“So…you’ll be CEO of a website???”
Executive Summary
Chad Nitschke, a co-founder of Bunker—the first contract-related insurance marketplace for contractors and small businesses—describes his journey from the traditional insurance industry to become "CEO of a website." Moving past his frustration with the established industry, building an InsurTech isn't as easy as media reports suggest. Instead, it takes dogmatic stubbornness and drive to turn a vision into reality, he writes, also describing the importance of testing prototypes with customers and learning to understand the language of investors.That was my parents’ confused reaction two years ago, after I spent 30 minutes walking through the rationale behind why I was going to leave the traditional insurance industry and launch Bunker. To date that was hands down my worst pitch meeting—my parents. The good news: I’m now affectionately known as “CEO of a website” to the team.
Rooted in Frustration
I often get asked why I started Bunker. Throughout my career, I was fortunate to work for several leading carriers in a variety of great roles. The answer to why I left is rooted in frustration. I was frustrated with the lack of change in the insurance industry. I was frustrated knowing the $5 trillion global industry should be better. I was frustrated living in San Francisco and watching startups in every other area of financial services drive innovation—banking, payments, lending—while insurance was at risk of getting left behind. I was frustrated that from inside the industry it felt like we were perpetuating more problems for customers than we were solving.
