We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan Hartman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.
Hi Ryan, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I got my optimism from playing sports as a kid. I played baseball all the way through college (Go Hokies!). I remember when my dad was team’s coach when I was about ten years old. We had a need for a pitcher on the team, so my dad tried to convert me from an infielder to a pitcher. I never pitched before, so figured I either couldn’t do it or would be terrible at it. My dad gave me the confidence that I could do it, and turned my negative outlook into a positive one. Even today I think to myself “you can only get better”. I worked really hard to learn the mechanics and fundamentals of pitching, and in my later years the position I was best at was pitcher!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have been in auto-related industries for pretty much my whole professional career. My first job out of college was at GEICO in Washington DC, then I had stints at Esurance/Allstate in San Francisco, and more recently was the head of marketing at The Zebra in Austin, TX. Having a career in an auto field must be in my blood since both my father and stepmother both had lifelong careers with the US Department of Transportation.
About three years ago, I founded Chaiz, the first comparison site for extended car warranties after my BMW broke down with only 60K miles on it… and the mechanic told me the repair bill I was looking at was going to be around $10K! The only way I could’ve avoided paying all of that out of pocket was by having an extended car warranty since my factory warranty had already expired. Learning the lesson the hard way, I shopped around for extended warranties for my next vehicle, but I found the shopping experience was awful. Every site I went to made me call in for a quote instead of showing me quotes online. And unlike travel or insurance, no comparison site existed to allow me to compare plans and rates apples to apples. So, Chaiz was created to solve all of that. We have been live for 2+ years and have sold thousands of plans online 100% online. Plus, we are able to save our customers 40-60% versus call centers and dealerships since our digital approach allows us to cut out high overhead costs and sales commission. We raised a $3.7M seed round from well-known automotive and insurtech funds in July to help us fuel our growth and let people know there is a better way to buy vehicle breakdown protection!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Launching a startup is tough work, but it can be extremely rewarding. Having tough skin is a must. Through our fundraising journey we were said “no” too dozens of times until we finally landed investors. Being flexible is also important. Plenty of curveballs will be thrown at you, and you will need to be able to change direction quickly. Lastly, having a testing mindset is super important. Oftentimes I’ve thought I’ve known the right answer, but through testing I am often surprised that I was wrong!
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
At Chaiz, we are a technology first-company. We have embeddable tech that auto-related sites can partner with easily to earn incremental revenue. If you own a dealership or auto repair shop, Chaiz can power your auto warranty offering seamlessly. Plus, your customer will save money and avoid expensive auto repairs! We are also looking to partner with credit unions, banks, and direct lenders as we can wrap our warranty coverage into new and refinanced auto loans.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chaiz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaizcom/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chaiz/
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