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2019 Break Out Awards, West: Michael Furlong

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Michael Furlong


MICHAEL FURLONG

Co-founder and CEO

Indio Technologies Inc.

San Francisco

Age: 28

Michael Furlong, who graduated from Emory University in Atlanta in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, worked in finance at Citibank for a short period before moving out to the West Coast and was co-founder and CEO of Sliced Investing Inc., an online hedge fund investment platform. In August 2016, he co-founded Indio Technologies Inc., an online platform that helps insurance agents streamline and modernize the insurance application process.

What is the No. 1 concern in your specialty?

The No. 1 concern to me is that agents and brokers who are our clients are not going to adapt to technology at a fast speed.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business?

I would say whether you’re in traditional insurance or insurance technology, get really good at one thing. The world is becoming very specialized, and you can have a much more meaningful effect by becoming the world’s best expert at one specific item. I’d advise just focusing on one very specific area and doing that well.

What surprised you about the insurance industry?

How complex the business actually is. I was not in insurance before I started this current company, Indio, and business insurance especially is very, very complex. There’s a lot of different aspects to it when you’re thinking about creating a technological solution within insurance. That’s why I said it’s important to pick one area and get good at it, because it’s very difficult to focus on more because of the complexity.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I won a (Connecticut) state championship in Ultimate Frisbee in high school.

What would you/do you binge watch?

Squash videos. It’s an obscure sport, but I picked it up after college, and I find watching it very therapeutic.

 

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