Why I Left The Corporate World to Build Resnova

*This article is based on a conversation with Insurance Post's Scott McGee, published February 12, 2026. [Read the original Q&A here](https://www.postonline.co.uk/technology/7959680/qa-andy-wright-resnova)*

Twenty-six years in insurance. Most of them inside traditional carriers and corporate roles. Then Tesla. Then Zego. Now Resnova.

People ask why someone would walk away from a Managing Director role at a fast-growing Insurtech to start a consultancy. The honest answer: I wanted to help more companies avoid the mistakes I'd made.

The Accidental Career

I didn't plan to work in insurance. At 20, I'd dropped out of university and was training as a chef. The hours were brutal. A friend mentioned Norwich Union was hiring for six-month contracts in their Liverpool call centre. I got a phone call on a Friday. I started the following Monday. After six weeks of training, they took me on permanently.

That was 1997. I've been in the industry ever since.

The early years were ERS, Allianz, and the traditional carrier path. But I'd fallen out of love with insurance somewhere along the way. The bureaucracy. The incrementalism. The disconnect between what customers needed and what insurers delivered.

Tesla: The Reset

Joining Tesla changed everything.

I joined as part of the team setting up their European insurance carrier in Malta. Branch CEO for the UK, then CEO for the German branch. Responsible for pricing, underwriting, product design, and managing regulators across Europe.

It was the career-defining moment. First time I'd worked for a company that wasn't an insurer. First time I had genuine freedom to build products around what customers actually needed rather than what the system could handle.

The proposition we built would have been transformational for European customers. But Tesla ultimately decided to focus on the US market. The European carrier went into run-off.

I didn't want to wait years to see if they'd reignite it. But the experience taught me something critical: insurance can be simple, accessible, and customer-focused. You have to be willing to challenge how it's always been done.

Zego: Putting Theory Into Practice

After Tesla, I joined Zego as Head of International Underwriting to help build their European expansion. Eventually I became Managing Director of Zego’s in house insurance carrier.

If you want to understand the difference between Insurtech and traditional carriers, look at output velocity. In two years at an Insurtech, you'll do more than you would in ten years at an incumbent. The intensity is real. Long hours, high pressure. But incredibly rewarding when you're actually building something.

When Sten Saar and Harry Franks first pitched Zego's hourly insurance for courier drivers, nobody wanted to back them. Traditional insurers thought it was crazy. Now it's a proven model that's changed how the gig economy accesses insurance.

When Zego received its four regulatory approvals for a restructuring project I led, I felt it was the right time to move on. I'm still involved as a Non-Executive Director, I still sit on the board. But I wanted to do what I'd been thinking about for years: help other companies navigate what I'd learned.

The Mistakes InsurTechs Keep Making

Product-market fit failures. Companies build products without ever speaking to customers. They solve problems that don't exist or miss the actual pain points entirely.

Distribution blindness. You design a brilliant product that should be distributed through brokers, then completely ignore what brokers actually need or how they operate.

Capacity conversations done badly. Reinsurers and capacity providers want specific things articulated clearly. Too many InsurTechs pitch features rather than explaining how this helps the capacity provider learn something new or access different data.

Regulatory naivety. Regulators are risk-averse by design. Their job is to protect the financial system and customers. Respecting that reality and knowing how to navigate it is critical. Too many companies treat regulation as an obstacle rather than understanding the mindset.

The Capacity Reality

Capacity exists. But insurers and reinsurers won't back every opportunity that comes along.

What they're looking for: something different they're not currently doing. Data they don't currently access. A segment that teaches them something new.

If you pitch them a standard motor product with no meaningful differentiation from Admiral or Hastings, that's a difficult conversation. If you have a genuine secret sauce — a real USP, articulated properly, with clarity on the data you'll generate — that's compelling.

The difference between getting capacity and not often comes down to how well you explain what makes you different and what the capacity provider learns by backing you.

Where the Next Wave of Funding Comes From

I've written about the Qatari market and their potential in UK InsurTech. Qatar has had massive success with Antares, but we don't see much else happening from the Middle East despite the opportunity.

There's a genuine opening right now for Middle Eastern and Qatari insurers to get involved in the UK Insurtech sector. Whether through capital provision or strategic partnerships. The sector is booming here. They have the resources. The alignment makes sense.

Chinese insurers represent another opportunity. Following the path Japanese insurers took years ago. Right now there's concern around technology for Chinese EVs — insurers and reinsurers don't understand the vehicles, the data availability, parts supply chains, and accident repair processes. That creates pricing uncertainty.

I see an opportunity for Chinese or Asian insurers to build solutions that bridge that gap. Bring the OEM knowledge, the data infrastructure, and the repair networks. Create products that Western carriers can't price confidently.

Building Resnova

What I want to build: a network of people in different markets who know their territories inside out and want to replicate what I'm doing. People who've been operators, not just advisors. People who can say "I built this" rather than "I advised on this.”

We've had a few inquiries already. An EU-based MGA wanting to expand into the UK asked us to assess feasibility — should they do it, what would it involve, and what are the capital requirements. Tech companies are asking about setting up carriers. An MGA developing a new product wanting guidance on structure.

I took a call recently from someone looking for an interim leadership role for three months. It's early stages, but the model is working.

What I've Learned About Myself

Leadership roles sound impressive until you ask: what does "the top" actually mean? A job title? A salary number?

For me, it's about impact. How can I help other InsurTechs do what I did? How can I help them avoid the mistakes I made?

I want the InsurTech sector to thrive. Not just because it's good for the industry, but because the traditional model has fundamental problems. Insurance can be better. InsurTechs prove that every day.

I'm still involved with Zego as an NED. I want to do one or two more NED roles where I can shape strategy and thinking from a board perspective. But those are specific, contained commitments.

The consultancy gives me the flexibility to work with multiple companies, help them navigate the challenges I've navigated, and hopefully make their journey a bit less painful than mine was.

The Honest Reality

Working at an Insurtech is intense. You work long hours. The pressure is relentless. But when you're building something genuine, when you're solving real problems, it's worth it.

Traditional carriers can afford to move slowly. Insurtechs can't. That velocity creates opportunity but also risk. You'll make mistakes. The question is whether you learn from them quickly enough to survive.

After 26 years — Norwich Union call centres, traditional carriers, Tesla's European ambitions, Zego's growth — I've seen what works and what doesn't. I've built insurance companies from scratch across multiple jurisdictions. I've navigated FCA, MFSA, Gibraltar FSC.

Now I'm using that experience to help others do it better than I did.

That's Resnova. Not a traditional consultancy telling you what to do from theory. An operator who's been where you are, made the mistakes you're about to make, and can help you navigate through them.