ABOUT US

Founder Shield is a risk management partner for rapidly evolving, high-growth companies.

Charting Your path from MVP to IPO

Founder Shield is the innovation arm of the Baldwin Group, one the fastest-growing brokers in the country. For over a decade, we’ve supported ambitious startups from seed through IPO with our full suite of insurance and risk advisory services. Our mission is to create the most seamless, intuitive, and responsive experience to protect your company’s growth.

Clients

4,000

Colleagues

#16

Broker in the US

What makes us different?

Any time, day or night

Our team of experts provides continuous guidance and support to ensure you purchase coverage that makes sense for your business. Reach out any time, day or night, for any reason (or no reason at all).

Engineered to scale

We take a hands-on approach with our underwriter relationships, training them to understand your company’s culture, values, and organizational approach. Our suite of tools and emerging industry experience gives us the unique ability to set you up for the present and create a clear game plan for the future.

One stop shop

We offer the full suite of insurance products necessary to protect management, investors, and high-growth companies.

Extension of your team

Don’t go at risk management alone. We’re genuine and upfront about what coverage you need, laying out the best options after learning about your business.

How it
all began...

Founder Shield was launched in late 2012, inspired by experiences gained at a previous venture-backed startup in New York City. At a young age and as the most junior team member, the task of securing proper insurance for the company fell to one of our founders.

This experience highlighted the inefficiencies and outdated practices prevalent in the insurance industry at the time, such as the reliance on fax machines for communication and application processes. The inception of Founder Shield was driven by the realization that there had to be a better way to approach commercial insurance, especially in an environment as innovative and technologically advanced as New York’s venture community.

Our mission is to provide the most seamless and intuitive insurance purchasing experience for high-growth and rapidly evolving companies. We achieve this through two main strategies:

Developing technology that not only enhances the customer experience but also streamlines the back-end processes and paperwork, making the insurance purchasing process fully digital and more efficient.
Focusing our expertise and product development on emerging markets that are ripe for growth and innovation, which are often neglected by traditional insurance brokers.

Our approach to technology development is centered on automating the labor-intensive, back-office aspects of insurance, freeing up our team to provide unparalleled service and responsiveness to our clients. This commitment to customer service stems from early challenges in receiving adequate attention from brokers due to perceived account size and potential.

At Founder Shield, we prioritize educating our clients and underwriters as a crucial component of the insurance purchasing process. We believe that innovation in insurance comes not only from technological advancements but also from creative and innovative product design. Our clients’ needs are diverse and unique, and so are the insurance products we develop and offer.

Join our team

Looking to be a part of a great team that fully believes in ‘work hard play hard’? Do you have a growth mindset, positive personality and thrive working in teams? We’re always on the lookout for talent, check out our open positions.

See open roles

An experienced leadership team who eats, sleeps, & breathes risk management

Our team has 25+ years collective insurance and risk management experience, specializing in high growth, venture-backed businesses

Carl Niedbala

Managing Partner

As Co-Founder and COO, Carl ushered into Founder Shield his rich history of risk management and due diligence experience from an earlier career in the venture ecosystem. Along with growth hacking and investing know-how, he brings a deep wealth of legal knowledge to the table.

Kyle Jeziorski

Managing Director

Kyle is the market-facing leader at Founder Shield, with eight years invested in the boutique broker and more than a decade in the insurance industry. Before Founder Shield, Kyle worked at Marsh on the FINPRO team focusing on management liability in the large private and public space. A graduate of Saint Joseph’s University’s Risk Management and Insurance Program, Kyle has focused his entire career helping clients to navigate through an ever changing risk environment.

Johnathan Selby

General Manager

With his years as a Long Island Broker, Jonathan blends the “old school” with fresh, tech-powered ideas. His commitment to turning over one more stone reassures us that we can pursue the perfect insurance fit for our clients, regardless of their challenges in the Digital World. The sky is the limit when humans and tech collaborate responsibly.

Justin Kozak

Life Science Team Lead

Justin has been involved in risk management for over a decade with Hub International, PBC, and Founder Shield. As EVP, he supports all new clients and partners joining the Founder Shield Network. Justin thrives in building bespoke insurance programs for emerging industries, especially in the Life Sciences space. His motto is to “let challenges be your driving force.”

Marissa Yorkshire

Traditional Team Lead

Marissa’s underwriting experience in traditional insurance markets empowers her to spot a “good risk” across many industries. Traditional markets — manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, etc. — are still the beasts they always were. However, adding the complexities of the modern world makes them more challenging than ever before. Marissa has the insight and adaptability to forge a path, teaming traditional knowledge with tech-powered skills.

Friends don't let friends go at risk management alone

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