It’s all about data for Wicket Labs, a Seattle startup that works with media and entertainment companies to provide data-driven insight into streaming video services, the content their customers view, and how to better engage with them at each stage of the customer lifecycle.
“We pull data in from all the different systems our customers use,” says CEO Marty Roberts. “We harmonize that data, and then we present unique insights back to them that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. This really tells them a more complete story about their audience, content and service.”
To support its focus on helping these online video providers attract and retain customers, Roberts says Wicket Labs is empowering its staff with an environment and benefits that will attract and retain employees.
“For recruiting, you have to be competitive,” says Roberts, who has seen that first-hand since launching the company in 2016. “You have to be different – a different culture, a different impact, a different set of objectives.”
Cultural Values that Support Employee Growth
One way that Wicket Labs creates a more competitive total package to employees is by emphasizing four distinct cultural values: Integrity, Diversity, Curiosity and Empathy.
“We measure our decisions both against our objectives and also within the context of those cultural values,” Roberts says. “As long as we’re reaching our objectives and being true to ourselves and our culture, we’re going to run as fast as we possibly can.”
Wicket Labs rounds out its appeal by offering a robust employee benefits package through ALLtech, which partners exclusively with GeekWire to offer health insurance geared toward startups and growing tech companies.
“Health care is one of those areas where you have to be in the ballpark of the big players,” Roberts says. “You don’t want it to be a deciding factor between a big player and your own company.”
ALLtech offers a solution for technology companies that addresses the biggest needs of both small to mid-sized employers and their employees: choice, coverage and cost.
- Covered employees are able to choose from a wide variety of plans.
- ALLtech offers the Regence BlueShield network, one of the broadest and most established networks in Washington.
- ALLtech has negotiated favorable rates with preferred carriers, including Regence BlueShield, Delta Dental of Washington, VSP Vision Care Inc. and others to provide the most competitive, cost-effective plans available.
Coverage that Helps Recruit and Retain Employees
A variety of factors came into consideration when Wicket Labs was ready to start shopping for health insurance, starting with recruitment.
“Health benefits are one of those critical parts of the business that is easy to ignore and yet it’s critical to have,” Roberts says. “You have to have a health package that stands up to other companies that are in the marketplace today.”
It’s also important to Wicket Labs to offer a plan that is easy for employees to access and use.
“You really want to have a critical level of health benefits so that your employees don’t have to think about it, they don’t really have to worry about it,” Roberts says. “They should be focused on the job. Startups are stressful enough.”
It’s also important to Roberts that the coverage offer a range of benefits, including preventive care such as immunizations and annual checkups, life events like pregnancy, and unexpected injuries – especially for some of the younger employees who “think they’re healthy and probably invincible,” he says.
“What we’re really looking for as a startup is to both have an affordable plan, and also a competitive plan that matches what the industry is looking for.”
Designed for Washington Tech Companies
Since joining ALLtech, Roberts says the plan has remained competitive and affordable enough that the “big players” have not been successful in luring away any of Wicket Labs’s employees.
“This is a program that was specifically designed for tech companies in the region, and that seemed like a good place to start for us,” Roberts says. “Everything lined up after that, we didn’t have to shop a lot.”
ALLtech makes choosing and administering a health plan easy, and helps guide Geekwire members through today’s healthcare maze with streamlined customer service and support. ALLtech offers:
- Pre-packaged benefit designs for an easy insurance buying experience and predictable out-of-pocket expenses
- A single point of contact for all types of plan administration including customer service, billing, eligibility and COBRA services
- Consolidated billing and an employer management web platform for ease of administration
- An optional integrated employer eligibility tool that allows group administrators to make online eligibility changes in real-time
Get an ALLtech Quote
Companies in Washington with as few as two employees and as many as 199 employees engaged in software design, digital media content, e-commerce, gaming, telecommunications, wireless technologies, and emerging technologies are eligible to participate in ALLtech. ALLtech insurance is available exclusively to GeekWire members.
Questions? Want to request a quote? Call ALLtech at 206-602-3558 or visit us online.