Deep Dive: Find the right co-founder and idea with Mo El Mahallawy, CTO and co-founder of Shepherd

Today we’re chatting with Mo El Mahallawy, CTO and co-founder of Shepherd. Shepherd is all in one commercial insurance platform focused on high hazard industries. The company is on an absolute tear and this month they announced a $13.5M series A. Mo and I decided to sit down and record a conversation because the journey of Shepherd will resonate with many potential founders who are try to find those two key missing pieces: who might I start a company with and what might we build together? Right as the world was shutting down due to COVID, Mo joined ODF3 where he met one of his co-founders at Shepherd — Justin Levine. Mo and Justin soon embarked on a journey to determine what they could build together that had potential to solve a real customer problem. After pivoting through several ideas across a variety of sectors, they honed in on an area where one of them had a unique insight — construction insurance. This is an instructive story about how to find co-founders and how to build a great business together. Enjoy! Are you exploring starting a company? We’ve got a program for that! ODF has helped 1k companies like Shepherd (ODF3) find their co-founders, get started and go on to raise over $2B. Applications for our IRL cohorts in San Francisco are now open. Learn more and apply at beondeck.com Mo on X/Twitter and his company Shepherd. beondeck.com On Deck on X/Twitter Julian on X/Twitter and blog Podcast episode archive and show notes