# T-24-001 : Haytham Elhawary - Transitioning from Hardware to Insurance

- Show: [TRADEOFFS](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs)
- Published: 2024-02-17
- Length: 43m
- Episode: 1
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance
- Listen: https://tradeoffs.fm/1

## Summary

Haytham Elhawary, founder of Kinetic Insurance, discusses his company's evolution from building a wearable hardware device for workplace injury prevention to partnering with Nationwide to offer workers' compensation insurance. He details the technical challenges of creating robust hardware for harsh industrial environments, including saltwater intrusion and battery fires, and the long sales cycles required to sell to enterprise clients like Walmart and Home Depot. Elhawary explains how the company leveraged data from 35,000 workers to prove injury reduction stats, enabling a shift to an insurance-based business model that incentivizes adoption through rebates.

## Chapters

- [0:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=1) Introduction and Kinetic's Mission
- [2:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=164) The Wearable Device and Injury Prevention
- [6:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=389) Enterprise Sales and Pilot Hell
- [14:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=842) Hardware Failures: Saltwater and Battery Fires
- [17:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=1037) From Academia to Hardware Entrepreneurship
- [25:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=1500) Monetizing Data and the Insurance Pivot
- [35:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance#t=2107) Leadership, Delegation, and Founder Wellbeing

## Topics

- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Retail, wholesale & distribution](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/retail-and-distribution)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Kinetic Insurance (company)
- Nationwide (company)
- Walmart (company)
- Home Depot (company)
- Progressive (company)
- Peloton (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [From Wearables to Insurance: How Kinetic is Revolutionizing Workplace Safety](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2025-01-23-from-wearables-to-insurance-how-kinetic-is-revolutionizing-workplace-safety) (Over the Air)
- [Succeeding in Hardware with Joshua Hsu of Introhm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-03-24-succeeding-in-hardware-with-joshua-hsu-of-introhm) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [WHOOP: Will Ahmed](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-07-21-whoop-will-ahmed) (How I Built This)
- [Fitbit: James Park](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-27-fitbit-james-park) (How I Built This)
- [The Anatomy of a Hardware Product Recall](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-03-17-the-anatomy-of-a-hardware-product-recall) (Over the Air)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2024-02-17-t-24-001-haytham-elhawary-transitioning-from-hardware-to-insurance. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to TRADEOFFS.