Arbol’s $171M Revenue Journey: When to Hide Your Tech and Focus on Customer Problems

Most tech startups lead with their technology. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Arbol founder Sid Jha revealed why they took the opposite approach on their journey to $171 million in revenue.

The Customer-First Philosophy

“The buyer does not care,” Sid states bluntly about their technology stack. “For us, it’s more important to make sure the customer pays premium and then gets what he or she expects for that premium. That when there’s a climate event, they get paid. They really don’t care how it happens.”

Technology as a Behind-the-Scenes Engine

Despite building sophisticated blockchain and AI systems, Arbol keeps the technology discussion minimal. As Sid explains, “If you look at our tech stack, blockchain is one aspect of it. I would say our artificial intelligence is another one that we don’t talk as much about. But our entire underwriting is AI based and we account for hundreds of millions of inputs to assess where weather might be headed.”

Solving Real Problems First

Instead of leading with technology, Arbol focuses on addressing specific customer pain points. “The way insurance works is you have damage. Some guy comes to your farm or business and makes a subjective assessment, and that process is filled with delays, disputes and sometimes fraud,” Sid explains. Their solution? “What we do is with data, right? So the payouts are linked to data.”

Building Trust in Traditional Industries

For traditional industries, trust matters more than technological innovation. “We have really stayed away from a lot of the hype that kind of tends to saturate the blockchain space,” Sid notes. This approach helped them build credibility in conservative sectors.

Practical Applications Over Technical Specifications

Rather than discussing blockchain architecture or AI models, Arbol focuses on practical applications: “Think of what climate risk they are sitting on. So if suddenly there’s a heat wave, they have to supply their customers, homes and businesses who are now running a lot more air conditioning, but they only generate a certain amount of power.”

The Growth Results

This customer-first approach drove remarkable growth. From a $3,000 first transaction in 2019, they grew to “about a couple of million” in 2020, $70 million in 2021, and reached $171 million in gross revenue by 2022.

Technology as an Enabler

While Arbol doesn’t lead with technology in their marketing, they use it strategically to solve specific problems. “Behind the scenes in Arble, the entire process can be automated,” Sid explains. “When you think about how much staffing an insurance company needs just for the claims process, for the payouts process we have, it almost entirely automated.”

The Future Vision

This approach positions Arbol to create what Sid describes as “a whole new asset class at a scale that has not been done before.” By focusing on customer problems rather than technological prowess, they’re building trust with traditional industries while quietly revolutionizing how climate risk is managed.

For tech founders entering traditional markets, Arbol’s journey offers a crucial lesson: sometimes the best way to deploy innovative technology is to talk about it less. Focus on solving customer problems first, and let the technology work its magic in the background.

As Sid puts it, “We would only talk about it if we actually see customers loving it, like actually using it rather than it becoming, yes, yet another hype tool for fundraising.”