About Shepherd
Our Mission
Shepherd's mission - improve the safety and productivity of the construction industry by advancing the use of technology on job-sites.
About us
Shepherd is a YC and venture backed InsurTech startup for the commercial construction marketplace.
The construction industry is one of the largest and most important industries in the world. It creates the physical spaces where we live, work, study, and entertain. Inherently, construction is an extremely high risk occupation. The complexity, scale, and inconsistent nature of most projects makes it difficult to predict outcomes. As a result, the role (and cost) of insurance in construction is outsized when compared to other industries.
In the last decade, over $5B+ of venture capital has been invested into advancing construction technology in order to make projects safer, more efficient, and more predictable. Adoption of these tools (both hardware and software) by contractors is growing exponentially each year. But the underwriting models which evaluate and price construction insurance have failed to integrate this new available data.
That’s why we are building Shepherd.
Our value prop is twofold: create a fast, digital, and user-friendly experience for buying insurance in construction. At the same time, we’ll begin to break the traditional underwriting mold by leveraging data and technology to better understand, predict, and price construction risk.
Our team
Modernizing construction insurance requires a specific combination of skillsets, domain expertise, and backgrounds. Our founding team has both the credibility and track records to deliver world class software to support a profitable underwriting program.
- Justin and Mo originally met in the On Deck Fellowship program and both live in the Bay Area.
- Steve has known Justin for many years from within the construction risk community
- Justin's coming off a prior exit in construction tech - he was co-founder / CEO of TradeTapp, which was acquired by BuildingConnected and then Autodesk.
- Mo led several internal engineering teams at Airbnb, including a no-code CMS that powered all of the company's marketing campaigns (2B+ per year).
- Steve was most recently EVP Construction Practice Leader at Chubb - one of the largest insurers in the construction industry. He brings 16+ years of underwriting experience to our team and a long track record of managing profitable programs in construction insurance.
Together, we're bringing a fresh perspective to construction insurance. Technology is the answer for many of the efficiency, safety, and productivity issues that plague the construction industry. However, true gains in these areas can't be realized until stakeholders like insurance companies align with this vision. Shepherd is the bridge between construction tech and underwriting - a connection that is long overdue.
Investors & Angels
We formed the company at the beginning of 2021, but are moving quickly:
- YC Winter '21 batch participant
- $1M pre-seed financing led by Susa Ventures
- Angel participation from insurtech, construction, and startup including Sam Hodges (CEO @ Vouch), Ty Harris (CEO @ Openly), Spike & Gordon (founders of Newfront), Mike Curtis (fmr VP Eng @ Airbnb), Ryan Delk (CEO @ Primer), AirAngels (Airbnb alumni syndicate)
About the role
Skills: Node.js, React, JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, TypeScript, Data Warehousing, Data Modeling, Data AnalyticsOur mission is to make construction safe and sustainable through innovative insurance products.
Shepherd is a tech-enabled MGU writing casualty insurance for middle-market construction. Our mission is to incentivize a safe and sustainable construction industry through innovative insurance products. Shepherd is creating a digital end-to-end insurance procurement experience, leveraging new sources of underwriting data and providing the construction industry with valuable benchmarking metrics. We're backed by Y-Combinator and have raised a Seed Round led by Spark Capital.
About you
We're looking for a talented full-stack engineer who's passionate about what we're building and ready to do the best work of their career.
You would be our dream candidate if...
- You aren't afraid of ambiguity, and it may even excite you
- You enjoy shipping product every day (maybe multiple times a day)
- You enjoy wearing multiple hats while solving problems; as an engineer, product manager, and designer
- You care about the built-world and how to improve construction safety and productivity
- You have some experience with insurance – either from a prior InsurTech role or actuarial role
- You have experience working with Javascript (backend and/or frontend)
- You have at least 3-4+ years of working experience (preferably as a full-stack engineer)
About the role
Shepherd's platform consists of three primary elements: data collection, automated underwriting, and policy administration.
- You will own a large area of Shepherd's product experience, in each vertical
- You will work across the stack, even across different disciplines (e.g. underwriting, design, product management)
- You will play an integral role in building our culture as the company grows
- You will collaborate closely with us (Justin, Mo, and Steve) on shaping future roadmaps and making company decisions.
Our tech stack
Frontend
- React & Next.js
- Typescript
- GraphQL w/ Apollo
- Cypress.js & Jest
Backend
- Node.js
- Postgres & Redis
- Typescript
- GraphQL APIs
Benefits
- Paid lunch, snacks, and craft coffee in the office every day
- 100% employer contribution to top-tier health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401K Retirement Planning
- Unlimited PTO
- Fidi Office with a beautiful patio and dog-friendly
- We workout, ski, hike and do many activities together
Team
Meet the team over here: https://withshepherd.com/team
Technology
👩💻 Our tech stack
Frontend
- React & Next.js
- Typescript
- GraphQL w/ Apollo
- Cypress.js & Jest
Backend
- Node.js
- Postgres & Redis
- Typescript
- GraphQL APIs
Interview Process
Check out our interview process here: https://withshepherd.com/careers
- PHONE INTERVIEW
The purpose is to learn about your experience, what gets you motivated, and your career goalsThis is typically a pretty casual conversation, and will take about 30 minutes
- TAKE HOME CHALLENGE (ENGINEERING AND PRODUCT)
We don’t do leetcode!We have designed our own take-home tech or product challenge which typically takes a few hours over the course of a week
- TECH CHALLENGE REVIEW (ENGINEERING AND PRODUCT)
We'll review your tech challenge together where you'll talk through your approach and decisionsExpect about an hour via phone or in person
- INTERVIEW WITH THE FOUNDERS
Meet with the remaining co-foundersTalk about the company, our strategy, and why we're building Shepherd. Ask us questions!
- FINAL INTERVIEWS
We often host you for a lunch with the teamYou'll meet more members of your prospective team - whether that be engineering and product, underwriting, or customer experience
- OFFER
We subscribe to "first and best" and use industry data to formulate compensation. We believe a first offer should represent how we value each individual’s skill set and work experience, not what we expect to arrive at after a negotiationWe move fast! We understand your time is valuable and you may be considering a number of opportunities. We have hired employees from beginning to end in as little as two weeks
