The Founder Files Making Life Cover Fast, Affordable, & Scalable With AI - Greg Smith, Dis-Chem Life
In this episode of The Founder Files, we sit down with Greg Smith, the co-founder and CEO of Onespark, now known as Dis-Chem Life.
Greg takes us through the journey of building one of South Africa’s most disruptive insurtechs, and the exciting partnership and 50% acquisition by Dis-Chem.
We also discuss scaling, how founders become bottlenecks, and how Greg shifted to "founder mode" to unblock his team. Greg highlights the challenges of maintaining quality and culture during rapid growth and the strategic value of the Dis-Chem partnership in accelerating success.
If you’re an entrepreneur navigating the challenges of scaling, building partnerships, or dealing with the growing pains of business growth, this conversation is packed with invaluable insights for you.
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This episode is brought to you by Metavolve.
Metavolve is a team of focused experts committed to helping entrepreneurs like you scale their businesses successfully. Reach out to our team to learn more: https://metavolve.co/
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00:00 Introduction
03:32 OneSpark’s Partnership with Dis-Chem Life
08:50 What Is OneSpark?
12:02 How OneSpark Uses AI for Advanced Risk Analysis
18:31 Breaking Down the Tech Behind OneSpark
25:26 Finding Product-Market Fit and Overcoming Challenges
32:06 The Hard Part After Landing Your First Sale
42:17 The First Major Bottleneck And How They Fixed It
57:38 How Greg Is Elevating His Management Team
01:02:52 Why Quality and Customer Experience Get Worse Before They Improve
01:10:00 The Cultural Shift of Integrating with a Corporate Giant
01:17:19 How OneSpark’s Strategy Is Evolving
01:29:23 The Future of Dis-Chem Life
01:33:16 Why Choosing the Right Co-Founders Is Critical
01:38:46 Final Reflections