We, you know, launched in Texas in May and then opened up to California later in the year in 2013, and then, you know, realized we still don't understand a ton about insurance itself.

And we're hitting this chicken and the egg problem of insurance carriers being interested, but a lot of them not really wanting to take

the leap and work with us until they saw some traction on our end, where we needed some of them

to work with us in order to attract the consumers and make sure the economics worked out to pay

for some of that marketing to go drive consumers to our site.

My name is Mitesh Paria, and I'm the chief technology officer and chief data officer at the

zebra.

This is Code Story, a podcast bringing you interviews with tech visionaries who share in the critical moments of what it takes to change in industry and build and lead a team that has your back.

I'm your host, Noah Lab Park, and today how Muteesh Karya built something he thought already existed for matching you with the best insurance provider.

All this and more on Code Story.

The tech career of Mitesh Karya started early as his father was an electrical engineer bringing home a TRS 80 with a tape drive.

Computers just clicked as he dialed into BBS systems, built computers,

installed with Slackware and Linux.

Early on, he also dabbled in AI.

Is that even a thing to dabble in AI?

But he built neural networks to predict weather patterns.

He has played competitive sports for years.

In fact, he has won a national championship in the master's division of Ultimate Frisbee,

and met his wife playing the sport as well.

He bases a lot of his leadership philosophy in tech around what he has learned from sports.

Self-proclaimed, he's one of those people

that just can't sit still. In January, 2013, he was approached to create and own the technology

...