Marble is an all-in-one digital wallet for insurance who was recently acquired by The Zebra. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Marble’s CTO Adi Sundar before the acquisition to learn more about the company. Adi is now the VP of Engineering at The Zebra
Adi Sundar’s Background
What is Adi Sundar’s background? Sundar said:
“I am an experienced entrepreneur and product leader with 8+ years of experience across FinTech, Proptech, and enterprise product development. I thrive in ambiguous environments and have a special knack for helping non-technical founders turn their vision into reality.”
“Currently, I lead technology and product at Marble, where we are revolutionizing the way consumers and carriers interact with insurance. My team and I have built the first digital wallet and loyalty platform for insurance, ever. I joined the founding team soon after their inception to help turn an idea into a consumer product that helps members save money on their insurance while helping carriers retain customers.”
“Previously, I served as a Technical Product Advisor at Renew, where I spearheaded the formation of their product and engineering organization, validated their technical stack and architecture, and created a comprehensive set of product processes and workflows.”
“As the founder and CEO of Co-Founders, I led a team of 20+ talented engineers, designers, and product managers. We built custom software solutions for 15 startups and enterprises. I also led Stable Insurance’s product and engineering team as their CTO, creating an industry-first auto quote and bind insurance product for the ride-share industry.”
“Prior to that, I was part of the founding team as Head of Product at LoftSmart. During my time there I ran Product from pre-launch to a $40 million Series-A and created 3 core products: an end-to-end property management platform, a rent payments system, and a rental apartment marketplace.”
“Before my journey as an entrepreneur, I was part of technology teams for state governments and Fortune 500 companies as a Product Consultant for Deloitte Consulting’s technology practice.”
Formation Of Marble
How did the idea for the company come together? Sundar shared:
“The initial idea of Marble came together when our first investor, IA Capital, started doing research on the idea of rewards in insurance. As you may know, this is a highly regulated space and we have to be careful about how and when we reward consumers on their insurance.”
“However, Stuart Winchester, our CEO and Founder, took his learning from starting Better.com’s insurance agency to come up with the idea to create a unified wallet for personal lines insurance.”
“Coupled with my background in creating an auto insurance product, everything came together really well to help us ideate on the first version of Marble: an insurance wallet that rewards you for staying organized.”
Favorite Memory:
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Sundar reflected:
“One of my favorite memories has to be our first onsite. We had all been working remotely as the team grew from 2 to 10 employees, so seeing everyone in person for the first time after getting to know all our teammates virtually for 2 years was a special experience.”
“One thing Stuart and I are incredibly proud of is our employee retention. We have 14 employees and not a single person has quit the company in 4 years.
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Sundar explained:
- Marble Wallet
- Insurance Hub -Simplify, organize, and optimize your insurance
- Marble Cover
- Auto-Pilot Shopping Assistant
- Auto-Pilot Shopping Assistant
- Marble Rewards
- Rewards & Engagement Suite
- Rewards & Engagement Suite
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Sundar and the team faced in building the company? Sundar acknowledged:
“Too many to name. Insurance is an incredibly old industry. And while it has stood the test of time, that also means we have to deal with a ton of outdated regulations, processes, and technology.”
“We have overcome these challenges by continuing to be lean and agile about how we approach each problem. We made it a priority to hire people who had no prior insurance experience when it came to product and engineering roles. This helped us approach each problem with a unique perspective. We cannot always change certain limitations, but we can effectively communicate these limitations to our users so we set the right expectations.”
Evolution Of Marble’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Sundar noted:
“We started as an organizational tool that focused on rewarding consumers for securely storing their insurance data. Since the initial launch, we have added a ton of insightful tools and savings mechanisms to really provide valuable resources for our customers. As a result, we have started to pair down the mention of rewards in marketing and in our product. Instead, we see ourselves as the ultimate shopping engine for insurance.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Sundar cited:
“Launching Marble Cover and our insurance agency! We chose to not work on revenue until building a core bank of engagement and value additive features for our users. After 2 years of focusing on our consumer, we shifted our focus to helping our customers save money and selling them insurance policies. Fortunately for us, this has been a hit with our users! This past month we have sold more policies than all previous months to date combined.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Sundar about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We have so many amazing success stories! Our customers are amazing, and over 700 of them have given us 5-star ratings and written reviews in our app store. We have a channel in slack that pings us when a new review is written, and it keeps the entire team going to know how much we have helped our members. Here are some of those reviews:
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Sundar affirmed:
“We focus on retention and helping the customer, not just selling them insurance. No one else in the insurtech space is focused on building a long-term relationship with consumers like we are.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Sundar concluded:
“In 5 years, we want every American insurance consumer to think of The Zebra when they think of insurance, irrespective of what insurance carrier they have. I am excited to bring Marble’s learnings and wallet technology to The Zebra.”
