Haven Life

We are an innovative in-house startup at MassMutual that is on a mission to redefine life insurance, making it simple, convenient, and online.

Founded 2014
51-200 employees
  • Banking, Corporate Finance, & Investing
  • Headquarters address
    60 Madison Avenue

    To us, working in life insurance is sexy.


    We make a real difference in people’s lives. We help people prepare for the big scary
    things that can happen. That’s not just a real problem, it’s a real need, and what could
    be sexier than solving real needs?

    Did we mention we think making complex problems simple is sexy? And life insurance
    has issues to simplify in spades. Issues of customer experience, predictive modeling,
    privacy, complex systems, ethics, regulation and more, are all part of our every day.
    And that’s just how we like it.

    Solving people’s needs is sexy.
    Simplifying complex problems is sexy.
    And Haven does both.
    Does that make Haven Life sexy? Maybe.

    What we do


    Haven Life launched in May 2015 with a much simpler, affordable option for buying term life insurance online in minutes.

    Our team of 50+ (and growing) people comes from a variety of backgrounds including financial services startups, software development, public relations, consulting and more. Our diversity is our advantage. We're not a bunch of industry lifers — we're people committed to encouraging transformation. We are motivated to make a better experience for anyone who wants life insurance and to not perpetuate the status quo.

    Who back us


    Being a disrupter in the life insurance industry is a little paradoxical. In order to innovate, you need to be small and nimble, but in order to compete within the highly regulated life insurance industry, you need to offer credibility and a history of unsurpassed financial strength.

    It was evident from an early state that Haven Life would need a reliable, trustworthy partner who would support us along this journey of innovating the life insurance industry and ensuring high-quality coverage to customers. That's why Haven Life is backed and wholly owned by MassMutual, a Massachusetts-based company founded more than 160 years ago.

    Working here


    We consider ourselves an adult startup. We like ping pong and beer as much as anyone else (ok, maybe not as much). But we've been around the block enough to realize that's not really what appeals to us about working at a startup. What's cool is the ability to work with smart teams, solve big problems, and do it in a way in which you have ownership and are unencumbered by politics or processes.

    We work hard but there are other things in life besides work: family and friends are what matter most. So when we're done striving for innovation during the day, we leave at a normal hour and spend time with our loved ones.

    What we look for & how we hire


    Collaborating with great people gets us up in the morning.

    That means we are really picky and only hire people who are smart, effective & humble.

    Honesty and integrity is a given -- with out that you can’t be part of a collaborative environment.

    As a team we succeed or fail together, which means we help each other out and it means we want to be evaluated as a team.

    Our hiring process usually involves these steps:
    1) A phone screener
    2) A phone interview
    3) A first round in-person interview
    4) A second round in-person interview and coding test

    Tech stack

    Full stack javascript, Node.js, Postgres

    Benefits

    Compensation and retirement

    401k plan

    Health and wellness

    Insurance (Health)
    Insurance (Dental)
    Insurance (Vision)
    Insurance (Life)
    Insurance (Disability)
    Haven Life - Sweet office space
    Haven Life - Prepping for conferences
    Haven Life - Developer meeting!
    Haven Life - Shuffleboard?
    Haven Life - Or ping pong?
    Haven Life - Impromptu musical acts with wardrobe coordination