Interview
Interview: Yashish Dahiya
In over 12 years, Yashish Dahiya has been able to groom Policybazaar to become a key influencer in consumer decisions around insurance. He believes death, disease and disability products are the future of the insurance industry, as India strives towards social security. He is an avid sportsperson, and has worked in the past as MD of Ebookers Plc and consultant with Bain & Co in their London office.
He has been felicitated with the Distinguished Alumni Award 2020 under the category of Entrepreneurship.
In an interview with Dr Vanita Srivastava of the Communication Cell he talks about his days in IIT Delhi and how the institute has helped him shape his professional journey.
Edited excerpts:
I have several fond memories from my Engineering days at IIT Delhi. We all joined engineering wondering how our college life would be but by the end of 4 years we were left with the question as to how our life will be after college. The 4 years at IIT Delhi was a deeply enriching experience that moulded me into the person I am today. Having a great bunch of batch-mates at IIT made my engineering years a fun and memorable experience. I believe the engineering mind-set is one of a kind; we engineers can accomplish anything that we put our minds on. Personally, it taught me not to take life too seriously. You just have to laugh at your own problems at times. I was always an avid sportsperson so even back in college one could always find me either working out in our hostel gym or swimming in our Olympic size pool.
How and when did you get the idea for Policybazaar.com?
It was in 2006 while I was exploring a job with Admiral Plc that I came across a very interesting concept rather say business model. The model here was called Confused.com, where people would come confused as to what to buy and Admiral would help them with it. I was pretty impressed with this model and that is what we are replicating in Policybazaar. Also, on the other side, when I came to India what I saw was there was a lot of inappropriate selling, wrong products back then.
What were the main challenges and how did you overcome them?
Insurance as a product category is never bought, it’s always sold. What I mean by this is that people don’t normally wake up to buy insurance unless triggered by any untoward incident. So in 2008, when we started of, we had to convince people to invest in insurance, we had our marketing team raise awareness around the need for insurance. At an industry level, it was equally important to work along with all industry players and build faith and trust among the customers. Insurance as a product category has to be monitored heavily by the regulator, in such a case having the support of the regulator makes a huge difference.
What does this award mean to you?
I am really grateful to IIT Delhi for the recognition. I would say, school and college life is where the magic happens and then you are groomed for life. IIT Delhi has made me adapt to the changing situations in life with a smile.
What would you like to convey to the young students of IIT Delhi?
My advise to the young students at IIT would be to have fun and live in the moment. The future is great for each one of you and as you tread the path ahead there will many challenges and a lot of work that needs to be done. But for now, enjoy the moment without stressing about what lies ahead. This alone will prepare you best for the journey ahead.
What was the most important takeway from your stay at IIT Delhi?
How did the institute help in shaping your personality and career?