Adam Lyons

Adam Lyons
Residence Austin, Texas, US[1]
Nationality American
Occupation Founder and CEO, The Zebra[2]
Years active 2012-present
Home town Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

Adam Lyons is an American entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of The Zebra, an insurance comparison website.[3][4][5]

Education

Lyons grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.[6] He dropped out of high school when he was 15 years old and had odd jobs until he became an insurance underwriter.[7][8] Lyons was taking classes at a local community college when he was recruited by the Risk Management & Insurance Department at Temple University.[9] He graduated from Temple University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Fox School of Business.[10][11]

Career

Lyons worked in the insurance industry, starting at Lloyd's of London as a broker and underwriter.[10][7][8] Later, he worked as an underwriter for All Risks Insurance, one of the largest US insurance wholesalers.[12][13]

In 2015, Lyons was named to Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list.[5] He was recognized as a finalist for the 2016 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[14]

The Zebra

In 2012, Lyons founded The Zebra.[15][16][17] Lyons began to look for investors for the new business venture and partnered with Mark Cuban, after pitching the startup over an email.[7][8] Later, Cuban noted he liked the concept of The Zebra and commented on Lyons' succinct writing style.[18] Adam also partnered with Mike Maples, Jr., an early investor in Twitter and Lyft[19] of Floodgate Fund, UK billionaire Simon Nixon of Moneysupermarket.com.[20] and Silverton Partners based in Austin, Texas.[18] After securing $4.5 million in seed funding in 2013, Lyons relocated the company to Austin, TX.[21][22] As of January 2016, The Zebra has received $21 million in funding, with Cuban's investment among his largest into a startup company.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Lahey, Susan (10 October 2012). "Why I Moved My Company to Austin". siliconhillsnews.com. Silicon Hills News. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "9 extremely clever startup funding stories". fortune.com. Fortune. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Raney, Nicole (April 23, 2015). "Two Austin superstars land on prestigious 30 Under 30 list". Austin Culture Map. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  4. ↑ McKenna, John (August 15, 2013). "Straight Up Startup…Featuring Adam Lyons, CEO Of Insurance Zebra". RackSpace. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Winfrey, Graham (April 22, 2015). "How This Young Founder Landed Big Fish Investor Mark Cuban". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  6. ↑ Smit, Deb (February 29, 2012). "InsuranceZebra wants to be the Kayak of the online insurance search". PopCity News. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Zoe Henry (January 26, 2016). "How Mark Cuban's Advice Led to One Startup's Major Growth, and $21 Million in Funding". Inc. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 Erin Griffith (January 26, 2016). "High School Dropout Raises $17 Million After Cold Emailing Mark Cuban". Fortune. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ Cooke, Lacy (June 4, 2015). "Compare Car Insurance Companies Quickly And Easily Through The Zebra". ThriveWire. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Office Hours: Adam Lyons". Fox Focus. Temple University. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  11. ↑ Reyes, Juliana (December 18, 2013). "This Temple grad got Mark Cuban to invest in his startup [Startup Roundup]". Technical Philly. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Hawkins, Lori (January 31, 2013). "Insurance Zebra raises $1.5 million and moves headquarters from Pittsburgh to Austin". Austin Statesman. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ Perez, Sarah (January 31, 2013). "Insurance Zebra Raises $1.5 Million From Mark Cuban, Floodgate, Silverton & Birchmere To Be The Kayak For Auto Insurance". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Meet the 2016 finalists". EY.com. Ernst & Young. 2016.
  15. ↑ Spencer, Malia (October 19, 2012). "Insurance Zebra lands $1.5M; goes stealth ahead of relaunch". Pittsburgh Business Times. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ Freeland, Allie Gray (13 May 2014). "4 Ways to Architect an Iconic Brand". huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  17. ↑ Newman, Kira M. (9 June 2012). "Want to Start a Company? Take a Few Months Off to Travel First". tech.co. Tech.co. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  18. 1 2 Lapowsky, Issie (December 10, 2013). "How a 26-Year-Old Founder Landed Mark Cuban's Money". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ Perez, Sarah (December 10, 2013). "Kayak For Auto Insurance Site The Zebra Grabs Another $3M, Launches Nationwide". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ Patterson, Te-Erika (January 8, 2015). "9 Extremely Clever Startup Funding Stories". Entrepreneur magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  21. ↑ Todd, Deborah M. (March 10, 2013). "Austin ascends: High tech transforms Texas capital into a star". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  22. ↑ "With $3M Seed funding from Mark Cuban and other prominent investors, The Zebra has an ambitious goal: To help consumers easily compare, purchase, and manage auto insurance". StartupBeat. December 27, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
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