Keeping the Clearcover Culture as We Grow

At the end of every year, we look back and see how much we’ve accomplished in the previous year. It’s an opportunity for learning (and laughing.) Last year, our CEO recapped the trials and tribulations of launching an insurance company from scratch and detailed our early successes in 2018.

And this year? We’ve continued to build on those early wins. In 2019, we quadrupled our written premium, tripled our policies, and provided better coverage for less money in five more states. Most importantly for a company that’s customer-driven, our customer satisfaction score hovers around 95%—a number that we don’t take for granted.

So, yes, by the data, 2019 has been a huge year for us. But data isn’t my native language, it’s people. And that’s what I’d like to talk about now. The team we’ve built is both one of our biggest successes and the factor which made all of our other 2019 successes possible.

Here are some Clearcover team wins of 2019:

We nearly tripled the size of our team.

In January 2019, Clearcover had 45 employees. At the end of the year, we employed 128. That’s a phenomenal rate of growth, and what I’m most proud of is that we’ve scaled our workforce thoughtfully and intentionally, and have put lots of effort into making sure that every person we hire feels like part of the Clearcover team.

For example, we created a new onboarding process that systematically introduces every new hire to important aspects of our business. We want everyone to deeply understand what we’re trying to do and how their role fits within our larger goals.

Rediscovering our core values.

This is a big one. In 2019, we rediscovered our core values so that they reflect the people who actually work here. It was a huge effort, and we worked hard to make sure that every person in the company felt like they had a voice in the process. The work paid off and you can see our core values here.

One of our core values is perspective—we’re serious about listening well, empowering each other, and making sure everyone feels heard.

Making car insurance more inclusive.

We know that we need lots of different perspectives to change an industry as old as insurance. So, this year, we started a council to figure out how to make Clearcover a more diverse and inclusive environment. The council is still in the early stages but the philosophy has been important to Clearcover since our founding. Car insurance is a product for everyone and that means involving a variety of voices that haven’t always been consulted in the past.

We have big hiring plans in 2020 and plan to keep growing the diversity of perspectives (with a continued emphasis on inclusion because the two are interdependent.) With the team evolving, it was also the right time to revisit our benefits.

We revamped what we offer to our team.

We’ve always had a great benefits package, but in 2019 we decided to expand our offerings. Now, in addition to stock options, unlimited PTO, and great medical and dental coverage, we’ve launched 401K contributions.

And we want our employees to use their benefits, too! Many startups offer unlimited vacation time, but we’re a company where senior leadership actually sets the example by taking time off for themselves. We work hard and expect a lot from ourselves and each other but we also know when it’s time to take a break. And we’re serious about making sure that rest is never penalized in our work culture.

With almost 30% of our team working remotely, we also launched a Remote Committee at the end of the year to ensure everyone is experiencing our culture equally—no matter their home base. It’s still in the early stages but we’re already formalizing small measures like ensuring all of our meetings are broadcast online (and recorded) along with a formalized “travel to the office” allowance to help nurture inclusion. (And another fun perk: we provide a snack allowance to our remote workers so that they have access to the same perks as our onsite team. It’s the little things that count!)

We built on—and protected—the Clearcover culture.

When I started this job at the beginning of the year, I was constantly approached by employees who had been at Clearcover for longer than I had. “We have such a good culture,” they said, “You have to save it!” Everyone was worried that the company’s rapid growth would destroy the things which made working at Clearcover special. I have to admit—I was nervous about that, too.

But I’m proud (and relieved) to say that just the opposite has happened. Our culture has gotten stronger as we’ve scaled. I believe this is because of our commitment to our core values: while we’re actively looking for many different kinds of people and personalities, we don’t hire anyone who doesn’t align with the fundamentals of who we are and what we do—even if they have the skill set we need. While this can make hiring more difficult in the short-term, it pays dividends in the morale of our entire team. (And if a recruit we love is on the fence about joining Clearcover, all I have to do is bring them onsite for an all-company “Friday Wins” meeting so they can catch the spirit—then they get it!)

2019 has been a year of outstanding growth for the Clearcover team. We’re fortunate that so many incredible people have chosen to help build a smarter, better insurance product. But shaking up an old industry is difficult and there’s still a lot of work ahead. And, ultimately, what will make or break us is the strength and vision of our team. So we’re committed—in 2020 and beyond—to making Clearcover an even more dynamic, diverse, and exciting place to work.

If you’re interested to see where you might fit, we’d love to talk with you.