Ep143 Chris Cheatham Bold Penguin: Build out now because digital’s definitely working

Today’s guest is one of the original poster children of the
Insurtech movement and has been applying technology to solve
insurance problems since long before the phrase insurtech was
coined. Back when the first insurtech conferences were getting
started he was a highly sought-after speaker. If you listen today
you’ll soon understand why. Chris Cheatham founded RiskGenius in
2012 and in 2020 that business was absorbed by fellow insurtech
and online exchange Bold Penguin Very soon afterwards the
enlarged Bold Penguin became part of the American Family
Insurance group. Chris’s story is one of entrepreneurship and a
path into insurtech maturity. Unlike many in the first wave and
many of the speakers at those early conferences, neither
RiskGenius nor Bold Penguin made any claim to be insurance
disruptors intent on revolution and disintermediation. Instead
these businesses were industry partners, looking to remove
friction and pain points, largely for existing insurance
entities. As the tech funding climate cools it is their model
that is the one gaining traction and adoption from some of the
most traditional elements in the insurance value chain. Today’s
discussion is really valuable because it mirrors the growing
maturity of the insurtech scene and shines lots of light on where
things are heading in the short, medium and long term. Chris has
been on a remarkable journey – and from this encounter I feel
he’s just getting started. No matter where you are sitting in the
insurance value chain I think the next half hour will be a very
valuable investment of your time. NOTES: Chris mentioned a cool
electronic paper tablet called a reMarkable. It does indeed look
really cool – any remaining paper junkies should have a look:
https://remarkable.com LINKS We thank our naming sponsor
AdvantageGo: https://www.advantagego.com/ We also thank this
Episode’s advertising supporter Oxbow Partners
https://oxbowpartners.com