so-sure
- Title: Hands-On CTO
- Website: https://www.wearesosure.com/
Company
so-sure is a startup MGA that offers mobile phone insurance directly to consumers
Team
I was the first technical hire at so-sure, where I developed the majority of the backend systems and API, along with all of the infrastructure. I built the technical team, hiring two native app developers, one front-end developer, and two backend developers. I collaborated closely with the Managing Director, Head of Product, and Head of Marketing, as well as the underwriter and claims team.
Challenge
My time at so-sure encompassed several stages, with some notable projects outlined below:
App MVP: Initially, my focus at so-sure was on creating the MVP. Together with the product owner, we adopted an app-first approach. I hired the app developers and built the backend for the initial product, including its architecture, infrastructure, API, and admin portal. Additionally, I sourced and integrated the payment provider, as well as the anti-fraud and device-checking services. I collaborated extensively with our underwriter and claim handlers to define and implement the data exchange and to conduct integration testing.
Product Market Fit: After the MVP launch, we quickly realized that a mobile-first approach was not effective for customer acquisition. To address this, we implemented a web-based purchase flow. During this period, we focused on growth by implementing Mixpanel tracking and A/B testing to rapidly iterate on new ideas.
pic-sure: One major issue we identified was a high number of claims being raised almost immediately after purchase. Unlike other mobile insurance companies that often impose a 14-day waiting period, we believed customers should be covered from day one. Initially, we experimented with screen-tracing technology, but it proved unsuccessful. We then implemented a phone selfie mechanism, where customers submitted photos of their mobile devices to our backend. This allowed us to examine the photos to check for cracked screens and significantly reduce the excess if no damage was detected. After the initial implementation, we noticed attempts to circumvent the process. To address this, we introduced various safeguards to prevent users from gaming the system. We also designed a process to eventually leverage machine learning for automatically detecting cracked screens, though insufficient data prevented immediate implementation. As the product owner for this initiative, I led the effort to implement and refine the solution, which we branded as ‘pic-sure.’
Results
so-sure was a success, growing from a small startup to achieving a £750k annual run rate by the time I left. In 2024, so-sure was acquired by Open Insurance Services.
pic-sure reduced claims by 50%, and we were granted a patent for the process.