An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Invest in cloud computing technology that will streamline processes and make things as efficient as possible for your employees and customers. We built our proprietary business platform using the Microsoft intelligent cloud and that’s enabled us to run the business with very low overhead and offer the services that we want to offer at scale.
Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens when you add a bunch of new people into this close cohort? How do you maintain the company culture? In addition, what is needed to successfully scale a business to increase market share or to increase offerings? How can a small startup grow successfully to a midsize and then large company? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experiences about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Adrian Dzielnicki.
Adrian Dzielnicki is a licensed insurance agent and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Charterholder. He is also the co-founder and CEO at Nsure.com. Before that, he co-founded Graviton Capital, one of the largest microcap investment banks in Poland. In less than 10 years, he took over 60 companies public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, raising over 200 million USD. He received his Masters in Economics from Wroclaw University.
Thank you for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I started an investment bank in Poland in 2006 during a bull market and it quickly got very successful, but then the bear market came and affected us like everyone else. I ran that business for ten years, through all types of ups and downs. It’s easy to remain positive during good times, it’s how you handle challenges that really sets you apart.
We were starting to do some business in the United States at the same time that I was looking to do something more scalable and bigger. When I purchased my home in Florida and got a car, I had to secure insurance for those assets. I quickly realized that the insurance space in the U.S. was very outdated when compared to Europe. It reminded me of my experience in insurance many years ago, where everything was still on paper and policy changes were made through phone calls.
I looked at the user experience in other industry sectors and wished there was a place online where insurance policies could be compared and purchased quickly. When I didn’t find what I was looking for, I decided to start my own company that did just that.
My experience as an insurance agent in Poland and as a customer in the United States, made me confident I could create a tool that makes the insurance process easier to navigate and understand. That’s how the idea started and we launched Nsure.com in 2018.
You’ve had a remarkable career journey. Can you highlight a key decision in your career that helped you get to where you are today?
As someone who has started several successful businesses, I always look for gaps in industries. What is outdated and needs to be simplified? That’s how I realized that insurance in the United States was ready for disruption. When my business partner, Wojtek, I started Nsure.com. We focused on making a customer experience that is second to none. If you can take something that everyone needs and make it simple and stress-free to acquire, you can build everything else around that. If there’s been any decision that defines me it’s that I choose to use technology to improve experiences for people.
What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?
Creating a product that people enjoy using is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. When you’re a startup in a competitive industry, the big legacy companies will try and discourage you from being innovative. People will tell you you’re crazy, or that you can’t do things that way. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never been distracted by critics. For years, people told me that creating a better insurance shopping process wasn’t possible–if I had believed them, Nsure.com would not be a thriving company with thousands of five-star reviews.
Think of all of the innovative companies that have launched in the last few years in established industries like travel and healthcare. The reasons we can use our mobile devices to do almost anything, book an entire trip in minutes, or consult a doctor halfway across the country through a telehealth appointment is all because of founders who didn’t listen to the critics who were stuck using old systems and models. No matter what business you’re in, build something people love, that makes their lives easier, and you’ll be successful.
Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?
Well, my co-founder and I joke all the time that if we could go back in time we never would have started our insuretech company in Florida–probably the most difficult state when it comes to insurance. Florida’s climate disasters, like the recent hurricane, can make insurance so much more complex. However, starting a business in “hard mode” in Florida ended up being the best thing for us in the long run because it literally prepared us for anything and forced us to become insurance experts in every facet of the industry. It certainly made for some early challenges that we had to overcome and that’s made us very confident.
How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?
When I was in high school, my first mentor was my mother; she had a very successful career in banking and finance in Poland and always encouraged me to be entrepreneurial. I’ve also read many books about the lives of people like Warren Buffett who have inspired me.
Also, my longtime friend and business partner Wojtek and I have a relationship where we share ideas and are comfortable challenging each other and having difficult conversations when needed. This was a tone that we set with each other from the beginning. We’re both extremely ambitious, so we knew we needed to be able to keep each other in check and confront each other. The best thing you can ask from your leadership team is that they push you every day to be better.
Developing your leadership style takes time and practice. Who do you model your leadership style after? What are some key character traits you try to emulate?
It’s best to study the methods and behaviors of the people you look up to, without getting trapped following any single person too closely. I try to learn from a variety of tech founders, successful entrepreneurs and leaders in economics and finance without trying to copy everything they do. Take some of today’s most successful billionaires for example, there are things they’ve done that are amazing and worth learning from, and there are other behaviors and missteps that should be avoided at all cost. For me, it’s developing the ability to cherry pick the best traits and mindsets of the people that are revolutionizing the way business is done–while also knowing what to ignore.
Thank you for sharing that with us. Let’s talk about scaling a business from a small startup to a midsize and then large company. Based on your experience, can you share with our readers the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”? Please give a story or example for each.
- To scale you need a large market (the insurance market has over 6,000 carriers across the country with over 1 trillion dollars in premiums written) and you have to have a deep understanding of your customer. I experienced the process of securing insurance as a customer first, so I knew how to create a solution that would fit the market, and be exactly what people were looking for.
- Invest in cloud computing technology that will streamline processes and make things as efficient as possible for your employees and customers. We built our proprietary business platform using the Microsoft intelligent cloud and that’s enabled us to run the business with very low overhead and offer the services that we want to offer at scale.
- Whoever controls the data controls the business. Insurance relies on collecting hundreds of data points around customer, his assets and his behavior and their journey during the sales process. We have capability to capture such data, which we use to inform us on what to improve and when to scale. Because we are an intermediary at the intersection of everything going on in the market, we know more than the carriers do. This gives us not only a competitive advantage, but the ability to provide an amazing customer experience.
- Look to increase the speed and accuracy of everything you do. We focus on scalable, repeatable, processes. Optimization is a continuous process of making small improvements. We focus on the small improvements that will add up to become a big differentiator.
- Technology is important, but people must always come first. We could be the most technologically-advanced company in our industry (and in many ways we are) but if we were jerks that no one wanted to do business with, that wouldn’t matter. People have to want to work for us and our customers have to recognize what makes us different and feel taken care of–so treating people the right way is always our top priority.
Can you share a few of the mistakes that companies make when they try to scale a business? What would you suggest to address those errors?
Businesses need capital in order to scale, but startups that burn through their investor’s money without making sure there is a clear path to profitability are being irresponsible. I hope that the days of overvaluing large companies that aren’t truly profitable are coming to an end. Companies that buy into their value too much without working on the repeatable, day-to-day processes to become industry leaders are heading over a cliff. I always say “never let anything drive you off a clear path to profitability.”
Also, you have to set big, ambitious goals, but not be so fixed on them that you can’t modify those goals if the data is telling you something different. Businesses that can respond to fluctuations in the market and take advantage of opportunities quickly are the ones that succeed.
Finally, don’t feel like you have to have everything figured out or every process perfect before you launch. There’s never a perfect time to launch and there will always be a learning curve to overcome no matter how prepared you are. Have the confidence to start a company and develop it in an agile way.
Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?
It’s important for the leadership of a business that is scaling quickly to maintain clear and open communication with every employee. When onboarding new employees, set the expectations that things are going to move fast and change constantly. Not everyone is comfortable working in a startup environment where everything is evolving all the time. Every employee needs to know their role, what’s expected of them, and buy into the vision that leadership has for the future. Scaling up can seem chaotic at times, but if everyone knows what the goals are and can understand why you’re doing what you’re doing and where you’re going together, there will be less anxiety. Also, create a culture where everyone in the company is comfortable speaking up when they see a problem. Especially early on, when you have limited resources, you have to be able to address and fix problems quickly. Transparent and effective Internal communication is key to preserving your company’s culture during disruptive growth.
In my work, I focus on helping companies to simplify the process of creating documentation of their workflow, so I am particularly passionate about this question. Many times, a key aspect of scaling your business is scaling your team’s knowledge and internal procedures. What tools or techniques have helped your teams be successful at scaling internally?
Reliable API connectivity has made accessing the data we need faster and simpler than ever. We are a paperless cloud-based company and that has made us very agile and adaptable.
What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?
We use a lot of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology to simplify the onboarding process. Using conversational AI to talk to people in a natural way is the future. We are looking for ways to use that more in place of phone conversations and other legacy processes. Autofill and automize as many routine processes as you can.
Technology should be used in a similar way to simplify the customer onboarding process as well.
Because of your role, you are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would that be? You never know what your ideas can trigger.
I honestly believe that Nsure.com is bringing the most amount of good to the most people. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this business. When our customers tell us that we saved them thousands of dollars, or that we changed their mind about how seamless and convenient getting insurance can be–that’s a great feeling! The perception of buying insurance is that it’s a daunting process that no one enjoys, but almost everyone has to suffer through. We are changing that perception one transaction at a time.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Check out Nsure.com to experience the revolution of this industry in real time.
This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise.
Adrian Dzielnicki Of Nsure On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
