Current Posting1 February 2015

A  Matter of Policy

• By Yashish Dahiya (OS90)

Let me begin by sharing an interesting anecdote about how the genesis behind PolicyBazaar.com was laid. I was going through some of the financials with my father and few things looked dubious. On deeper inspection, I found that my father had been cheated of a few lakh of rupees by insurance agents. The transactions looked clean on the face, but the reality emerged when I looked in closely. This got me thinking about how people are getting duped everyday due to lack of transparent dealings. Thus the seeds of PolicyBazaar were sown in my mind.

I, alongwith Alok Bansal started building a platform that could help consumers make informed decisions while buying insurance. The aim was to become the “Game Changers” in the industry, make the consumer empowered, processes hassle-free, online, and transparent andaddress the problem of mis-selling that has plagued the industry. Today, six years later, we have become the “destination site” for all insurance (general & life) related queries among Indian consumers.

Today, Policybazaar.com boasts of

• Being the single largest insurance distributor (online or offline) in India outside of banks
• Over 30 million unique visitors each year
• Sales of over 36,000 policies every month and growing to reach 50,000 policies per month by March 2015 & 150,000 policies by March 2016
• An industry first “comprehensive insurance advisory” (named Ask Terry) online that helps consumers with all their insurance needs
• A state of the art mobile app that helps consumers keep all their policies in one place and use it in the time of their need

Unlike agents with tendencies to highlight the selling propositions of a plan but hiding its fine print, our philosophy has been simple -- we first understand the needs of consumer and then suggest a gamut of options to choose from. In our consumer research, we find that nearly everyone who is aware of policybazaar.com has used its services when researching to buy an insurance plan and has benefitted from comparison and advice.

With a workforce of 1500+ employees our workplace is fun and totally informal. No rigid systems and processes to chain you to work, rather we have flexible timing, no dress code, and done away with formality of addressing each other Sir or Mam. It’s an energetic environment that inspires. Boredom is one thing that is unknown to employees at PolicyBazaar.

I believe that as a company, our supreme accomplishment will be to blur the line between work and play, and we are aggressively striving to achieve this. We have a flexible business model that keeps evolving owing to industry dynamics, regulatory environment and customer evolution. We are transparent in our dealings not only online but also in our office. Our talks with investors are attended by everyone, even the junior most employees. We have nothing to hide J

Employees are encouraged to experience working across departments like the head of HR now manages website development, someone who used to work on policy dealings is now part of the online marketing team. We have an independent role for everyone who is open to working across departments, depending on their skill-sets and the will to excel.

I have always believed in the credo that there are no limits when one is determined. It is this relentless focus that has powered my efforts to grow PolicyBazaar.

In the end, I would like to quote an inspiring thought by Steve Jobs:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Yashish Dahiya is Co-founder and CEO of Policybazaar.com, India's largest online destination for insurance and loan requirements. Policybazaar.com is a web portal which provides consumers with unbiased comparison of financial products like term Insurance, health Insurance, motor Insurance and investment plans.

His long-term vision and leadership skills have turned this financial start-up into a thriving successful brand in the short span of 6 years.

 Yashish holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM Ahmedabad, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Industry Recognition

• Conferred the “Best Financial Website” Award for two years in a row (2013 & 2014) at the India Digital Summit presented by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)

• Honored with the “Customer Value Leadership” Award in 2014 by Frost & Sullivan