“It’s going to be bloody tough”: 0 to 210,000 customers with Michael Gottlieb, founder of BizCover

10x Mentor Spotlight 🔦

Michael Gottlieb co-founded BizCover in 2008 and has grown it to become the leading online marketplace for SMEs to buy business insurance policies online: 10% of SMEs in Australia use BizCover!

BizCover is the startup success story that dreams are made of - we sat down with Michael to talk about his journey from physiotherapist to startup founder and CEO – and how he sees himself helping the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Michael didn’t start his career as an entrepreneur – but he was always trying to find the business ‘edge’ to anything he did. Training initially as a physiotherapist (and then going to the World Cup in 1998 with the South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana!), Michael worked his way through multiple industries and businesses (including corporate wellness programs and management consultancy) before finding a niche with his business partner and best friend in 2001 – and Mega Capital was founded -the seedling of what would become BizCover.

But even then, it wasn’t a straight and narrow road to success – it was a lot of phone calls, a lot of hustle, and a lot of perseverance that started Michael on this path.

“Mega Capital was our first business, and it wasn't to do insurance, it was to be a buying group for the venture capital industry of which insurance was going to be the first product, however we never got past insurance,” Michael said.

“We became an insurance specialist to the financial services segment. I have always thought if you want to start a successful business, find a very large industry - insurance, supermarkets, whatever - and find a niche that the large guys won't be bothered about and own it.”

After some trial and error, and a leap of faith, they entered the insurance space – even going as far as to quit their day jobs and they made it work. Continuing on with their own advice and following the path of developing niches, Michael and his business partner found their next opportunity within the comparison marketplace sector.

“You look around the world 15 years ago and there was very limited business insurance being transacted online, and zero ability to compare products side by side and purchase online,” Michael explained, “So, we were like ‘this is the obvious solution’, a contestable platform for business insurance.”

And, the rest they say, is history. BizCover now services more than 210,000 small businesses in Australia – that’s 1 in 10 Australian businesses who choose BizCover to support their journey and over 13,000 businesses in New Zealand.

Now, at this point in his entrepreneurial and business journey, Michael still finds working with startups exciting.

“There are two things that stand out for me. First it is the energy, the positive attitude, the palpable excitement of founders. Working with founders means you are always exposed to a positive environment, positive people wanting to do positive things,”

“The second is I learn so much. As a mentor I'm hearing about technologies, ideas and challenges and things that I just wouldn't have been exposed to,” Michael continued.

“I think there's mutual benefits for both the mentee and mentor because it gives me a lot of energy and hopefully, I am able to share my experiences in a meaningful way for the mentee. We both learn from it…"

Reflecting on his journey, what advice would Michael give his younger self?

“Focus on distribution early in the journey. Strategy and product don’t pay the bills” Michael laughed, “And I would say it's going to be exhilarating. But it's going to be bloody tough.”

To have the chance to be mentored by phenomenal business leaders like Michael Gottlieb, find out more about our programs at unswfounders.com