In 2023, the business of online comparison platforms seems old-fashioned.

Sure, people may land upon them via search engines, but only some would rarely transact through them. Especially if the products being compared are as life-altering as insurance, right?

Wrong. 

PolicyBazaar—not just India's but the world's largest insurance comparison and transaction platform—proves that.

Yashish Dahiya, the co-founder and Group CEO of Policybazaar, takes us through this story in this episode of First Principles.

Policybazaar started in 2008 and is a publicly listed company today. It's the largest in its space by far. Many of the things it does, or how it does, don't fit into the easy patterns we've been used to.

For instance, employees making phone calls to prospective customers is at the core of their business. In an era where we're told phone calls and call centres are a relic of the past.

So, why do they do it?

Yashish attributes this and many other decisions to PolicyBazaar to being fundamentally First Principles-driven. 

Yashish is incredibly energetic and driven. He is a serious sportsman and triathlete. He's also as straight-talking and candid as they come.

In this episode, we talk to Yashish about why he calls PolicyBazaar an education platform and not a comparison one, the "right to win", how he spots and grooms talent and the importance of physical endurance and excellence.

Chapters:

3:49 - Running 22 kms, drying swimming trunks in the car and other practical decisions

7:54 - How and when Yashish learnt about life and health insurance

15:54 - What is PolicyBazaar

18:13 - The problems of the insurance industry

23:55 - The short-term perils of educating the customer too much

28:25 - How does PolicyBazaar detect insurance fraud

37:23 - Is there an ideal claims ratio for a product

38:42 - Why PolicyBazaar is grateful to the call-centre model in this day and age

47:50 - You are first a soul, then your body

51:55 - Yashish the father vs. Yashish the co-founder

1:00:26 - Why confusion is as important as curiosity

1:03:15 - How to identify and groom talent

1:05:54 - Building and evolving a company’s culture

1:14:13 - How to mentor people

1:22:21 - Yahish’s go-to First Principles

This is Episode 23 of First Principles, with Yashish Dahiya — The Ken's fortnightly leadership podcast.

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