituals in the basement while they were growing up.
Other 'therapists' would badger kids until they invented stories about watching alligators eat babies dropped into a lake from a hot air balloon. Kids would deny anything happened for hours until the therapist 'broke through' and 'found' the 'truth'.
FC was a movement that started with the claim severely handicapped individuals were able to 'type' legible sentences & communicate if a 'helper' guided their hands over a keyboard.