Presentation by Emilios and Alexis, co-founders of Hellas Direct, at Hack Cyprus 2013 in Nicosia. [Hilton Park Hotel - 8 Sep 2013]

1. HELLAS DIRECT:
SETTING UP A NEW
INSURANCE COMPANY
IN GREECE
HACK CYPRUS 2013
NICOSIA, CYPRUS
4-8 SEPTEMBER 2013
(“LAUNCHING A START-UP AT A TIME OF CRISIS”)

2. LOOKING FOR A
NEW CHALLENGE
IN LIFE?

3. Sir Richard Branson (2012)
Oldest man to kitesurf
across the English Channel.
THERE ARE A BUNCH OF CRAZY THINGS YOU
COULD DO TO PICK YOURSELF UP
Hugh Hefner (2013)Felix Baumgartner (2012)
Married to a 26-year old
when he turned 86.
Skydived from space,
breaking the speed of sound.

4. … IN INSURANCE, IN GREECE, IN 2012!
OR YOU COULD START A NEW VENTURE

5. WTF?!

6. SO, WHO ARE WE? WHAT DO WE DO? HOW DID WE GET HERE?
TIP OF THE DAY:
STARTUPS CAN
BE BAD FOR
YOUR LOOKS
A LONG, LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY* FAR FAR AWAY…
* IN LONDON

7. Larry Page + Sergey Brin
LIKE MOST ENTREPRENEURS, WE SET OFF
THINKING WE’D BE THE NEXT GOOGLE GUYS …
* until this
guy came
along.
GOOGLE: Largest tech IPO in history*.

8. PRE-SEED SEED ROUND I
CUMULATIVECASHFLOW
ROUND II ROUND III ROUND IV
ANGELS
<EUR 100k EUR 500k-1m EUR 1-5m EUR 5-10m
8-10 YEARS
1/3
IPO
EUR 100-500k
‘VALLEY OF
DEATH”
xx
EARLY-STAGE LATE-STAGE
… KNOWING THAT REALITY CAN BE HARSH
(9/10 START-UPS FAIL)
1/2 2/3 4/5
EXPANSION FOLLOW-ON
EUR 30-50m EUR 50m>
GROWTH
EUR 10-30m
BREAK
EVEN
START-UP
SURVIVAL
RATE

9. SO, WHY GREECE?
A COUNTRY RUN BY
CROOKS AND
INCOMPETENT
POLITICIANS
TRANSFORMATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY -
GOING THROUGH A
HUGE RESET
LARGE ENOUGH –
11M PEOPLE

10. AND WHY CAR INSURANCE?
OBLIGATORY BY LAW
LETHARGIC COMPETITION
– HIGH COSTS AND
INNEFFICIENCIES
MIDDLEMAN IS STILL THE
KING WITH OBSENE
COMMISSIONS – BROKERS
NOT AGENTS
EUR 2BN MARKET SIZE

11. WHY NOW?
A STRONGER
REGULATOR
THE RISE OF THE
CONSUMER
BEST TIME TO
BUILD A BRAND

12. OUR STORY
¡ A NEW, DIRECT INSURANCE COMPANY IN GREECE.
¡ “CHANGING THE GREEK INSURANCE MARKET, ONE POLICY AT A TIME”.
¡ WE ARE HIGHLY SPECIALISED.
¡ WE LIVE AND BREATHE TECHNOLOGY.
¡ WE LOVE NUMBERS.
¡ WE SERVICE THE CONSUMER, NOT THE BROKER!
¡ 23 PEOPLE IN 3 COUNTRIES.
¡ A LONG JOURNEY: 3 YEARS FROM START TO OUR FIRST SALE.
¡ WE HAVE FACED THREE KEY CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY…

13. CHALLENGE I: SECURE (REAL) FUNDING

14. 2,500 APPROACHES
300 MEETINGS
11 INVESTORS
1.5 YEARS
FINDING INVESTORS WASN’T EASY …
1 IN 8
1 IN 27

15. 99.56%
REJECTION
RATE
… AND THE ODDS WERE NOT ON OUR SIDE
THERE IS A HIGHER CHANCE OF
BETTING ALL YOUR MONEY ON BLACK IN A
LAS VEGAS ROULETTE AND WINNING…
… 7 CONSECUTIVE TIMES!

16. CHALLENGE II: BUILD A GREAT COMPANY

17. Invest in technology
Algorithmic pricing
Close ties with academia
Keep innovatingHire the right people
Intelligence
Passion
A drive to make things better
Get licensed
A year of paperwork
Detailed business planning
Latest EU regulations
THERE ARE THREE BASIC INGREDIENTS TO
BUILDING A GREAT INSURANCE COMPANY

18. CHALLENGE III: DRIVE SALES

19. LIKE ANY NEW IDEA, APPEAL TO THE
INNOVATORS AND EARLY ADOPTERS FIRST
(NOT EVERYONE WILL GET IT – TARGET YOUR TRIBE FIRST!)

20. SOME DAYS ARE TOUGHER THAN OTHERS …
“Happy Hanukkah”
Israeli investor
Tel Aviv, IsraelLondon, UK Athens, Greece
“Shaken not stirred”
Russian investor
“Press 4 for help”
South African investor

21. … BUT IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT
MAKE IT ALL WORTHWHILE
I have just insured my car with Hellas
Direct in under 5’. If all other
services (private or public) were as
friendly to the user as this one, our
productivity would be much higher
and we would all be much calmer…
- a client’s facebook post