SLINGSHOT
/
Confidential -- Board Presentation

Go-to-Market
Strategy

AI-native carrier infrastructure for the embedded insurance market. Series Seed -- $20M target raise.

Q2 2026 Rally Ventures Slingshot Insurance
The Thesis

The market inverted.
Incumbents are locked out.

200 Years of Legacy

Carriers optimized for rare, catastrophic risk -- the burning house, the totaled car, the $100M program. Their entire cost structure assumes low-frequency, high-premium events.

The Inversion

The growth market is now high-frequency, low-volume, embedded in every checkout and SaaS platform. The economics that protected incumbents now lock them out.

Market shift Embedded Insurance
Legacy Model High-value, low-frequency
Avg. premium: $5,000 Declining growth
Inverted Model Low-value, high-frequency
Avg. premium: $25 30%+ YoY growth

"Insurance is bigger than payments and the economics per transacted dollar are juicier, except it is too complicated to do." -- Justin, Rally Ventures

Market Size

A $144B market with
2% carrier penetration.

TAM
SAM SOM

$144B

Total Addressable Market

Global embedded insurance premiums, projected 2028. Growing at 35%+ CAGR from $72B in 2025.

1K MGAs

Venture-backed, tech-first MGAs from a universe of 10,000+ showing tech-forward characteristics

700 embedded MGAs

$4.2B

Serviceable Addressable

U.S. embedded insurance programs suitable for an AI-native carrier. Sub-$50M GWP per program.

Y1
5-10 partners
Y2
50+ partners
Y3
150+ partners

$10M

Year 1 Aggregate GWP

Conservative. When infrastructure becomes accessible, market expands 10-100x.

Positioning
"

We are the only carrier whose economics were built from the first line of code for the high-frequency, low-volume, embedded insurance market that legacy carriers are structurally locked out of serving.

"
For investors

The Inverted Market thesis. Stripe/Shopify analog. Creating TAM, not capturing it.

For customers

The Translator-Operator. We teach you the category and run the play. You keep building.

For reinsurers

The Trust Architecture. Every data object has a birth certificate. Auditable by default.

Target Segments

Three buyers.
Three entry points.

Velocity Junkie

Primary -- Year 1

Funded SaaS founders who discovered embedded insurance as a revenue line. Zero insurance knowledge. Need a teacher and operator.

$0-10M GWP
Launchpad tier (5.5%)
90-day launch target

Burned Operator

High credibility

Serial MGA founder on program 2 or 3. Catastrophically let down by a carrier partner. Demands architectural proof, not promises.

$5-50M GWP
Operator tier (5%)
Trust-first sales cycle

Collective Skeptic

Highest revenue

High-performing MGA running $50M+ GWP. Joined every "exclusive" ecosystem and found them all empty. Wants asymmetric advantage.

$50M+ GWP
Collective tier (4.5-5%)
Year 2 activation
Channel Strategy

Persona-to-channel mapping.

Channel Velocity Junkie Burned Operator Collective Skeptic
Rally Portfolio Intros
LinkedIn (Ethan organic)
Brock's MGA Network
Reinsurer Briefings
ITC / AAMGA / CAS
SaaStr / SaaS Communities
Google SEO + Paid
Primary
Secondary
Minimal
Funnel Architecture

Enterprise relationship funnel.

01

Awareness

LinkedIn organic

LinkedIn paid

Google SEO

Conferences

Trade press

Outbound

1,000-2,000

target universe

02

Consider

Inverted Market Report

MGA Calculator

Data Trust Assessment

API Sandbox

SaaS Playbook

500+

waitlist signups

03

Convert

Discovery call (Liz)

Tech deep-dive (Ethan)

Exec alignment

(Justin/Jeff)

Contract close

3-6 mo

sales cycle

04

Onboard

White-glove 30/60/90

API integration

Data pipeline

First program live

90 days

launch target

05

Retain

Quarterly reviews

Benchmark reports

Progressive risk

retention

Ongoing

relationship

06

Refer

Collective network

Rally portfolio intros

Conference circuit

Case study co-creation

Flywheel

compounds

The system automates the nurture, not the relationship
Product-Led Growth

Three PLG motions.
One hybrid engine.

01

Self-Serve Discovery

Free product experiences that qualify leads without human touch.

API Sandbox (14-day)
MGA Economics Calculator
Data Trust Assessment
02

Launchpad Entry

Compress sales cycle from 90 days to 30-45 for smallest, fastest-moving programs.

60% self-serve evaluation
30% guided configuration
10% human contract close
03

Product-Led Expansion

Usage drives natural tier progression. The product surfaces upgrade triggers.

Launchpad
Operator
Collective

GWP growth, team additions, and feature adoption drive tier upgrades

PLG Readiness: 3.2/5.0 -- Moderate fit. PLG accelerates qualification, it does not replace the enterprise sales process.

Launch Model

Founding Cohort.
10 programs. Year 1.

Not a webinar funnel. Not a challenge launch. An application-based, capacity-constrained partnership model with genuine scarcity.

Genuine Scarcity

Statutory surplus limits aggregate GWP. Onboarding bandwidth maxes at 10. Ethan's personal involvement is finite.

Founding Member Status

Locked economics, governance seat, permanent naming in the Slingshot story.

Application-Based Entry

Slingshot evaluates for Collective fit, not just revenue. Real curation, not theater.

Launch Parameters

Launch window June 2-6, 2026
Application deadline August 31, 2026
Target partners 5-10 signed
List size at launch 500-1,000
Year 1 GWP target $10M aggregate
Year 1 carrier fees $500K-$1.5M
Launch Roadmap

90 days. Three phases.

01

Pre-Launch

Weeks 1-7 -- Apr 14 to May 30

Website + waitlist live
Ethan LinkedIn at 3x/week cadence
Rally portfolio outreach (15-20)
Inverted Market Report published
Reinsurer briefings (8-10)
MGA Economics Calculator live
Target: 500+ waitlist
02

Launch Week

Week 8 -- June 2-6

Launch email + press release
Ethan manifesto LinkedIn post
Founding Partner Briefing (live)
Application page goes live
InsureTech Insights (NYC)
Private dinner (15-20 invitees)
Target: 20+ applications
03

Post-Launch

Weeks 9-12 -- Jun 9 to Jul 10

Optimize top-performing channels
Convert warm pipeline to signed
Scale paid LinkedIn amplification
Deepen discovery conversations
Founding Cohort evaluations
Cohort 1 onboarding begins Q3
Target: 5-10 signed partners
Pricing

Same price. 10x the value.

Launchpad

Year 1 Focus
5.5% of GWP
Full Slingshot OS access
MGA entity creation ($0 setup)
Category education program
Product design + rate filing
90-day launch guarantee

$0-10M GWP -- 12-mo commitment

$375-575K value at $5M GWP

Operator

5.0% of GWP
Everything in Launchpad
Artifact-based data trust
Automated reconciliation
Progressive risk retention (0-10%)
Migration support (90 days)

$5-50M GWP -- 24-mo commitment

$550-950K value at $20M GWP

Collective

4.5-5% of GWP
Everything in Operator
Peer benchmark intelligence
Aggregate reinsurance leverage
Risk retention (10-20%)
Governance seat (founding)

$50M+ GWP -- 36-mo commitment

$1.2-3M+ value at $60M GWP

Revenue Model

Year 1 revenue waterfall.

$10M

Aggregate GWP

Target GWP

x 5% avg. fee
$500K

Carrier Fees

Base Revenue

+ retention risk margin
$1.5M

Target ceiling

Year 1 Ceiling

Margin Expansion Path

Progressive risk retention expands net margins from 5% carrier fee to 8-12% on retained risk. At maturity, 15-20% on well-performing books.

Anchor Comparison

Legacy carriers charge 5% for paper only. Slingshot delivers $375-575K in services at $5M GWP -- 1.4-2.1x price-to-value ratio.

The Stripe Analog

Startups pay Stripe 2.9%+$0.30 when banks offer 2.1% because the experience justifies the premium. Same dynamic.

Marketing Machine

Seven nodes. One flywheel.

01

Warm Outreach

Rally portfolio, Brock's network, Ethan's reinsurers

15-25/wk
02

Cold Outreach

LinkedIn Navigator, Apollo email, conference pre-event

50-75/wk
03

Free Content

Ethan 3x/wk LinkedIn, SEO pillars, podcasts, report

6-9/wk
04

Paid Ads

LinkedIn TLAs, Google search, retargeting. Amplify best content.

3-4 active
05

Get Customers

3-step sales: Discovery, Tech Deep-Dive, Exec Alignment

6-10/mo
06

Testimonials

6-point capture script. Vertical Insure as proof case from Day 1.

1-2/qtr
07

Referrals

Collective network effects. Rally portfolio. Conference circuit.

2-3/qtr
Every node feeds every other node. Testimonials fuel ads. Referrals become warm outreach. The machine is circular.
Channel Allocation

Steady-state machine output.

Monthly Output Targets (Month 4+)

Warm outreach touches 60-100/mo
Cold outreach touches 200-300/mo
Content pieces 24-36/mo
Lead magnet downloads 40-80/mo
Discovery calls 6-10/mo
Technical deep-dives 2-3/mo

Paid Channel Targets

LinkedIn CPL

<$200

Google CPC

<$15

Paid Leads/Mo

15-30

Warm Response

>60%

Content Engine

Ethan LinkedIn 3x/week
Brock LinkedIn 1-2x/week
Justin LinkedIn 1x/week
Newsletter Bi-weekly
SEO pillar pages 2/month
Partner GTM

Rally Ventures as GTM leverage.

Not Just an Investor

Rally is not a passive LP. Justin and Jeff are co-founders with 20+ years in embedded finance. Their portfolio IS the pipeline.

Portfolio Warm Intros

15-20 portfolio companies with embedded insurance potential. Justin sends personal emails. 60-80% expected response rate.

3-5 expected Founding Cohort applications

Blank Metal (Dev Partner)

Rally portfolio company providing AI development expertise. "Super proven" -- accelerates platform build timeline.

Investor Signal

Rally leading $7-10M validates the thesis for co-investors. Target 1-2 additional: one strategic reinsurer, one fintech VC.

Four Warm Networks

01
Rally Portfolio

15-20 companies. Justin personal emails. Weeks 1-4.

02
Brock's MGA Network

15-20 founders. Peer operator credibility. Weeks 2-4.

03
Ethan's Reinsurers

10-15 contacts. Lloyd's, Tokyo Marine. Dual-purpose: capacity + MGA signal.

04
Conference Circuit

ITC, AAMGA, CAS, SaaStr. 15-25 pre-booked meetings per event.

Combined warm pipeline 55-75 contacts
Defensibility

Nine whitespace features.
Zero competitors.

0%

Artifact Data Trust

Every data object carries a birth certificate. No competitor offers provenance or chain of custody.

0%

Snapshot Reporting

The bordereau number is provably real. Not the version after quiet carrier-side adjustments.

0%

Co-Founder Customer

Brock is both co-founder and first customer. The MGA voice is permanently at the founding table.

2%

Market Inversion

Built for $25-policy checkout economics. Legacy carrier OpEx makes this structurally uneconomic.

3%

Sub-$20M Programs

Profitably serve $1-20M programs. State National averages $133M per program. Structurally locked out.

5%

Vertical Integration

AI, data, and carrier ops built in-house as one system. Not 16+ vendor point solutions assembled post-hoc.

These require ground-up architecture or unreplicable founding circumstances. Budget alone cannot replicate them. Swiss Re tried with iptiQ at $750M revenue and is selling it off.

Content Strategy

Ethan is the brand.
The brand is proof.

Why Founder-Led Works Here

No other carrier has a founder who is simultaneously a Fellow-level actuary, a former Chief Actuary/CDO at a $10B carrier, and a person who writes production code.

This credibility IS the marketing. It bridges the historically fatal gap between insurance domain expertise and technical architecture.

Dream 100 Strategy

Ethan comments substantively on 15-20 high-value LinkedIn accounts daily: Insurance Journal editors, MGA founders, insurtech CEOs, SaaStr leaders, reinsurance executives.

8-Week Content Rotation

W1 The Insider Story -- "Why I left the $10B carrier"
W2 Data Trust Architecture -- birth certificates for data
W3 The Inverted Market -- the math that does not work
W4 Building from Scratch -- day-by-day founder journey
W5 MGA Pain Points -- the $200K reconciliation problem
W6 The Stripe Analogy -- accessible infrastructure thesis
W7 Reinsurance and Trust -- why data needs a birth certificate
W8 The Founding Team -- co-founder as first customer
Milestones

Three-year trajectory.

Y1

Foundation

2026-2027

Shell acquisition, 50-state licenses
5-10 MGA Founding Cohort
$20-30M seed raise closed
$10M aggregate GWP
Data trust as operational standard
First Collective benchmark report
Y2

Expansion

2027-2028

Scale to 50+ MGA programs
Curated Partner Collective live
Progressive risk retention begins
Series A secured
Annual Inverted Market Report
Y3

Category Leadership

2028-2029

Market standard for embedded carrier infra
Own the word "inverted" in insurance
Ethan as category voice
Underwriting profit from retained risk
Collective membership as MGA competitive advantage
Risk Mitigation

Risks acknowledged.
Mitigations engineered.

Startup vs. State National (AM Best A)

MGAs choosing proven capacity over a pre-revenue carrier.

Mitigation: Ethan's $10B Palomar track record. Shell acquisition includes AM Best rating. Rally Ventures backing. Reinsurance capacity from Lloyd's/Tokyo Marine day one.

Stripe Insurance launches

Existential threat if Stripe enters embedded insurance at the carrier layer.

Mitigation: Insurance requires carrier licenses, statutory capital, and regulatory expertise that take years. First-mover in the niche. Slingshot IS the carrier; Stripe would need to become one.

Shell acquisition delay

Form A approval or regulatory friction pushes timeline past June.

Mitigation: Two candidates (Illinois, Oregon). Marketing infrastructure builds in parallel. Pre-launch generates pipeline regardless of carrier timing.

Small list at launch

500-1,000 contacts may not yield 5-10 signed partners.

Mitigation: Warm networks (Rally, Brock, Ethan) generate 55-75 high-quality contacts independently. At $150K-$3M ACV, conversion math requires far fewer leads than mass-market SaaS.
The Opportunity

The Stripe for insurance.
Built from scratch.

Legacy carriers spent 200 years building for the past. Slingshot is the infrastructure for the market that is actually growing.

$20M

Seed Target

5-10

Year 1 Partners

$10M

Year 1 GWP

$144B

Market by 2028

slingshot.com Founding Cohort -- June 2026