There was a moment, long before Compare the Market and MoneySuperMarket, when we could have built the world’s first insurance comparison website

But we didn’t

Imagine a world without those platforms

A world where you still had to walk into a broker’s office, wait for quotes, and hope you weren’t being overcharged

Hard to picture now, isn’t it?

Especially when my own car insurance goes down each year, even as headlines scream that premiums are rising (that could because I'm getting older of course :)  )

Back during the dot-com boom, I worked for an Oracle partner that also ran what we called an “incubator.” 

This was where new internet startups were born. Having a website back then was cutting-edge, the digital equivalent of today’s AI startups

Entrepreneurs would come to us to pitch their bold ideas

Some were referred by Oracle, others we found through our own sales team’s hustle

Then, one day, two guys walked in with an idea that sounded revolutionary:

“Imagine,” they said, “instead of going to a broker, you could go online, to one place, and compare insurance products from multiple providers. All from the comfort of your home.”

It was visionary. It was simple. It was the future

I took the proposal for this new “website” to our board (of the Oracle partner)

The founders (of the Oracle partner) liked the concept but decided not to invest

To move forward, our company would have to invest time and resources in exchange for equity; equity that could be worthless if the idea flopped

The board deliberated, and then rejected it

Their reasoning?
They couldn’t see how insurance companies would ever agree to have their products listed side by side with competitors

Doing so, they argued, would turn insurance into a commodity, stripping away brand value and price control

Why would any insurance company agree to that?

So I had to make the call to the founders (of the insurance comparison site) and deliver the bad news: We’re passing on your idea

And that was that

Of course, we know how the story ends. Insurance comparison sites became the norm, reshaping how millions of people buy insurance

The companies that embraced transparency and digital access didn’t just survive, they thrived

Conclusion:
Looking back, that missed opportunity was a lesson in vision, or rather, the lack of it

Innovation often looks impossible until someone else proves it can be done

The truth is, disruption never starts with the comfortable majority; it starts with those willing to challenge what “will never happen.”

Sometimes, the biggest risk isn’t taking a chance, it’s not taking one