Meet Lani Cathey. Lani is CEO of XDimensional Technologies, a SaaS software company that provides end-to-end policy administration for the insurance industry, serving agents, brokers, MGAs, and carriers. We sat down with Lani to learn more about her experience with Serent Capital. 

Lani joined XDimensional as CEO when Serent made an investment. Her experience in insurance tech made her a perfect fit to lead the company. “My background is actually in the insurance industry, but I’ve been in the software and hardware business even longer,” Lani notes. So I’ve progressed from managing sales teams within hardware and software businesses, to focusing solely on the insurance industry for the last 20 years, to my first CEO role.” 

A Growth Partner for the Long Term 

After the Serent investment, Lani and the Serent team focused on building relationships with XDimensional’s biggest customers. “Obviously, our first road trip was with the most important customers and we had one major customer that we spent time with right after the acquisition,” Lani recalls. “The feedback from them was that it gave them confidence in us as a company to continue to grow with us. The new leadership team that we brought in, and some of the processes that came along with that, gave them confidence that we were going to be a going concern. 

“They already loved the product and understood the value the product brought. But in order to have the confidence to continue growing over the long term, the Serent investment was a critical piece for them to say, what we see in the product, other people see in the product.” 

Building a Team of A Players 

Getting a strong executive team in place was the first priority when Lani joined XDimensional. “The executive team build out was the most critical piece. That was very important to building the company. And I was very fortunate in that the first executive that came with me was somebody that I’d worked with for a very long time. We knew each other very well. And as my COO and President, that was critical. 

“For the next roles we brought in, the CFO, the CTO, we really looked to Serent to help us with that recruiting aspect, because we had to do it very quickly. And getting true A players that would fit in with the culture was critical. 

Serent helped XDimensional reach outside its immediate network to access a stronger, more diverse talent pool. “Serent’s team is one of the best I’ve seen in terms of building out and helping with the human capital aspect. It’s such an important part, and you can only rely on your network so much. And so the combination of our network and the support that the human capital team at Serent gave us was critical. Your network typically gives you only the people that are most like you. Looking at new candidates that I might not have had access to really did round out the team in a much more effective manner.” 

Creating An Employee Retention Strategy 

Lani and the Serent Human Capital team also focused on improving XDimensional’s ability to retain strong employees. “Paying close attention to employee retention in today’s environment is really critical. And I consider it almost like a political campaign in that there are so many different stakeholders,” Lani explains. “There are so many different reasons why people stay with a company, and you have to understand all of those drivers.” 

“We implemented what we called a four by four, four people every day at 4:00 pm, to get their insights and truly understand what was critical for each of the key people to stay with the company. And it wasn’t always money. It was a recognition of their contribution. It was growth opportunities that they hadn’t seen. It was a combination of things. There was no silver bullet.” 

Growing Through Partnerships and Integrations 

Working cooperatively with other companies was key to XDimensional’s growth – and with deep industry knowledge, Serent paved the way for those partnerships. “When you look at the way the market dynamics are working today, it’s all about what I call co-opetition,” Lani explains. “You have to be able to have partnerships – you know, integration capabilities. And in order to play in that market, you need somebody that understands what that means and how you can grow your business. For instance, Serent invests in ePayPolicy, which is a partner of ours. And that dynamic helps, I think, both of us in the marketplace. People pay attention to that. 

“We were able to respond to our users’ demands for additional integrations, to have those additional market opportunities, to actually monetize that integration, to have a new offering for our customer base and both companies benefit from it.” 

“Serent has probably been one of the best, most supportive private equity firms that I’ve had a chance to work with,” Lani notes. “Behind us at Serent are some very smart people that will support us, give us insight and perspective, and just help the company. We’re a small company. We intend to be a big company and we need that foundational support.” 

For Lani, the biggest win from XDimensional’s partnership with Serent has been greater market visibility. “Serent has given us credibility in the marketplace. Prior to the Serent investment, we called XDimensional the best kept secret in the market. Just the fact that Serent invested in the company gave us market presence. It’s always been a great company with great customers and great growth, but now we’ve experienced recognition in the market with the Serent investment. And obviously we’ve taken our industry connections and made XDimensional a name, not just the best kept secret.”