Imagine a Yelp or Angie’s List exclusively for insurance agents. That’s essentially what Jonas Roeser set out to build. As co-founder and CEO of Agent Review, Jonas created an online platform that brings crowdsourced reviews and transparency to the insurance industry, empowering consumers to find trustworthy insurance professionals. These days, roughly 80% of consumers start their insurance search online but often end up bombarded by websites and a process that doesn’t support their needs. Agent Review cuts through that noise by letting people educate themselves and vet local agents based on real client feedback, making the complex task of buying insurance a little less overwhelming and a lot more consumer friendly.
Jonas’ path to this venture has been anything but conventional. He’s a seasoned marketing executive who even helped spearhead a national insurance awareness campaign early in his career, and at one point, he ventured into film and television production while running his own branding agency. That eclectic background taught him the power of storytelling and trust, a perspective he channeled into launching Agent Review in 2014.
In our candid conversation below, Jonas opens up about building Agent Review, which actually started almost a decade ago and was put on the shelf, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and how he stays motivated through the entrepreneurial roller coaster. Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us, Jonas. We’re all excited to explore your journey in greater depth and the ideas behind Agent Review.
Let’s start with Agent Review itself. For those who haven’t heard of it, what’s the elevator pitch? What problem are you solving with Agent Review?
Agent Review is the first and only insurance review platform that combines reviews with verified credentials to help consumers find reputable insurance agents. It’s not just a consumer insurance matchmaking service, it’s a digital toolbox for insurance agents to showcase their credibility, build trust, and grow their business.
One of the main features that sets Agent Review apart is our monthly third-party verification that is the backbone of our Verified Agent subscription. Rhoads Online is our strategic partner for this process. The Verified Agent process and badge provides the consumer the confidence that the agents they’re considering are current, compliant, and credible, this is something no other platform offers.
What was the inspiration behind this? You had a long career in insurance marketing – was there a specific moment or problem that sparked the idea for Agent Review?
The inspiration for Agent Review came from two pivotal experiences in my career. Before launching the platform, I led a national awareness campaign focused on long-term care planning, where insurance was a key component. Throughout that campaign, I had countless conversations with TV producers, journalists, and editors who all expressed the same need: a credible, go-to resource they could consistently reference in their stories, segments, and podcasts to find a quality agent. While each had slightly different ideas, some wanted consumer tools like calculators, others emphasized the importance of multilingual access, they all agreed on three essential requirements. First, the platform had to be sales and carrier-neutral, meaning no insurance company branding or lead generation that was tied directly to an insurance carrier or broker, but to top agents nation wide.
I kept all of this feedback in mind, but didn’t yet have a clear direction. The turning point came when Harley Gordon, founder of the CLTC designation with over 20,000 graduates came to visit me for a day of brainstorming at my marketing firm. We had always respected each other’s work but had never collaborated. That day, the vision clicked. We combined Harley’s subscription-based marketing model, which encouraged agents to be more educated via training and showcased his designation as the branding tool with the unmet needs I had gathered from media and consumers. That fusion became Agent Review: a neutral, educational platform created to empower consumers and provide insurance agents with the tools, visibility, and verified credibility they need to stand out. Harley and I co-founded Agent Review that same month.
Your career has zigzagged through different industries – marketing, healthcare, even film production. How did those diverse experiences shape the way you built Agent Review?
At my core, I’ve always been a marketer. Throughout my career, I’ve held roles such as Chief Marketing Officer, Vice President of Marketing, and founder of my own marketing firm. The consistent thread across all of them has been storytelling, strategic thinking, and building meaningful relationships. My Executive Producer credits on feature films came from raising the capital to bring those projects to life, the same skill set I’ve applied to launching Agent Review and co-founding CBD Move Free, a CBD pain relief topical company. Fundraising, earning trust, and selling a vision have been recurring themes across every industry I’ve touched.
Another key lesson that’s shaped my approach is understanding the power of great talent. In every venture, success has hinged on assembling the right team and treating them well. If you look across my projects, it’s a bit like watching an Adam Sandler movie, you’ll notice the same cast of talented individuals showing up again and again.
Bringing a Yelp-style concept to the insurance world must have had its hurdles. What has been the biggest challenge in getting Agent Review off the ground in such a traditional industry?
The biggest hurdle has been shifting mindsets in a traditionally cautious industry. Many agents were hesitant to pay for a profile without consumer traffic or worried about the potential for negative reviews.
To overcome that, we focused on education. We’ve made it clear that Agent Review isn’t about policing, it’s about empowering agents to stand out in a crowded, competitive marketplace. Our monthly third-party credential verification and suite of digital tools help agents build trust with today’s research-driven, digital-first consumers.
Adoption continues to be a work in progress. One of our ongoing challenges is the classic chicken-and-egg scenario: we need a critical mass of agents before making significant investments in consumer traffic. Without a national agent footprint, we can’t fully serve the consumer side. Our long term goal is to onboard 20% of the insurance agents in the nation, which is 460,000 agents. We believe that’s achievable. Given that fact that 80,000 agents already maintain LinkedIn profiles, which doesn’t generate any consumers leads for them, but focuses on professional credibility to their peers and strategic partners
We’ve priced access to the platform to reflect high value at low cost: a free basic profile, a professional profile at just $50 per year, and our Verified Agent package at $250 per year. For less than $0.70 a day, agents gain an our most powerful package and a digital footprint on a consumer-facing insurance education platform with built-in reputation management through reviews. Our profiles are enhanced with features like click-to-call, a smart mobile app, and high-impact marketing tools. These include a review rotator widget for agents’ personal websites, a two-click social media sharing tool for reviews, and a personalized press release that consistently ranks on page one of search results for the agent’s name.
At 20% market penetration, driven by our $250/year subscription we project $115 million in annual recurring revenue. That scale would allow us to invest heavily in consumer acquisition, lead generation, and brand awareness, boosting both agent retention and consumer engagement. What truly sets us apart is our credibility with media. As a trusted, neutral resource for journalists and content creators, we expect to see growing organic exposure, authoritative backlinks, and strong SEO all of which support long-term, sustainable growth.
I’d remind myself that progress doesn’t always look like growth. Sometimes it’s clarity.
– Jonas Roeser, Co-Founder and CEO of Agent Review
Looking back, are there any key lessons you’ve learned building Agent Review that you wish you knew at the start? In hindsight, what would you tell your younger self when you launched this company?
Absolutely, there are a few lessons I’d share with my younger self if I were starting Agent Review today. First, I’d say: don’t underestimate how long it takes to shift behavior in a legacy industry. The insurance world values trust and building that kind of credibility with both agents and consumers takes time, patience, and persistence. I probably would’ve built in more lead time and more funding.
Second, I’d remind myself that progress doesn’t always look like growth. Sometimes it’s clarity. There were moments where traction felt slow, but in reality, we were refining the model, improving our value proposition, and listening closely to what both agents and consumers really needed. That feedback loop has been invaluable.
Lastly, I’d emphasize the importance of team and timing. Having the right partners, the right advisors, and the right technology in place makes all the difference. And not everything has to happen at once, you can phase the vision, but you can’t force the market to move faster than it’s ready.
And where do you see Agent Review heading in the future? What’s your vision for the platform in the next five years or so?
We just launched Agency Review, which has been a real game changer and allows us to bring on agencies and not just agents. This feature allows us to get close to agencies owner and gain access to agent and allows carrier the ability to purchase agencies profile to support top agencies with marketing dollars. It’s not a separate platform; it’s an integrated feature within Agent Review that allows an agency to create a branded profile and showcase their agents’ reviews under the agency profile. This way, both the agency and individual agents benefit from shared reviews. Looking ahead over the next five years, we see Agent Review becoming the industry standard for agent and agency credibility. We want to be the go-to platform that not only educates consumers but also empowers the best agents and agencies to stand out through transparency, compliance, and trust. As the platform grows, we’ll continue to expand features that support lead generation, digital reputation management, and deeper integrations with both marketing and compliance tools. We’re building something that can support the industry long-term, not just as a directory, but as a reputation engine.
Entrepreneurship can be a roller coaster, as you know. How do you keep your mindset sharp and stay motivated when things get tough? Any mental tricks or perspectives that you rely on?
Entrepreneurship absolutely is a roller coaster, high highs and low lows, often in the same day. What keeps me grounded is perspective. I remind myself often that this isn’t life or death, it’s business. That mindset helps me make clearer decisions without getting paralyzed by setbacks or overly attached to outcomes.
One trick I use is what I call the “10/10/10 rule.” I ask myself: Will this matter in 10 days, 10 months, or 10 years? It’s a quick way to reset and stop giving unnecessary energy to temporary problems.
– Jonas Roeser, Co-Founder and CEO of Agent Review
Lastly, I’ve learned to give myself permission to take breaks. Burnout doesn’t help anyone. Stepping away for a walk, a reset, or even a weekend off can bring more clarity than grinding through exhaustion. It’s about pacing yourself for the long game.
Let’s talk about leadership. How would you describe your leadership style as a CEO? What kind of team culture do you aim to build?
As a CEO, my leadership style is rooted in trust, transparency, and accountability. I don’t believe in micromanaging; I hire talented people and give them the space to do what they do best. My job is to set the vision, remove roadblocks, and make sure everyone is aligned and supported. I also lead by listening. I want people on my team to feel heard, valued, and empowered to contribute ideas, not just execute tasks. Some of our best innovations have come from open conversations and unexpected insights. In terms of culture, I aim to build a team that’s collaborative, mission-driven, and resilient. We celebrate wins, learn from failures, and stay focused on progress over perfection. I’ve found that people thrive when they feel like they’re part of something meaningful and when they know they’re not going it alone.
At the end of the day, leadership is about relationships. I want my team to feel like we’re in it together and that no matter how ambitious our goals are, we can chase them with clarity, humor, and mutual respect.
What about your daily routine? Do you have any habits or rituals that keep you productive and grounded?
I live by my calendar. If it’s not scheduled, it doesn’t happen. Blocking time for deep work without distractions is key to staying productive. I try to group meetings together and protect blocks of time for creative or strategic thinking. Another big part of my routine is staying connected with people. Even a quick check-in with my team or a partner can reset my energy and bring fresh perspective. And finally, I try to end the day with a sense of closure. A quick review of what got done, what didn’t, and what needs to move to tomorrow helps me shut down mentally and avoid carrying everything into the evening. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about creating rhythms that keep you moving forward without burning out.
Nobody’s journey is without a few missteps. Can you share a failure or major setback you’ve had, and what you learned from it?
The biggest setback I faced with Agent Review wasn’t actually a business issue, it was a life challenge. Not long after launching the platform, I was served with divorce papers after 14 years of marriage. That moment created two major challenges:
First, because of the pending divorce trial and the uncertainty around the equity split, I couldn’t secure the remaining capital for our funding round. Second, my previous success and earning history worked against me, my alimony and child support obligations were based on that, making it nearly impossible to survive on a startup salary. I tried to keep the company afloat for about a year, but it was incredibly difficult. Then came a glimmer of hope: we got strong interest from AmTrust at Insurtech Connect. I worked directly with their head of marketing to build a deal we were both excited about. I literally had the draft agreement in my hands on Christmas Eve. They said they’d finalize it after the holidays, but just a few weeks later, they called to tell me that there approval to go private was approved and couldn’t do any deals that might affect their valuation.
Agent Review, along with several other acquisitions, was put on indefinite hold. Because of the strong working relationship we had built, AmTrust offered me a business development role to stay afloat, with the promise we’d revisit Agent Review later. But as often happens, once momentum is lost, it’s tough to recapture. About a year later, we amicably parted ways. I had no equity there and owning something is key to long-term financial freedom. The very next month, I jumped into the CBD space, helping brand one company and co-founding another.
Years later, when AI became more mainstream, Harley and I took a fresh look at Agent Review, and rebuilt the platform from the ground up using AI, partnering with an incredible companies, like RevScale and TargetLeads. They’re now our development arm and lead generation broker and shareholders in the business. The journey has had its fair share of ups, downs, and long pauses. But I believe everything that’s happened, personally and professionally, has led us to the right moment. The stars feel aligned now, and I’ve never been more confident in Agent Review’s future.
Thanks again, Jonas, for sitting down with us and walking us through the journey behind Agent Review. It was great to hear how the idea came together, the real challenges you’ve worked through, and what you’ve learned along the way. Your perspective on the insurance space and what it takes to build something meaningful in a traditional industry gave us a lot to think about. We’re looking forward to seeing how Agent Review continues to evolve.
As our conversation with Jonas Roeser comes to a close, one thing is clear: Agent Review isn’t just another startup—it’s a purpose-driven platform built on trust, transparency, and a bold vision for the future of insurance. Jonas’ journey, marked by resilience, reinvention, and a deep belief in human connection, is a testament to what’s possible when innovation meets integrity. Whether you’re an agent looking to stand out or a consumer searching for credible guidance, Agent Review is paving the way for a smarter, more trustworthy insurance experience.
Want to dive deeper into Jonas Roeser’s story or see what’s next for Agent Review? Let us know your thoughts and takeaways in the comments and stay tuned for more updates on this verified vision in action.
