CASE STUDIES
Below are a few case studies of our work. They illustrate the value created and the rigorous analysis used to meet and satisfy the needs of our clients.
Expanding in the Small Business P&C Insurance Sector
Situation
A mid-market commercial P&C carrier was looking to expand in the small business insurance sector. Several strategic drivers attract insurers to the small business market, including its size and perceived opportunity for profit. StratMaven was engaged to provide a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the market and key capabilities required to succeed.
Analysis
Using extensive primary and secondary market research, we developed market sizing as well as operational and financial implications. We confirmed the attractiveness of the small business insurance sector based on market metrics, competitive dynamics, and the client’s capabilities. StratMaven provided the client with sample specifications of product design requirements, which allowed the carrier to assess the feasibility of developing a small business insurance product that would accommodate customer needs. Additionally, StratMaven mapped the small business insurance buying processes utilized by the leading stakeholders in the market, enabling our client to determine the most effective sales and marketing strategy.
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Results Achieved
Results of the analysis were presented to Senior Management. We prepared a comprehensive business plan to enter and play in the small business insurance market, including forecast, operating model, and a roadmap of how to access specific segments of the market that provided the greatest near-term opportunity. Our client ultimately decided to enter the small business insurance market and utilized StratMaven’s objective research to make an informed decision about its strategy for market entry.
Building a Disruptive Smart Home Solution
Situation
An InsurTech startup approached StratMaven for assistance with a monetization strategy for their smart-home solution. The company wanted to understand whether insurance carriers were interested in subsidizing the cost of the solution, as part of their overall objectives of improving the policyholder experience, preventing claims, and reducing overall costs.
Analysis
StratMaven conducted in-depth interviews with carriers and surveyed policyholders to test the product concept and perceived value(s). We found that all carrier segments (large, medium, small by homeowners insurance premium size) had strong interest in the solution, but required additional data supporting the solution’s ability to prevent catastrophic damages. Additionally, carriers were interested in receiving a concrete translation of the savings potential resulting from these specific performance metrics. Finally, StratMaven discovered that while respondents clearly saw the value of the solution at a conceptual level, there was some operational uncertainty with device installation and monitoring that could be addressed using a well-crafted pilot program.
Results Achieved
StratMaven helped our client formulate a roadmap to bring the solution to market by providing a better understanding of each carrier segment’s willingness to pay for the solution as well as which features should be emphasized when marketing the product. By validating the company’s hypotheses with key market stakeholders, StratMaven helped our client protect its first-to-market competitive advantage, while providing the insights needed to allow them to confidently move forward with their product development plan.
Establishing a Robust M&A Process to Ensure Acquisition Success
Situation
Our client, a leading data & analytics vendor to the insurance industry, approached StratMaven to help them develop a rigorous M&A screening process that enabled fast, effective responses to sound M&A opportunities, and supported more effective research to find even better ones.
Analysis
StratMaven kicked off the project by conducting a comprehensive review of industry trends, looking not just at current influencing factors, but also at what would reshape the industry in the future. The next stage was to identify specific opportunity segments. For each search direction, the results of our analysis were summarized in a scoring matrix. The matrix looked at two dimensions: the strategic fit with the Client (e.g. business model attractiveness, customer perspective, content/ technological suitability, etc.) and the segment attractiveness (e.g. market size, growth, margin potential, and competitive intensity). Segments with a high score in both dimensions were highlighted as opportunity segments. We then looked for discrete acquisition targets within these prioritized opportunity segments. Target companies were screened against a number of criteria and were further prioritized in an “Action List”, “Watch List”, and “Knockout List.” StratMaven leveraged secondary market research as well as in-depth primary interviews with knowledgeable market participants to obtain detailed information on each of these criteria.
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Results Achieved
StratMaven identified a set of strong candidates that would meet our client’s strategic objectives and whose executive leadership would likely entertain an acquisition under mutually beneficial terms. StratMaven facilitated introductions to some of the target companies’ executive teams. It’s been very rewarding to observe our client successfully execute on their M&A strategy, leveraging the analysis of StratMaven.
Business Review for a Catastrophe Modeling Provider
Situation
The global catastrophe modeling industry is going through transformative changes driven by carriers’ need to own their view of risk both for regulatory compliance and as a strategic imperative to improve their competitiveness in the marketplace. Other dynamics shaping the industry include the margin pressures impacting brokers and reinsurers, leading many of these players to streamline their cat modeling budget. ​ A leading catastrophe modeling vendor engaged StratMaven to conduct a strategic review of its business and to identify options to respond to rapidly changing market conditions (influx of alternative capital, emergence of cat models cloud-based and/or open-source platforms, cat models blending, etc.).
Analysis
Using extensive primary and secondary research, as well as financial modeling, StratMaven provided the client with a detailed understanding of the market size, growth trends, and competitive environment. We conducted over 30 interviews with market stakeholders including primary insurers, reinsurers, reinsurance brokers, and ILS investors. Through an in-depth analysis of our client’s past performance and market positioning, and an assessment of future market dynamics and detailed quantitative market segmentation and sizing, we created a strategic plan to leverage the organization’s existing strengths and address some capability gaps organically and through acquisition.
Results Achieved
The project provided our client with a clear strategy and a detailed implementation roadmap. Senior Management approved StratMaven’s actionable recommendations and proceeded with execution.
Deep Dive into Competitors for a Healthcare Data Analytics Vendor
Situation
Our client, a leading data and analytics vendor to healthcare organizations, sought to gain a detailed strategic and tactical understanding of eight competitors so that it could effectively develop a competitive positioning strategy. Our client wanted to understand which competitors (in the market now and potential new entrants) might most impact its strategy. They were concerned with how competitors were evolving over time, and how these changes might affect each competitor’s product portfolio and resulting market share.
Analysis
StratMaven started with a baseline competitive analysis of each competitor. We then created a benchmarking framework in close cooperation with the client team. Examples of items analyzed in the framework included product offering, pricing model, technology, go-to-market channel, customer focus, R&D investment priorities, vision and strategy. We conducted secondary research as well as primary research with competitors’ customers, former employees, and partners. Our research revealed that key competitors were making strategic investments in smaller healthcare-related technology companies. By quantifying and rating each benchmarking criteria into a “scoring” model, StratMaven identified “major contenders” regional players ripe for consolidation.
Results Achieved
StratMaven’s competitive analysis was used to support new product development and M&A decision-making, while ensuring our client was not caught off guard by competitor activity.
Post-Merger Integration for a Medical Technology Company
Situation
StratMaven was hired to design and lead a program management office (PMO) for the integration of two Med Tech organizations. With the takeover of a competitor, our client sought to expand its market position and fill out its product portfolio. The potential synergies in product development, sales and administration were obvious. The two organizations appeared to also share a similar culture.
Analysis
As part of the project, we assessed requirements, evaluated preliminary resource needs and developed a cross-functional integrated plan that encompassed among other areas: organization design, corporate shared services, and technology. We discovered that the two organizations were managed very differently, with the acquiring company being centrally managed whereas the acquired company was de-centrally organized with strong heads of regional business units. This led us to focus early on setting and communicating a clear vision for a centrally managed combined entity, with special sensitivity given to cultural issues. We carried out 25 structured focus interviews with employees and managers from product development, sales & marketing, technology and finance. Insights garnered from these interviews helped inform a new improved product development process and organization design for the combined entity.
Results Achieved
We worked hand in hand with our client’s various business unit teams to prioritize efforts and we coordinated the development and monitoring of action plans. Our client was able to focus on achieving the benefits and synergies that drove the pursuit of the acquisition in the first place.
Private Equity Investment in a Business Firmographic Data & Analytics Company
Situation
A private equity firm and its portfolio company were evaluating growth options available to the portfolio company, which included the potential acquisition of a provider of business firmographic data and analytics services. Prior to making a financial commitment, the PE firm wished to conduct commercial due diligence to ensure the investment provided the necessary financial return at an acceptable level of risk.
Analysis
StratMaven was asked to draw on its vast experience in the data & analytics services industry to evaluate the attractiveness of the industry and the target company. Various sectors of the economy including P&C Commercial Insurance, Real Estate and Banking leverage business data for marketing, risk assessment, and portfolio management.
In addition to extensive secondary market research, our team conducted interviews with the target company’s existing customers, prospective customers in new market segments, industry experts and competitors. Our final deliverable included market size and growth expectations for business data and analytics (segmented by market), profiles and interview commentary of various players (e.g. insurance carriers, commercial real estate investors, commercial lenders), competitive dynamics, the target’s revenue analysis and forecast, and analysis of potential synergies/dis-synergies between the portfolio company and the target.
Results Achieved
We found that these markets were relatively well served by established players that are deeply integrated in their customers’ workflows. Ultimately, we advised against the acquisition due to lack of proprietary content and sustainable competitive advantage. The PE firm accepted our recommendation and withdrew their offer.
Monetizing Existing Assets to Bring New Data Analytics Solutions to Customers
Situation
A leading provider of subrogation and recovery solutions to insurers, self-insured entities and TPAs wanted to better understand the potential to monetize the data the company had amassed over the years. The client approached StratMaven to explore the viability and size of the market for data analytics solutions derived from its subrogation services and test various product concepts with customers.
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Analysis
StratMaven started by analyzing the types of data captured by the company. For each data field, we looked at data quality, coverage, uniqueness and perceived predictive power. Based on our deep understanding of the market and the client’s initial hypotheses, we then jointly identified potential offerings that appeared promising for further research. Leveraging prior experience and targeted interviews with knowledgeable market participants, we gained insights into data analytics usage in the subrogation sector, assessed unmet needs across the ecosystem and collected detailed feedback on conceptual product designs. Our sizing analysis focused on four attractive product concepts (out of a total of eight) identified during the concept testing phase.
Results Achieved
The research allowed our client to focus investment dollars on the most promising product concepts. We also helped the company formulate a roadmap to bring the solutions to market by providing a better understanding of the data analytics needs of customers and their willingness to pay, and by identifying key functionalities to highlight when marketing the products.
Business Plan for Seed Stage Telehealth for Pets Company
Situation
A seed stage startup was developing a telehealth for pets offering. Pet owners' preference for convenience and communications using their mobile devices and the need to improve access to veterinary care are some of the key drivers behind the growing demand for telehealth services. The client turned to StratMaven for assistance in understanding the market landscape, segmenting prospective customers, and sizing the opportunity.
Analysis
StratMaven surveyed 500+ consumers and 75+ veterinarians to better understand their perceptions and uses of telehealth tools. Based on survey results, we developed a set of personas corresponding to the different customer segments. For each segment, we estimated the market size, determined desired platform functionalities (e.g. ability to send photos or videos via email and text, integration to practice management systems) and predicted the timing and uptake for the offering. We uncovered that without a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship (VCPR), veterinarians cannot in most states provide diagnoses or prescribe treatments using telehealth, although various states' Veterinary Medical Boards are looking to relax these rules. Still, we estimated enough demand for medical advice e-consults from both consumers and veterinarians to make this opportunity a viable and scalable one.
Results Achieved
Our analysis was the foundation of the business plan pitched to prospective series A investors. Though the company is still in its early stages, it is growing rapidly and is enabling pet owners in several states to better care for their four-legged family members while allowing veterinarians to grow their practice and provide convenience to their patients.