Client

Mouleena Khan
Email: <mkhan0@chicagobooth.edu>

Advisors

Abbey O’Malley
Email: <abbey.omalley@chicagobooth.edu>

Kirthi Vadlamuri
Email: <kirthi@chicagobooth.ed>>

The client and the two advisors are currently MBA students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with professional experience in the insurance industry. The client is a Cornell ORIE alum, class of 2012. They are founders of Jetson Benefits.

Student contact

Logan Allen, <lga24@cornell.edu>, is setting up a team for this project. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact him.

Company background

Jetson Benefits is a platform where independent workers can research, purchase, and manage benefits packages.

The nature of work in America is changing. Each year, more and more workers are switching from the traditional employee-employer model in favor of independent work, which offers more autonomy, control, and freedom; independent workers will be the majority of the US workforce by 2027. But the shift to independent work is being hindered by a benefits system that is stuck in the past - it often feels like the only way to protect your family with important benefits like health, disability, life insurance and retirement solutions is to be tethered to a corporate job. As an independent worker, piecing together a makeshift package is confusing and expensive. Jetson Benefits is looking to offer the modern worker a modern benefits package. In the long term, Jetson will offer packages to independent workers that are easy to access, include the types of coverage they want, move with them from job to job, and fit their budget.

Project Summary

Jetson is looking to test the market viability of the idea by launching a minimal viable product (MVP):

• Develop a benefits coverage calculator (responsive web application) as an extension of the Jetson landing page. This calculator should help a user understand which benefits he/she needs and the monthly cost of each. Possible user flow could be:

  1. User enters high-level information about self and family (ie, marital status, children, income).
  2. The system delivers a recommendation of the benefits products the user should have, as well as those the user does not need (similar to a checklist).
  3. User selects a product of interest to get a price quote (selects from disability, life, vision, dental).
  4. User enters more detailed information specific to the product.
  5. The system delivers a price quote.
  6. As the user gets a quote for each type of product, the system adds these costs into a total monthly benefits cost.

• Enable Google Analytics to track how far users get through the quoting process.

• Any time that a user has already entered a specific piece of data (ie date of birth), that data field should be pre-populated if it comes up in another part of the user flow

The Jetson team will work with the project team to address and mitigate issues related to:

• Data security: “Coverage calculator” functionality may be limited depending on what types of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) insurance companies require to provide a price quote and how much liability Jetson is willing to accept for this information.

• Data availability: Insurance companies are slowly working towards digitization. Few companies offer a fully online sales process (most require customers to call a broker or agent to complete applications), so the "coverage calculator" will be limited to products for which pricing data is available online.

The minimal viable product (MVP) will serve two purposes that the team should consider as they design and develop:

• Use online advertising methods to link to the Jetson coverage calculator and validate assumptions about initial target market segment.

• Serve as the foundation for a platform where a user will eventually be able to apply for desired products and pay for coverage (requires integration with insurance companies).

Communications with the client

Since the client and advisors are not based in Ithaca, the feasibility study for this project should pay special attention to how the remote communication will be managed. See the advice on working with remote clients on the course web site.