In today’s episode, I’m joined by Travis Hedge, Co-Founder, and CRO at Vouch Insurance. Vouch describes itself as a new kind of insurance platform for startups that offer fully digital, tailored coverage that takes minutes to activate. San Francisco-based Vouch has now raised a total of $160 million since its 2018 inception. Other investors include Allegis Group, Sound Ventures, and SiriusPoint. 

Travis wanted to be a broker, just like his parents, but ultimately pursued a career in Venture Capital at Nationwide Insurance and SVB Capital. He invested in startups that were changing everything, but were held back by insurance that hadn't changed at all. Now, Vouch has become the preferred business insurance provider to the customers of Silicon Valley Bank, Brex, and WeWork. Y Combinator also refers Vouch to its portfolio companies. 

In our discussion today, you’ll hear about Travis’ family connection to entrepreneurship, the importance of “people first” particularly the first ten hires in a startup, and why finding backers that offer more than just a check is so important to the long-term health and growth of your business. 

Startup Growth Stories is hosted by Don Muir, CEO and Co-Founder of Arc Technologies. In each weekly episode of this podcast, you’ll hear from first-time, bootstrapped, and unicorn founders around how they secured their first customers, convinced their first employees to join, and grew their business. Founders and industry insiders share their greatest successes (and failures) and the things they learned along the way. In the final minutes of each episode, guests get vulnerable - they share very personal stories about the impact of their work on their wellbeing, their relationships and their families.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

[00:47] Who is Travis Hedge? 

[01:39] After Travis’ parents’ business got hacked, he realized small businesses take just as much risk as Fortune 500 companies but have no defense, and the idea for Vouch was born

[03:54] Travis’ college attempt to form a bipartisan group on campus 

[06:30] Sam and Travis met through Ribbit, and Sam had valuable experience as a second-time founder

[08:11] Building the business rests on core values

[13:45] Why it’s important to have “skin in the game” - if you start as solely a sales organization, it’s very difficult to switch back to being an underwriter

[15:50] Vouch founders learned a lot from contributions from members of Ribbit, YC - check out risk.vouch.us

[17:40] Getting into biz is a marriage of ten or fifteen years - having board members who contribute more than money is invaluable

[20:00] Travis admits his sleep patterns, weight, mental health, and emotions have definitely gone up and down – but he reminds himself to take care of himself first to be his best

[21:50] There have been hard times with relationships and family due to work

[23:50] A founder’s job is to constantly ‘de-risk’ your business - Travis’ advice is you better be committed to being involved for 10-15 years

About Vouch:

Vouch's mission is to build the best business insurance for those building t