Past work
Built, grown, and taken further.
Three different kinds of work: making a programme useful to founders, testing a new business concept, and growing a venture through to a sale.
Selected experience from Ben Shaw’s previous roles and ventures. Client organisations are unnamed.
Insurance innovation consortium
Making an innovation consortium useful to startups.
Founding employee · Just over one year
A consortium of around 15 global insurers wanted to help startups build stronger businesses. The challenge was to turn a shared interest in innovation into practical support for founders.
In just over a year, three programmes were led and participation grew from 10 to 40 companies. A structured way to test assumptions and reduce risk was introduced, together with rigorous pitch training. More than 20 venture capital firms joined to give startups feedback, and a network of more than 60 experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts was built. That mentor network remains in use today.
The work also brought the first international insurer into the programme and established a joint venture for a health programme.
Read the full case studySmall-business insurance
Testing the case for a new insurance venture.
Consulting engagement · Insurer-backed opportunity
Concept validation
Prospecting → Client conversations → Engagement secured
Customer interviews → Concept validation → Prototypes
The opportunity was to explore a managing general agent (MGA) for small-business insurance: a business that manages insurance products on behalf of an insurer, rather than a new insurer itself.
The commercial work ran from prospecting through the full sales cycle and every client meeting, securing the consulting engagement. Customer interviews then tested the topic and customer needs. Prototypes and mock-ups made the proposed concept tangible.
The insurer approved a seven-figure investment commitment.
Read the full case studyExplore customer discovery and venture validationAirline-services venture
From one airline partnership to forty.
Founder
The venture began with one airline partnership. The business grew to 40 airline partnerships, including seven exclusive partnerships.
It reached profitability and was sold to a European airline-claims company.
Read the full case studyLet’s make it work
What needs to move forward for you?
The next opportunity might start with what you offer, a customer need or a delivery challenge. Let’s define the work that would make a difference.