#319 - Ryan Letzeiser, CEO of Obie Insurance - on the courage to pivot.

Tech Entrepreneur on a Mission Podcast

This podcast interview focuses on the entrepreneurial journey that required a 180-degree pivot to find strong product market fit. My guest is Ryan Leitzeiser, Co-founder and CEO of Obie Insurance.

Ryan has over 10 years of experience in an executive role in technology and commercial real estate (CRE) investment and development.

Having worked at Hudson Capital Investments and as an Investment Analyst at Ram Real Estate, he has a strong background in CRE valuation, underwriting, asset management, and private equity.

In July 2018, he co-founded Obie, a Y Combinator-backed startup that's set out to make some waves in insurance technology.

Their mission: To provide a simple, affordable, and transparent insurance experience for landlords and real estate investors.

This inspired me, and hence, I invited Ryan to my podcast. We explore what's broken in the world of insurance, particularly when it relates to Real Estate. He shares his experiences and big lessons learned from having to pivot the business. He elaborates on what he did wrong, and the courage it took to correct course - the then turn that into a growth engine that is hard to stop. Last but not least he talks about some of the essential traits to develop to build a business that lasts.

Here's one of his quotes

Insurance is an admin nightmare for them [Lenders] during the closing process. We provide them with technology and tools as it relates to insurance for their consumers so that mistakes are not made. And ultimately, for a lender, this help that we provide them ultimately unlocks a ton of customers for us. In fact, we have lenders that will charge their customer base a fee, if they don't use us.

During this interview, you will learn four things:

1. What traits to look for in employees if you want to attract people who can solve customer problems and provide great experiences.
2. What to do differently if you want your customers to make your solution mandatory for anyone they do business with.
3. His learnings on growing confidence and commitment from others.
4. What he's learned to be critical behaviors to adhere to in a company if you want to build a business that lasts.

For more information about the guest from this week:

• Ryan Letzeiser
• Website: Obie Insurance

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