In this episode, Kyle and I talk to Will Shaw, the CEO of Better Agency, an all-in-one insurance CRM platform. Will spent the first part of his career playing in the NFL. After his time playing football professionally, he landed a job in the tech industry, where he was inspired to start his journey in entrepreneurship. In this episode he shares with us how he started Better Agency with four other founders, and what they've done to raise funds and grow their MRR.
Will Shaw is the CEO of Better Agency, an all-in-one insurance CRM platform. Growing up, Will had one focus: football. He spent the first part of his career playing in the NFL. After his time playing football professionally, he landed a job in the tech industry, where he was inspired to start his journey in entrepreneurship.
Since his time at Infusionsoft, Will started several businesses all in the marketing and tech industry. In 2019, he founded Better Agency with four other founders, and has been the CEO of the company ever since.
Will pitched the idea of the product to a room of 24 insurance agents before building the software. He put together a 3 page PDF of the idea, and 11 of the agents agreed to sign up for the software before it even existed. They didn’t pay much for marketing in the early months of the software, instead they built an affiliate relationship with someone with influence within the insurance industry.
“We’re going to build a product for agents, by agents.”
Their goal for their customers using the platform:
“We are dealing with true small businesses. Instead of being a CRM that takes your time and your money to set up. Can we be something you plug in and within 14 days you are making enough money to pay for the life of your application?”
Are there any routines or traits from your days in football that you carry into your role as CEO of Better Agency?
“Probably the biggest thing I got from playing football was being in a room of people who are committed to being the best at their craft. Any position on the team - you’re committed to being the best at your craft. It doesn’t matter what you do in life, if you’re committed to being the best - you can be the best and be successful doing it.”
A game-changing moment:
Will went to a couple of his current paying customers and asked if they would like to invest in the company. “Through our customers we raised 250,000 in about 30 days… This was the biggest validation.”
Additional Links:
Check out Better Agency: https://betteragency.io/
Follow along with Will: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willshaw8/