Joe Grover sits down with Jake Bengzten, an innovative entrepreneur and the founder of Zipper.

They discuss the multi trillion dollar health care problem, the crazy premiums, extra fees and how Jake was on a mission to solve it, using his company: Zipper.
After 92 pitches, 7 investing angels, 18 months of grinding and paying himself only 3 times, he eventually hit rock bottom.

Jake realized the healthcare problem was too big to solve and it was time to shut down Zipper.

Jake shares, “There are a lot of people who choose unhappiness over uncertainty.” What matters most now, is what you are going to do after failing.

Growing up, he was exposed to the realities of entrepreneurship by his father and grandfather, both of whom started and ran small and medium sized businesses. As a young full-time college student, Jake networked his way into an entry level sales position at an up and coming Utah fintech startup called Finicity. It was an incredible journey where he took on various roles, including that of Chief of Staff. After the company was acquired by Mastercard for just under $1 Billion, Jake started contemplating making his own entrepreneurial jump.

This led to starting Zipper Health, a healthcare fintech startup focused on lowering the cost of healthcare for individuals and families. Rising healthcare costs is a problem that is near and dear to Jake.

Jake is a husband and father to 3 kids (with one more on the way at the time this episode was filmed).Outside of professional pursuits, Jake got hooked on triathlons about 10 years ago and has competed in Ironman. He is adamant about qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Jake also loves playing pickup basketball, fly fishing, and golfing.

This episode was recorded on November 8th, 2024

-Links-

For Jake Bengzten:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-bengtzen-0a8ab365/

For Joe Grover:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelgrover/

#entrepreneurship #realfword #startups #Failure #zipper