In this episode, James and guest co-host Peter MacDonald talk with Aviad Pinkovezky, President of First Connect Insurance.

To learn more about First Connect Insurance, visit https://www.firstconnectinsurance.com/

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Episode Highlights:

Aviad shares that he served in Israeli Military Intelligence for 10 years, working with super smart people to solve problems using technology and resourcefulness. (4:06)
Aviad explains that everybody has their own risk tolerance and financial needs, so it is important to consider other factors before taking a risk. (11:54)
Aviad mentions that it is now easier than ever to set up an agency from scratch, with very few hurdles and the friction is much less than it used to be. (16:37)
Aviad discusses how First Connect helps small to medium-sized agencies compete with direct consumers. (17:54)
Aviad mentions that providing access to markets is one big pillar of First Connect’s strategy and execution, as well as the technology solutions. (19:49)
Aviad mentions that First Connect has reached the exciting milestone of 70 different carriers and MGA solutions, comprised of both traditional and InsurTech startups. (36:34)
Aviad explains that they launched a consumer-grade experience to create a slick, intuitive experience for agents to explore and find new opportunities, and saw an increase of 160% in appointment requests. (41:05)
Aviad discusses the huge difference between an agency that attracts high net worth, policyholders and one that attracts non-standard driving non-standard auto drivers, which requires different metrics, design, office space, and marketing. (43:27)
Aviad mentions that agents are starving for an easy and intuitive consumer-grade experience, which is what First Connect is here to offer. (52:02)

Key Quotes:

“We are in the business of leveling the playing field, between small to medium insurance agencies, independent insurance agencies, against the loud direct to consumer, the ones that has like their own resource technology, and so on. ” - Aviad Pinkovezky
“Providing access to markets is one big pillar of our strategy and execution. But at the same time, it's not the only one. We believe that also by providing different technology solutions and tools that allow agents to run their agency in a more efficient way, and to have online presence…those are another levers you can pull in order to create better settings for different small to medium agencies where they can compete with larger organizations that have their own technology, engineering resources and so on.” - Aviad Pinkovezky

Witch of the Weave by Henry Szabranski (audio)