QuickFacts: Empowering Brokers with a Game-Changing Solution - with Christy Barsalou (Silvestri)

Speaker A: Foreign. I'm here today with Christy. And actually, Christy, I didn't even practice your name. Shame on me. Before doing that. Is it Barcelo or Barcelona? Barceloo. Shame on me. Okay. All right, Christy Barcelo. All right. I always like to let people introduce themselves because they say their names better than anybody else. So Christy's here with me from Quick Facts. Christy, do you want to quickly introduce yourself, um, to everybody in our audience?

Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm Christy Barcelou. I'm the president and CEO of Quick Facts, Inc. And I'm excited to let you guys know what, uh, we do at Quickfacts.

Speaker A: That's awesome. So, um, this will be fun. We always have fun with these. And we took a bit of a, uh, break from the podcasting, um, so a little bit about where we've been as a community. We started a little over three years ago, and we were heavy in the podcasting during COVID And then when the world started going back to normal, um, we went into the event space again and, you know, just small meetups. We're not trying to do the big crazy conferences. Uh, maybe one day we will. But for now, we've just been focusing on small local meetups. So, uh, sure. To Canada is a national brand, but we want to have a more of a local identity. And, and that leads me to my point about, uh, Quick Facts, because you happen to be located in Atlanta, Canada, and that's amazing. What part of Atlanta, Canada are you in?

Speaker B: So our company is founded out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. So we are, uh, in. In this area. And, you know, most of our team lives works here. The, uh, co founder is also from New Brunswick, so we, we definitely cover most of the Maritimes here.

Speaker A: I love New Brunswick. My family's originally from there. I told you that before we went live.

Speaker B: So.

Speaker A: And you are the first, you are the first insuretech, uh, in this, this wonderful market of ours to be featured on the InsurTech Canada podcast from Atlanta, Canada. So it took us some time, you know, and I've been saying for a while, because, again, we don't want to be sorry. We are based out of Toronto. You know, forgive us. Right, but. But, you know, we got a little bit of hate for that sometimes. But no, we, we actually do more meetups, uh, in Western Canada, uh, in Calgary. We have a really, some really good sponsors out there. And you know, we. We've done the Vancouver thing lots in Montreal, um, and to. In Toronto, but we haven't hit the ground, uh, feet on the ground in Atlantic Canada yet. So now we're going to do something special. We're going to do a meetup. And usually, you know, success for us is like 20, 30 people in a room where people can get to know each other. And I think we could probably pull some people in even from Quebec because they uh, they like to kind of, um, you know, float around that area as well. So I'm looking forward to doing more with you guys. Um, getting everyone the teaser. Who's. Who's listening here.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: Quick Facts is, uh, you know, they're our anchor now in Atlantic Canada, so for 2020.

Speaker B: And yeah, yeah, we're really proud to be out of Atlantic Canada, um, and pushing insurtech from, from our region like you said. You know, this is the first one we've had on your podcast. Um, and we're hopeful that we inspire more people. So that way there's more inshore tech that comes out of the East Coast. Yeah.

Speaker A: And we know it's there. Like, it, like we are such, uh, an innovative country and Canadians, you know, we, we don't do things halfway and you know, but we're a little bit humble and. Yeah, yeah, a little too. Exactly. Right. So we gotta help some folks in the east coast get up on a soapbox a little it and, and tell their story. So.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: Without further ado, I want to get into your story a bit. So why don't you just start by telling the audience a little bit about your origin story in the insurance. Just this weird industry of insurance that we live in. And then we could talk, we talk a little bit about the company origins as well.

Speaker B: Yeah, no worries. So my background is I started in insurance at a very young age. And actually Yesterday was my 19th anniversary in the insurance industry. So time has flown by, but how I got in here was not by design. Um, when I was younger, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I was working at a rental car agency, m. And I was doing a lot of things there. I was leading the uh, reservation department in uh, the Maritimes, and I needed a change. And uh, I started looking for different opportunities. And a local brokerage was advertising for a position. I applied. The rest is history. So from there I did everything in the insurance industry. I would say not in the industry, but in the brokerage space. So I was reception, data entry, sales, service operations, um, I taught cave programs. I was on the board of directors with ibans, the local association here in Nova Scotia. And, uh, very, very involved in my insurance career right from the beginning. And still am.

Speaker A: That's the best way. Right? The best way in is at the ground level, really, and you get to know the business and uh, that's really cool that you've uh, you've been a broker and now you're selling to brokers. So you really understand your client intimately. I assume, um, that I think it's really cool that you started in the rental side. Um, I won't ask you to name the company, uh, but there's only a few options in Canada, so I could probably guess it in. Three guesses. Um, uh, and yeah, there's been some consolidation in that space, but I've worked heavily myself in the auto side, so very familiar with that space. That's a great way in too, and great way to cut your teeth from a customer service standpoint. Right. Because broker's all about the people. Uh, and so like being a rental agent, you're dealing with people problems all day long. Do you have any funny, any funny stories from those days like when you, when you got started?

Speaker B: Um, uh, well, yeah, mostly it was just making sure cars were in the right spot. So there was lots of times where, you know, I would be getting into a car, moving it to get it to the right, uh, location because, you know, a customer dropped it off in the wrong spot and just making sure everything ran smoothly. So there was a lot of that. But I'll be honest, moving cars around was pretty fun. Uh, so you know, the new cars and trying to get there as fast as you can might have led to me driving too fast. So then I had to curb that once I got into insurance.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Which is already risky. Your attitude changes, right?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker A: Or did you have to wash any and wash a car while wearing a suit?

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm the kind of person, I go all hands and no matter what my job title is, I do everything. So yeah, there was lots of times the, where the reservation department was located out of, they had the washing in the back and we'd help from time to time. For sure.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Gotta get in there, gotta get your hands dirty. Right.

Speaker A: You build some, some serious work ethic. Right. And uh, if you can, if you can make it in that space, uh, you can do a lot of things. So let's get into, um, uh, you know, quick facts. Ah, as a company. So you know, you spent several years in the industry, you jumped over the broker side. You're celebrating your 19 year anniversary. Hard to believe. I know the time flies about fast. So what possessed you to launch this quick facts company and what problem did you see in the industry where you said, hey, like no one's solving this problem, I think we need to do this.

Speaker B: So those stories kind of all uh, collide together into one. So I'll share my story. So as I mentioned, I spent most of my career on the operational side of the brokerage and helping my team. And my entire day was spent answering underwriting questions for my team all day long. Hey Christy, what company is doing this? Hey Christy, what does this really mean? Hey Christy, Christy, Christy, Christy. All day long. And because of that I couldn't do my job. I couldn't uh, accelerate my operations. I couldn't really spend the time needed to bring them more solutions. I was just helping them with that immediate need and no fault of my team. It's a long, painstaking process right now. Um, the process that brokers go through right now is they have to log into individual insurance companies portals, find a PDF manual, and then find that PDF manual or information in the PDF manual and replicate that for their 5 to 20 different carriers they deal with. This is not efficient and it leads to a lot of customer frustration when customers call in and want that instant answer because they can ask their smart watch anything. And when they call their broker, their broker says, I have to call you back. And it's because it takes hours to figure out that information and that shouldn't be the way. So um, I kept waiting and I kept waiting for somebody to give me technology that did this and it wasn't happening. So I decided to take a risk and launch Quick Facts. So we started really small here in Atlantic Canada, um, brought in some early adopter broker, uh, customers and started uh, bringing our solution to life. So I'll talk about the solution. So what we do with our technology is we aggregate all of that underwriting information into a platform. So then when brokers are looking for information, they have to do a simple keyword search and then they're able to get that information. So then that way they'll see all of their companies that they represent and have contracts with and it'll export that information in nice to read tables to really be able to take each market that they deal with and compare them side by side. And then we complement that with the manuals, forms, wordings, questionnaires, bulletins, anything else that's relevant to what that subject matter is to really help them have all the information that they need right in front of them to be able to help their customers.

Speaker A: Wow, that's um, that's so it sounds, and this Is always the case with, with problems that are very specific to an industry and very niche. Sounds so simple. So why didn't anyone else do it? Um, what do you, like, what do you think as far as. And quick sidebar. Like I was involved uh, with a client previously where I was working as a consultant and they were doing a guide wire migration. Right. And part of this was like getting all the broker or sorry, all the underwriting information manuals over to the brokers. And you know, there was all these forms that had to be digitized and some of them weren't digitized and I was shocked that I know they weren't searchable and fillable. And like what? Like this. And this is in the last five years. Like this is crazy.

Speaker B: It's sadly still happening. It might be one of our selling features is that our platform, we make all of the carrier forms fillable if they're not. And in 2024, yeah, it is crazy that that is our. One of our value adds is having those fillable forms. Um, because at this day and age they should automatically be fillable. But that's not the reality that we're living in right now.

Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. So, um, user friendly obviously. And I'll talk a bit about some of the benefits like you're driving like from the value adds. But, um, what do you think from what you're doing? Because I don't know how many other um, incumbents there are in the space or if you're the first. So maybe talk a bit about that. But like what makes you guys different and unique?

Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. There definitely is other, uh, others in the market and we all kind of trying to sell solve the same pain point, which is so much information. Um, we do it differently in the sense that we're comparing information so brokers can see all of their market at the same time versus still getting to that information quickly, but they still need to dissect. Okay, well which one does this, who's doing that? And even that information, when you're looking in the manual, it's in many different spots throughout the manual. So even if you get to the one spot, it might be part of the binding guidelines, it might be part of the decline rolls, it might be part of an endorsement description. So there's still a lot of information all over the place once you even get to the manual. So that's what really makes us different is that main pain, that main um, offering that we do is the comparison part of things.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And then the other part that makes us different is the second piece of our technology that I, uh, haven't spoken to yet, which is the ability for brokers to be able to build their own workflows and procedures in the same platform. Uh, so then that way we truly are that one operational software that they need, that they don't need to go into many different programs. They log into one program for further operational knowledge and support.

Speaker A: That's huge. So customization workflows. Um, I want to come back to that in a second because I could see that being a huge rabbit hole, um, before, before we go down that rabbit hole we're talking about. So the searching and comparing and I can see that being immensely powerful and helpful because when you've got all these playbooks, we'll just call the underwriting manuals playbooks. Like, going sifting through them, uh, could create massive client irritants and just your chance at the broker level. And especially like we're trying to attract the next generation into this industry. Their expectations are not going to be that I'm going through these manual binders, um, you know, to.

Speaker B: Or asking Christie every two minutes.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, right, yeah. Which, you know, you're probably going to be working for a grumpy manager at that point, um, if that is your first taste. How are you guys doing that? Are you using AI? Are you using, uh, language models? Like, tell me a bit about the tech.

Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Can't tell you too much.

Speaker A: No, obviously the secret.

Speaker B: I'm just kidding. I'm just bugging you. Yeah, yeah. High level though. So, yeah, what we do is we do have just the basic, you know, carriers provide us with their PDFs, because we know that a lot of carriers, even though we are ready for APIs, they're not there. That's a whole other rabbit, uh, hole conversation that we could go down. But because they're not ready, we didn't want to hold up our technology for that. What we do is exactly some of those buzzwords that you just used. So we're using LLP to really deconstruct those manuals, being able to turn that into that, and also using that generative AI to be able to help populate these resources. But although we're using a lot of that technology under the hood, uh, we do still have brokers that are working for us. Sorry, we're previous brokers, I should say, um, doing that final qa because technology can help us expediate a lot of that export. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that everything is Going through and being accurate, um, at the end of the day. So, you know, we have a little bit of that human intervention, but we are leveraging a lot of that technology under the hood behind the scenes.

Speaker A: Very good. And was that, was that technology you had to build from scratch or were you able to repurpose things from other industries?

Speaker B: Uh, yeah. So, you know, I think of the evolution and I can't wait to do a slideshow. So I was the one that built the prototype at my previous brokerage on a, on a website and, you know, and kept evolving it. And I do not come from a technical background. So after finding, um, trial and failure with some outsourcing of technology, a lot of failure I'll put there. Um, we were able to find our CTO and then bring all of our development in house. So now all of, all of the software that we're building is all proprietary. We do use some, um, other softwares, like, especially like, for login, things like that that might already be there that we can kind of be adding into our software without having to reinvent it. But the, the core engine is one that we built by our team internally.

Speaker A: Nice. That's fantastic. And, and, and that's unique. Right? That's, that's one of the defensible notes, uh, that you always hear about. Right. So I'll, um, I'll take us back to that rabbit hole. Now, you mentioned workflows and being able to customize the broker level. Here's a, here's a, here's a tiny curveball, but it's not going to be curveball because you've heard it before. I guarantee you, you've heard it before. So that's great. I'm a customer. You have these customizable workflows. What's a workflow? Like, how do. I'm a broker, I'm a people person. Like, I need to be selling. Who's going to help me build these workflows? Do you guys help with that?

Speaker B: So, yeah, so we kind of do a mixture of both. And I kind of like exactly how you said that because I kind of want to, um, go a little deeper into that statement because that is the reality of most brokers. Um, but yeah, what we do with our software is we have, you know, three different options. There's one where we have that, you know, a sophisticated broker that already has done a lot of work on this and say, you know what, we have our processes, Just give us the technology, we can do it ourselves, and then they can take that and use that there's others that are like, oh, we have all of this on Word documents. I don't know how to make this pretty. Can you make this pretty? And then our team can take that and then we're able to bring their um, Word documents to life and make it searchable, make it uh, user friendly and have all of that design aspect to make it um, engaging. And then we have the last option which we are building out more and more. We're working more directly with broker management systems to bring um, customized solutions for brokers to be able for us to be able to fill that out for them as well.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's helpful because um, I'll use CRMs as an example. There's lots of CRMs out there and, and they're fantastic. And you can get the Cadillac version or the free version and you can upgrade but you know, then once you bring that into your organization, you know, how do you operationalize it? And, and you know people, some people are more standardized than others. And yes. Uh, and so that wasn't a knock against brokers. I've just seen this over and over again where people think the shiny tool is going to solve the problem. Yes. If you don't have those things figured out. So what I'm hearing from you guys, from you, is, and if I'm putting words in your mouth, correct me, is that uh, you're a tech company, insuretech company, but you also have a service element as well.

Speaker B: We do, yeah, yeah. So the, the main core of our software is that is, is our technology SaaS model style company. Um, but yeah, we will do some project work for brokers because at the end of the day our goal is to help make brokers lives easy. Um, I struggled through all of this. I had to make my own workflows at my brokerage, getting my teams to follow them, trying to find technology to make that easier. So at the end of the day that is always the passion behind what we do is what can we do with our technology to make brokers lives easier. Um, and much to complement what you said earlier, with a lot of new brokers coming to the industry, they're used to being able to search and find anything that they need to find to get their answers. I mean you too probably had to put a car back together. Even though uh, it's not what my skill set is. And then they come to work at a brokerage and they have to ask me what to do. And you know, unfortunately that, that is a pain point to keep the new talent in our Industry. So with having software like this and procedures laid out, they're able to search, find their answers, follow the directions and then be able to get um, the results that they need and be able to find ways to get that coaching and feedback and engagement that they're looking forward of an employer at the same time. So it is a big full circle thing and it is something that's really important and I'm excited to see more and more brokerages seeing the importance of it and being able to bring those things to life.

Speaker A: Are you getting any pushback from brokers? Like when you go out and pitch this, uh, to a new prospect, um, do you, do you feel like they have time to, do they even know they have a problem that they need to be solved? So.

Speaker B: Great question. Yeah, most know they have the problem, but you, you, you hit it right on the head. It's time. They, they really don't feel like they have the time and potentially the, the skill set to bring that to life. Like you just said earlier, like, what's a workflow? I don't know how to build a workflow. And you know, that's the thing that some, some brokers don't have that as their skill set. So that is where, working with a company like ours we can really help, help be that catalyst to get them to where they need to be, to be like, okay, let us put it on there, let us take that, absorb that time that you don't have, place that onto our software and then you guys get to be ahead of the game. Um, instead of having to, to try and figure this out from scratch because whether or not they use our technology, it's still pain point for their brokerage. They still don't have this. And it is something that is a desperate need for many reasons. You know what I just said about new talent training, onboarding, also, um, understanding what other technology they want to bring to their brokerage. If they don't understand the basic operational processes that they need, it's hard for brokers to really understand the other technology that they could be leveraging to have that ease of use in their brokerage. So it is essential for them to do and it is something that may take time at the beginning, but it is so valuable for their brokerage to stop and look and build that foundation for their processes so that way they can find ways to keep being more efficient.

Speaker A: That's great. So how do you get in front of brokers? How do you get brokers to listen to you, uh, to go to association meetings, uh, Good old fashioned shoe leathering and cold calling. You were a broker, you know all about that. Yeah.

Speaker B: So we do mix with everything. But honestly the, the biggest thing is trade shows. Uh, our industry is very relationship based. People want to meet you in person, um, and then especially throw in the technology side of things, um, brokers. And I speak from experience because I was that broker. I was given a lot of technology at my brokerage that just didn't do what I was told it would do. And I got a little jaded. I'd be like, okay, great, here's another technology I gotta use. It's not gonna do what I want it to. So that relationship based is always going to be important for us because knowing the nature of both of those things. So when we go to trade shows, that's a, that's a big thing for us, how we're getting in front of people and yes, associations. Uh, especially because I was a big part of the association here locally. It's the best way to kind of speak to brokers, um, see the value and be able to support that channel too. I really believe in what the associations do for the broker channel and it's a great way for me and our company to continue to be part of those things.

Speaker A: So is there a carrier or client side to this or is it all focused on the value proposition for the broker? And that's fine.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: But I'm just, I'm just asking because I'm curious. And the audience.

Speaker B: Yeah. So it can go both ways, both carrier and broker. And the reason why is because we're solving the inefficiency between both, um, both the customer side, um, because the carrier sees the value of using it internally as well. And we do have some carrier clients because as I highlighted before, the information scattered all over the place. So even though. Yes, they only need to know one set of rules, that could be in their wordings, that could be on page two of the manual, that could be on page 10 of the manual. And if they're not catching all those spots, they too could be giving the wrong information to that broker that's calling in. So they see value because of how we've really designed our software, that they can see everything that they need at that quick glance and then be able to look into other areas to complement the journey even further. So yeah, there actually is a play on both sides of things. Um, for sure for both.

Speaker A: Does the policyholder see quickfacts ever or is it.

Speaker B: No.

Speaker A: Okay. Yeah.

Speaker B: So, yeah, so this is something behind the scenes. Yeah. So so we'll never be customer facing. And the reason behind that is because the information is privileged to brokers. So the underwriting information from carriers is not public. So part of what we do and what we provide to carriers with our software is to make sure that we keep that information internally with us and we only grant, um, brokers with contracts to that carrier to see the access. So there's a lot of configuration that happens for that broker when we bring them on. Um, but that's why we never be customer facing, because that information isn't public. Um, but we're helping the public by being able to get the brokers to deliver that information to them faster than what's being delivered now.

Speaker A: So if I'm a new broker client and I sign up for quick fax, I'm only going to get access to the underwriting manuals for the markets that I have as broker.

Speaker B: Exactly, yes. So yeah, so brokers provide us with their broker codes that validates that, uh, they have that contract and then we, we satisfy our agreements with our carrier partners.

Speaker A: That's amazing. Okay, so I'm going to shift gears a little bit to tech, tech landscape and you know, navigating those waters. Um, so what's that been like for you as a company and even, you know, you as CEO, Just navigating the tech landscape and the ever changing, um, elements within that. Even just. I'll throw a wild example. Navigating the whole component of like building an API and getting it to connect to something in, uh, an industry that's, that's, you know, filled with legacy systems that weren't designed for that. But that might not be your challenge. But just talk a little bit about challenges that you faced and how you've overcome them. If there's been any, uh, just going into this space.

Speaker B: Yeah, and there's lots of challenges. You can have a whole podcast on startup challenges. But specific to technology was, was that is understanding what we needed to build to make it the ease, easiest way possible. So I kind of touched on earlier. We could have started with APIs. We could have knocked on the carrier's door and said, give us your API for this information. And we probably would not be launched, um, to this day. So we had to really think outside the box and say, okay, they don't have this, so what do they have that we can then take our technology and build without needing to have that bridge? So we were really able to kind of take that outside the box. And what I really compliment is our team's ability to work Together. So we have a technical team, but we have that previous broker team and we work together to build a solution. So it's really hearing both of those voices as we're developing that product. And that's what's helped us think outside the box to be able to get these things accomplished, to, uh, leverage both that broker knowledge and the technical knowledge on our technical team. That's really has been what's been made us successful. But really it's gotta be thinking outside the box to be like, okay, this might be the old technology that this carrier or this broker is using. How do we make everything work better for us internally and then be able to export what we need to the different areas or input or import that information. So finding ways. And then once we have that established, as technology on both of the other ends grow, we can be ready for that. So once that API is ready, then we're ready to go and we can move to that next, that next stage of evolution in the technology.

Speaker A: Remind me what year you guys, uh, started it again.

Speaker B: Yeah, so we started in December of 2020, but we did it very quietly. Uh, we really just brought on some early adopter brokers to really test out the product, test out the software, and also make those direct carrier connections as well, because that's what was important. And then we, um, really started scaling in September 2022. So that's when we launched in all of Atlantic Canada, Ontario and then Alberta shortly after. And we're, uh, launching the remaining western provinces. Well now for Saskatchewan and Manitoba and B.C. is in the next, uh, next month. And then we'll be taking on Quebec to finish off Canada.

Speaker A: That's amazing. And, and it's, it's a long sales cycle in this insurance industry and a lot of people, if you're not from the industry, they could underestimate that. Right. Uh, especially if you haven't, you know, dealt with the carrier side or the B2B sales side. Um, you know, and, you know, the structure, just the structure of the industry in general. Um, do you focus more on independent brokers or do you try to partner with some of the big, you know, mega brokers that have lots of dots on the map? Um, what's the, what's your strategy been like there?

Speaker B: Yeah, honestly, uh, we can, we can cater to either. So we have, we have some brokers that are, you know, two brokers in their office using our software, and we have some that have hundreds of employees. Um, for us, where we haven't been all across Canada, it has been harder to Kind of get that attention of the national player. Um, but now as we keep expanding across Canada, we see that opening up, um, pretty easy because at the end of the day, regardless the size of the brokerage, the problem's still the same. It just, the problem just gets bigger. So you know, the core problem is still the same. And that's why our solution is attractive. Regardless the size of the brokerage. And our technology can support any, any size brokerage whether it's the two, the two person brokerage or 22,000 brokers across Canada. Irregardless, we can handle it.

Speaker A: Hopefully here we can help you in that effort to increase your profile to get more those big ones out there. Right. Because we are, Canada is unique that way in that we're very consolidated in a lot of our industries. And the insurance industry is funny. You know, you look on, on the sales and distribution side, the broker space is pretty consolidated. Um, and then even just on the supply side for claims, for example, a lot of the, you know, the rental market, like there was two big rental replacement carrier carriers, that was really one. Um, yeah, you know, and the collision side even, which I have a background in. And so the industry is very consolidated. So that can lead sometimes to that or contribute towards that long sales cycle. So it's not easy being in your shoes. So to be able to get traction, I think in a market where you started probably worked out to your benefit.

Speaker B: Um, absolutely, because I was able to understand that. And I do talk to a lot of other founders in the space that are trying to talk to insurance carriers, especially on that side of things, whether they're in their health space or the climate space or what have you. And I always say know that those conversations are going to take longer and the bigger your ask, the longer that will be.

Speaker A: More decision makers.

Speaker B: Yeah, uh, exactly. The more red tape that it has to go to, the more people have to sign off on it. So I think that's what was really helpful for me too is understanding that carrier relationship side of things as well and understanding the dynamic, understanding what our asked carrier needed to be, um, in order to speed up the journey. But you're 100% right. I think other, other founders for other types of insurtech software or solutions. I think that is one of the obstacles that they face or don't realize is how long it will take to have those conversations.

Speaker A: Well, and the carrier side especially is consolidated and getting more and more by the year and that's not going to change. A country this size is just going to be More and more consolidated, like the banking industry. Um, so for you, as far as expansion is concerned, uh, you're going into Western Canada now. What's next for quick facts? Uh, is it just go deep in Canada? Do you see yourselves going outside of our borders?

Speaker B: Yeah, so the, the, the next big province to tackle is Quebec. Uh, so we are going to be working there with translations and uh, some pilot brokerages, the carrier partners to kind of bring the solution to Quebec as well. And then after Quebec, yeah, we might just take a little peek at what our friends south of the border are doing and making sure that that pain points a the same. But, uh, yeah, we, we definitely see our expansion going, um, um, south of the border for sure. Um, and then potentially some other markets as well.

Speaker A: Well, that's. Yeah, we have sister community cells on the border as well. So, uh, you know, we, we're always curious about that. And again, we have a large audience, uh, that listens to these things. Right. So sometimes just starting the dialogue early, but, you know, don't underestimate national expansion in Canada. And Quebec on its own is expanding into another country, as you know.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Um, so have there been like, uh, any success stories that, uh, in your journey so far since 2020 that stand out, like, just big bangs for the, for the company where it was like, wow, if this didn't happen, or this was a turning point for us or a tipping point for us?

Speaker B: Yeah, I would say, you know, that's such a different answer. Lots of success stories. And what I want to stop and say is to any founders out there, celebrate all the wins, because there's always something else to do. So stop, stop and celebrate those moments. Um, and, uh, so I think for us, you know, um, a lot of those moments were, uh, first and foremost, I would say, the carrier connections, um, getting those first few and then showing the value there, and then other carriers wanting to be part of it and hearing that somebody else is part of it and then wanting to be part of it. So I think that for us was the biggest part of our success is showing the value of what we're doing to be able to have the carriers work directly with us. Um, and I think that's one of the things that makes us so successful today.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Um, and then outside of that, outside of the actual product itself, um, our fundraising journeys as well, there's always those moments where you're like, okay, yeah, we need to raise some capital and go through that. That whole journey, which is, you know, has its ups and downs, but, you know, we We've been really happy to find the right investors and be able to take that, uh, take that journey to the next level. So we've had some great success moments there and finding great investors that we're really happy to be working with.

Speaker A: I'm glad, I'm glad you went there actually, because that's its own sales cycle.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: And part, part of, part of these. The reason for these interviews is, is to feature the company that we're talking to, the brand, but also the journey. Right. And, and so that others can benefit and learn from it as well. Um, and so, you know, you learn, uh, along the way and you pick up some bumps and bruises and there's some peaks and some, some deep valleys. Uh, and, and I've been on that fundraising journey as well. Um, so I, you know, I personally know the ups and downs, uh, and, you know, the dark moments that they definitely come, the moments of uncertainty, they definitely come. And it really tests your will and your resolve. What, um, what's, like, if you had to maybe boil it down to, like, three things from this, from your, what you learned from going into fundraising as its own sales process. Is there any nuggets of wisdom to share, uh, with founders who were going to start that process for the first time, have no idea or might think, uh, that they, that they have it all figured out, um, but could be in for a rude awakening?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think we were the ones who were like, yeah, we know our story, we know what we're selling. But no, I think the first time we talked to our first investor, and luckily they actually are our investor now, but we started talking to them maybe a year and a half before we actually, uh, got investment. And we were so green. We. Our pitch deck was a mess. It was nowhere near the level that it is right now. So it is, it is funny to look back at that journey. Um, but I would say a couple of things is, um, know, know your story, know the milestones that you want to achieve and be good at communicating those things. Um, from another perspective, um, I know for me, uh, I, I lost my voice. I lost who I was. Um, I'm a little bit of a nerd. I'm, you know, I like to joke around. Uh, but I was trying to make myself this serious, put together person so people would want to invest money in our company and I lost who I was. And at the end of the day, people are investing in you, that you are the right person to bring this solution to life. And if you lose who you are, they're not going to get the sense of. Sense of that. So, uh, for me, that's what I needed to get my mind around. Because I was nowhere. I wasn't from the space. As I just said, I was a broker. That was my identity. And having to go and raise capital was such a different experience that I was not familiar with. And, um, a lot of growth there. And once I got my voice, I was able to, you know, bring that to life. But outside of not losing your voices, own your story, but know the milestones. So as you're raising that capital, this is the amount we need. And with that capital, we're going to do X, Y, Z. And be very clear about that. Be very succinct with it. Because investors, they have a lot of pitches, they have a lot of things coming at them. Um, they. You need to keep their attention. So make sure you're succinct with, with everything that you're doing. The, the problem, the solution and what you're going to do about it.

Speaker A: That's like so brilliant, what you just shared and the authenticity piece that your words were your voice, which I love. Um, but what I took from that was just be authentic, be who you are. Because I think people do underestimate and this could be, um, a caution for some who maybe have big egos. Right. But they are investing in you. And early stage companies are a risk. Doesn't matter how good your thesis is and how tight your milestones and your plan, uh, and your tech. But at the end of the day, they're going to assess the founding team. And there's lots of schools of thought on this. Some people say it's a 50. 50, 50% of the investments on the founding team and the other 50 is on the actual problem, the. The tech, the solution. And some people say, no, it's like 80% or it's all depending on how early you are. Because everyone has ideas. It's. But. But at the end of the day, it's execution and they have to believe that you're the person to pull this off. Because, like, going back to like the beginning of our conversation, like, it's a pretty simple problem. It sounds pretty simple. Like, why wouldn't. And how many times have people said to you, oh, I thought of that.

Speaker B: That was every demo. M. Every demo. So I'm not the first person to think of it. I stole my, uh. I know. I heard that a lot.

Speaker A: It was my idea. I love that.

Speaker B: Do you want to see my spreadsheets? I'm like, yes, I do. Because that's how I started.

Speaker A: Yeah. So why didn't you do it then? Right? Do you want to. Want to invest 100?

Speaker B: So, you know, I kind of want to speak to that, because I probably took longer than I should have because I didn't, uh. I didn't know I could be that person. Um, to bring. Yeah, yeah, very much. To be like, oh, yeah, I'm a broker. Just. This is a pain point. Somebody else will bring this technology. So, you know, I speak to anybody that's out there that if you're. You're. If you see that pain point and you have a great solution about it for that problem, you know, don't discount that you are not the right person. Um, because if. If I did, we wouldn't be talking here today, and we wouldn't have the wonderful company that we're building and being able to bring the solution to a lot of brokers that are really valuing what we do. So, you know, I implore anybody that's listening, um, that you don't have to be that tech person.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: You, um, need to be living in the pain, and the pain is what brings that tech to life.

Speaker A: Amen, sister. Amen. Preach. No, seriously, like, it's so. It's so refreshing to hear that, because, like the old saying, like, if not now, when. If, you know, if not me, who.

Speaker B: Right. And.

Speaker A: And. And you know what? No offense to technical founders, because there's lots of those out there.

Speaker B: Oh.

Speaker A: And yes, but I'm going to say something that might send them, but. Oh, well, I put my foot in my mouth a lot. That's just my. My thing being on that day. But sometimes they're not the best salespeople, or they can't tell the story or the vision. And I've had some really brilliant technical founders come to me and admit to me privately or publicly, John, I'm actually a better cto, But I have this great idea. I know how to, uh, conceptualize it, but I don't know how to articulate it in a way that other people are going to buy into it. So I need to find that person, that storyteller, that visionary that could. And it's like the old Jobs Wozniak, uh, um, uh, uh, whatchamacallit, uh, analogy, right? Where it's like, who had the idea, right? Who was the idea guy? Wozniak was the inventor, the engineer, but Jobs was the guy that could sell anything, right? So.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And he was the guy who believed it and could bring it to life.

Speaker B: So.

Speaker A: So like that is like a huge thing.

Speaker B: You don't have to be, you don't have to be technical and, and vice versa. Like you just said, if you are that technical founder, know that you don't have to be everything to everybody, but you need to find the right person that can do that part of it. Um, because I do, I speak to a lot of other people in the, in the ecosystem and there are these brilliant scientists, but when they have to go give a pitch, it's uh, it's way too in depth, it's way too technical. They've lost the audience. But what they've built is so brilliant. So it's, it's being able to find the right, with the right person for the right, right job, what needs to be done. Right. So, you know, being able to identify that early on is, is key too in your fundraising journey.

Speaker A: I had to tell a technical founder once who was really caught up in the brilliance of what they invented and they weren't getting the response they wanted from the market. And um, can I give you some feedback on the pitch? Like when you go down that, that road of getting overly tactical on the pitch, I'm sorry to say this, but they don't care. They don't care. All they care about is how you're solving their problem. And they don't care about like why you're method behind the scenes, your code is superior. They don't care. I, uh, uh, I'm sorry and I'm not trying to offend you, but like, you have to speak to your audience exactly what you said. Right. And, and you have a very short period of time to do that. And if your audience is carriers especially, they're, they're, they're cynical and skeptical by nature. Right. They're risk averse. Yeah. Um, so you really have to intimately understand their problem. That ever happened to you where you walked away from a meeting and you were like, oh, I thought I understood that stakeholder, but maybe I don't like the broker thing. Probably easy for you, but did you guys run into any challenges there without anything like, uh, we're talking to carriers.

Speaker B: Yeah. Not on the carrier side, actually. If anything, they were kind of like, whoa, this is simpler than I thought your ask was going to be. Um, but this, because that's how I crafted that. Um, I designed that, um, on purpose because I knew, I knew what it was going to be like talking to that stakeholder. Um, but with that being said, on the flip side, investors. Yeah, there was lots of times for investors that we Were like, m, I don't think that they're going to be the right fit for us because they're not understanding the pain point or, um, they don't care about the problem for the insurance brokers, things like that. That we definitely walked away from those situations. But carrier. Carrier conversations went, you know, even better than I anticipated. When I think back to when I was planning to launch this, I think the biggest warning I got from most of the people in my, um, immediate network was, oh, the carriers will never work with you. And I said, well, I'm still going to ask, I'm still going to try. And I'm happy I still did because M, if not, we wouldn't be here today. But like I said, I still had to be. I still had to be mindful of how those conversations went and really be strategic behind that discussion.

Speaker A: Being the founder and CEO of any company is challenging. Um, maybe it's more challenging to be a CEO of a Fortune 500. But I only speak to. Because I've never done that. But I only speak to the experience of a founder. There's a lot of noise and there's a lot of voices that come at you every day, and you have to be able to filter those out, uh, sometimes and just say, yeah, we're going to do it anyway. Right? Uh, again, back to your milestones, your ideal client profile, your mission, why you exist. If you're clear and you have conviction about those things, then do it. And just because someone said, oh, it's not possible, you still got to try. But there was something else that you said there about fit. Um, and I think this applies on both sides. Carrier or client side, investor side. But yes, uh, both are equally as important. I think a caution to founders is that you might have to talk to 100 investors before you get one. Yes. And likewise, uh, on the carrier side. Um, but just because someone says yes doesn't mean they're a good fit for you. And that kind of takes on some, uh, the real honest gut check moments. Do they understand the problem that I'm solving? Is this just going to be a, uh, transactional relationship or is this going to be a strategic relationship? And yeah, that's so important. Um, and I can you. I don't know if you could talk about your investor, but did they have background in this area? Uh, were they from the industry?

Speaker B: Yeah. So actually our investors, all but one. We have one investor that has a background in insurance, and that's been really helpful to get that advice. Uh, the rest are not from from the space. Once again, we kind of wanted to stay away from that because, you know, we didn't want anybody to think our product was biased either. So if, you know, we had one carrier investing, then, well, you know, uh, that could spook some other carriers from wanting to work with us, things like that. So we were really guarded about that, to be quite honest with you, because. Not because we didn't want to work with the carriers on the, you know, investment front, but more so just to make sure that there was no perceived bias happening based on who was investing, um, in our company. So we were strategic for that. Um, but, uh, it is very much what you said. You talk to a lot of investors before you get the right ones. And that can be really hard because. Especially when you are fundraising. You're fundraising because you need to fundraise. You need to get the capital in in order to get your product moving, to be able to make the hires that you need to be able to make. So it can be really an emotional thing because you want to get that capital in your bank account. But that person might not be the right fit. And you do have to really be wise about that decision, because when you do take on an investor, they are part of your company, um, and you will be working with them. Um, I know a lot of people refer to it like a marriage. You're with that person now. So you do have to be really careful who you pick as your investors, um, and make sure it's investors that really align with how you want the vision for your company to go. And they see, um, that vision and want to be part of it.

Speaker A: And your values, too. Right? So many things, because you inherit a bit of their baggage, too. Every organization has some. Some internal baggage, so that that culture kind of becomes a. Another barnacle on your ship. Um, exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's wise counsel, for sure. Um, would you say the signs are usually there early of whether it's not a good fit? Um, because sometimes people ignore those signs because they. Yes, maybe they're desperate, but 100%.

Speaker B: Yeah. I always just say you got to go in your gut. I know that may not be the scientific terminology to use, but, you know, uh, you know, at the end of the day, if something. If you're pushing something that's just not working, you know, at the end of the day, it's probably for a good reason why it's not working out. So, um, you know, always keep that in mind. Um, even. Even if, you know and you're. And you're. Desperate. You need that capital to come in. Keep going. There could be another opportunity that you don't realize is right behind the. Right around the next corner.

Speaker A: And typically, how. Whether it's, uh, you know, really just regular human relationships or business, typically, how you're treated in the beginning is an indicator of how you're going to be treated throughout that relationship.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: So that's important with customers, with investors, with business partners.

Speaker B: Um, um, as I said, our lead investor, you know, they stuck with us. That first pitch was garbage. And it eventually they became. And with that being said, I'm going to speak to that too. They saw our growth, um, so they saw, you know, us from day one and your. They saw our growth as individuals, as me as the CEO, um, as us as a company. They were able to see all of those things, which really builds that character. So I do say what the other advice I would give to founders is start your fundraising journey even before you want it, because that's how you build that relationship with investors and get them to really see who you are, see that you do grow, see that you hit milestones. And, um, and it makes a world of difference.

Speaker A: I think there, there's a balance there of being coachable when you're dealing with investors, but also having conviction. So, like, you're not being pushed around and you're not going to, like, change your vision, um, uh, based on the conversation that you have. But that is definitely a balance. Right. And. And they're not going to want to work with people who don't listen to them. They're going to want to say they're going to be on your cap table. They might want a court seat.

Speaker B: Right, exactly.

Speaker A: They're going to want, you know, talk to founders that listen to them. Exactly. They might know better in some cases. In some cases they. They don't, you know, better. So that's where that conviction and that coachability kind of comes into play. This is great. So, Christie, before I wrap up, um, were there any other topics you wanted to talk about today that we didn't get a chance to include? Because, uh, whether we have to edit them in or do anything like that, and we could just dive into them. Right.

Speaker B: Yeah, I do kind of want to highlight, um, brokers just navigating the tech that's out there and. Yeah, kind of touch on that point. So, um, because I've been to a lot of different tech conferences lately, and it is overwhelming, especially if you are not from a technical background. And most brokerage owners, employees are not. They're not from that. Some have that and that's great. Um, but a lot don't have that. So hearing all these buzzwords like RPA and LLM and generating and learning and

Speaker A: AI, yeah, they're like, I don't know

Speaker B: what any of this means, but all I know is I need it.

Speaker A: Someone said, yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker B: I'm told I need this so I gotta, I gotta have it. But then they don't know what they want it to do. So you know, that's what I really implore brokerages is to really do research on what the different technologies are, how they can be applicable. But at the end of the day they have to understand the what. What do they want that to do, what do they want that technology to do? And that really starts with that, that baseline process to be like, okay, in my office we're doing this. Oh, this is so repetitive. Can we use RPA here? Maybe this is where we build a bot to get rid of this, this process. So there's, there's different things that they can be looking for, but they need to have that, that foundation and understand the what behind that before they can inject the technology into their brokerages.

Speaker A: So on terminology, rpa. What's RPA for anyone, for anyone who's listening, it's a broker here is going,

Speaker B: yeah, robotic process automation. So finding all those repetitive tasks and getting rid of them.

Speaker A: Um, yeah. And where's the home of best fit in my workflow? In my brokerage.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: And what about, I'm sure this comes up. Listen, insurance is a people business. I'm a broker. I'm a face to face guy or gal. I'm not bringing AI, uh and robots into my business. I don't want to be like one of those cookie cutter machines. Not going to name any names that just auto underwriting. No, I'm a broker, right? So like uh, like I'm resisting all this stuff. What do you say to those types? Because I'm sure you come across those hearing that.

Speaker B: I'd say that they're actually using probably more technologies that are doing that that you realize I'll just talk about filters in your email. That's um, a lot of that, you know, knowledge and language behind the scenes. So yeah, they're already using a bit of it. They just don't realize it. But you know, I think about technology and I think about, you know, the whole evolution of our whole life. I uh, always use this example because it's funny, but it speaks to the point I go to the store and I buy butter. Nobody's churning that butter. I buy it. A machine is churning that butter and I buy that butter. So there's a lot of jobs that don't need to have that human touch point and there's a lot of jobs that have that human touch point that take away from the customer touch point. So I feel like that's what will happen for us in our industry is that there is a lot of data entry style jobs that do not need a person doing them. That is robbing the brokers from spending more of that face to face time with their customers because they're too busy doing the back end work that doesn't need to have that person doing that work. So I think that's where they need to have that open mind about technology that I fully agree. I have so much love for brokers. I was a broker, I'll probably never lose that from my ident identity. Brokers are important and brokers are important to give that advice to the customer. And they are bogged down with too many tasks and too much information to be able to give that advice easy to their customers. So the more technology that the brokerage can use to eliminate the redundant tasks, the tasks that don't need the broker brain is what I like to call it, the more that those people with the broker brains can help the customer and that should be the goal. At the end of the day it's

Speaker A: about empowering brokers, right? Exactly. Not getting in their way or replacing.

Speaker B: Exactly, exactly.

Speaker A: I think it's brilliant. Um, and I spent a hot minute as a broker, I got my license and I never end up going down that path. But okay, maybe, who knows what, I'm bored later in my career I might just do it for fun.

Speaker B: Uh, you can use quick facts, you can jump in, you'll know all the.

Speaker A: Definitely will and you can sign me up right now. Um, so just to wrap up then, you know, I think you kind of said it but um, if there's, if there's a uh, maybe condensed version, uh, or what you said was perfect is fine. What do you want to be known for as quick facts? When people hear the word quick facts, what do you want? Oh yeah, they're the company that blank.

Speaker B: So we really want to be that knowledge management system. So we want to have the knowledge because when we think of that, uh, our industry as a whole, what happens is people leave the industry whether it's retirement or what have you and all that knowledge goes with it. And right now there isn't something to be that central knowledge system for our industry to help people grow, learn, come to the industry, be all those things. So at Quick Facts, we really want to be known as the leading knowledge management system for the industry.

Speaker A: Brilliant. I love it. How do we find you, um, people listening to this, if they want to learn more about Quick Facts, sure.

Speaker B: Yeah. So they can find us online on our website@, uh, quickfactsinc.com, um, or you can find us on LinkedIn, um, Facebook, you can find me on LinkedIn. Whatever way you find us, come find us. And we'd love to have a chat with you.

Speaker A: Thank you, Christy. And shout out to all the female, uh, listeners. You reminded me at the beginning, this is International Woman's Day.

Speaker B: That's right.

Speaker A: Every day is International Women's Day for me. And thank you, though. I will, I will make mention of that. Michael Hornies and my.

Speaker B: And you know, you know what? And on the topic of insurance, uh, 66% of the insurance space is females. So hopefully maybe this podcast helps encourage more female insurance tech founders out there.

Speaker A: Oh, I would love to see that. Send them our way. We want. We want to talk to all of them. That is amazing. Great way to end it. And, uh, it's. It is a Friday when we're recording this interview.

Speaker B: It is a Friday.

Speaker A: You got any big plans for the weekend?

Speaker B: Uh, well, heading out to do some celebrating for. With some other female friends for International Women's Day this evening to support a local charity here, and then a little relaxing tomorrow and some friends visits and. And that's. That's about it. Getting back into the, the grind on Monday. How about you?

Speaker A: So, so here's family stuff. Hockey. I've got four kids, so my. We're still in hockey season. So it's, uh, Friday night. I'll be on the ice tonight. I coach with one with both teams. And then I'll be in an arena Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And then I'll, you know, find some time to put my sheet up between. Yeah, but you know what? That's, that's an important point to end on is, you know, I'm a founder outside of this. You're a founder. You know, we, we run early stage companies and, uh, you know, you gotta. You can't lose yourself like you talked about even before, like losing your voice and losing your identity. I said your authenticity. But there's the, like the. You outside of the company.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And all those people in your life that depend on you, rely on you. Like, you can't. It's easy to get Sucked in because it's always on our mind. We're always thinking about it.

Speaker B: It never turns off

Speaker A: sometimes.

Speaker B: Don't you, you do and. Well, I'll kind of end with that. But yeah, it's, you uh, have to take care of you. And um, you know, I'll say this point because it took a while for me to kind of connect to it. But when you stop and think about when you have your best ideas, it's not when you've been at the computer for 15 hours, it's when you're on a walk, it's when you're in the shower, it's when you're doing something else. It's when you're away from uh, that screen. Time to really stop and think. So as founders, rest is important because you know it's going to be when you get those ideas, you are rested to be able to keep going, um, and push through all those hard moments. Did I do that at the beginning? Absolutely not. And you know, I am much better at it now. But uh, it's very, very important. So take the time to rest. And rest doesn't mean go to a spa day. It just means get off of a computer sometimes. But maybe sometimes I'm not opposed to that. But you know, everybody thinks the self care, they think of like, you know, those things where it's like, no, it's go to your son's hockey game, go for a walk, do those things, get out and exercise. It's, it's just the, you know, the fundamentals of life don't make, make sure you're not neglecting those things. So.

Speaker A: Amen sister. I give you the last word. That's great. Perfect. So well said. The only other thing I'll say is outside of this interview, we're uh, going to make those plans now.

Speaker B: Yes, first, Absolutely.

Speaker A: Sure. Tech.

Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. And yeah, we have um, like outside of the, um. Yeah, like what I'm really thankful for here in Atlantican is we have a great startup environment with a lot of support, a lot of resources. So yeah, we have like a little tech hub here called Volta. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of them, but yeah, they've been, they've been really great to kind of help um, us with connecting to a lot of different things. So, so yeah, let's plug into that

Speaker A: then because Queenie's our community manager. She sets all this up and organizes it. So I'll have her reach out as a follow up. You're going to get lots of follow ups anyway. With the edits.

Speaker B: Perfect.

Speaker A: And all this. Right. But we'll. We'll start working on that. Because I'd like to do that in 2024 for sure.

Speaker B: Perfect. Sounds good.

Speaker A: Thank you. Christy, this is awesome. You're so easy to talk to.

Speaker B: Oh, thank you. No, this is great. Thank you so much.

Speaker A: Likewise. Enjoy your weekend. Okay.

Speaker B: All right, you too. Bye. Bye.

Speaker A: Cheers.