Marcus Ryu, Co-founder and Chairman at Guidewire and Partner: Battery Ventures: Beating the odds, revealing the secrets of successful entrepreneurs (317)

InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant

InsTech

Entrepreneurship, Investing, Business

4.8 • 50 Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it take to build a company like Guidewire or attract investor interest? This week, Matthew Grant talks with Marcus Ryu, Co-founder and Chairman of Guidewire, and Partner at Battery Ventures. Marcus, one of Guidewire's five founders, shares his experiences from starting the company in 2002 and the lessons he learned along the way. In this episode, Marcus discusses his shift from leading Guidewire to investing through a multi-stage technology investment firm. The conversation covers topics relevant to those interested in the insurance industry, current trends in insurance technology, and practical advice for entrepreneurs and investors alike. Key talking points include: Graduate school and finishing at the beginning of the dot-com era What ingredients are necessary to found a successful company? Startups are insurgents The first sale cycle - what is ‘wandering in the desert’? Why you need recklessness to start a company The Guidewire story and staying agile in 2024 From founder to investor - joining Battery Ventures Investing in hyperexponential Closing remarks on admin systems and generative AI You can listen to our podcast with Amrit Santhirasenan, Co-founder and CEO of hyperexponential here. If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Describe what founders can learn from the conditions necessary for a successful startup to grow Specify how a large technology company can remain relevant and agile after being founded over 20 years ago. Identify certain traits and characteristics that investors look for in companies and why If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 317 page of the InsTech website or email [email protected] to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, hello and welcome, Matthew Grant here, and we are reaching the end of August,
0:13.2	but judging by the empty streets and trains here in London, I think many of you are still off on a beach somewhere.
0:17.9	Well, we're on a role with some brilliant podcast guests now,
0:20.9	and this week is no exception. Now, you've almost certainly heard a guide wire, now a $12 billion
0:26.2	company, and if you are following investment in early stage companies in the UK, you will have
0:31.3	seen the $73 million investment in hyper exponential at the start of this year by battery ventures.
0:37.1	But have you ever wondered how do you
0:38.6	build a company the size of Guidewire and who's writing such large checks for investment and how do you
0:43.7	attract their attention? And when things get really tough, how do you push through and keep going?
0:49.0	Well, you're about to find out. I was really honoured to have a time to speak to Marcus Rue.
0:53.2	He's lived such a full life and this really is only a taster for all his great advice. But I really honored to have a time to speak to Marcus Rue. He's lived such a full life and
0:54.6	this really is only a taster for all his great advice. But I'm going to guarantee you, you're going to
0:58.6	get at least one thing to take away from this and it really could change your life or your money back.
1:03.4	Well, finally, as much as Rob and I love doing this podcast, we can only do it because of the support
1:07.8	from all our court members and sponsors. Now, if you two want to share
1:11.3	your story of the world and become part of our community of the curious, then please do contact
1:15.2	us to find out how you can benefit from membership. Hello at insteg.com.
1:25.5	Marcus, this is a real pleasure to talk to you. I enjoy talking to all my guests, but you've got a special place because in my days at RMS, we used to look at Guidewire as a comparable when you went public. And we always watching what you're doing. And of course, we know Guidewire, and you're a good friend of ours, a supporter. And you've also got some really great insights into founding a business. So thank you very much. I know you're incredibly busy. I just really appreciate you taking the time.
1:48.3	Thank you, Matthew. Honored to be here. And my reference for this, and I'm going to recommend it
1:52.2	to everybody, because we're not going to cover everything, is the Logan Bartlett podcast you did.
1:57.2	And I know, there will be a long time before I interview someone who was followed up by Sam Altman
2:02.4	by their last podcast. So that's an excellent podcast. What we don't cover in here is definitely
	...

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