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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