Extend: Out With the Old, In With the New Customer Experience
How many times have you wished for a better customer experience?
Due to the legacy system being outdated, it causes headaches to millions of people worldwide. Thousands of customers were desperately waiting for a company that could help eliminate the issues they face with legacy offerings.
Joe Moss, Michael Darmousseh, Rohan Shah, and Woodrow H. Levin heard the echoing scream when they created the brand Extend. Although the 4 co-founders strongly believed in their idea, they couldn’t have imagined the popularity they would reach with Extend.
Aiming to become the “AppleCare” for everything that is not among the actual Apple products, Extend is a company that works to protect the products people use and love every single day. With new tech solutions, Extend implements innovations to improve customer experiences.
If you are interested in the concept that Extent uses and their intelligent decision mechanism that uses machine learning to improve warranty offers to generate the maximum revenue for the merchant, keep reading!
Enter: Gamechangers
Born in the 1970s, Joe Moss was a very kind kid who grew up to be a responsible young man who knows the secret of how to get things done on time. He studied hard and gained a Bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1993, but Joe knew that he needed to continue his education. He joined the University of California, and in 2001, Joe earned himself a master's degree.
Although Joe started his career in the videogame world, he was soon recognized as a person with the rare ability to be an exceptional business leader who can efficiently manage challenging technical processes. As a forward thinker, Joe could smell the need for a company that could genuinely help customers. He saw the bigger picture, found partners, and created Extend.
Extend wouldn’t be successful if Michael Darmousseh wasn’t one of the co-founders. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from California State University, Stanislaus. He's a great technical leader. As a solid motivator, mentor, and leader, Michael was perfect for Joe.
Rohan Shah, a beast in the computer software area, is the third co-founder of Extend. After graduating from Harker School, Rohan joined Stanford University and earned a Bachelor of science, technology, & society. He started his career in 2016 as a Product Manager, and everything he learned, he used to help Extend be one of the most dominant companies the technology market has ever seen.
The circle wouldn’t be complete without Woodrow H. Levin. Woodrow is the fourth founder and CEO of the successful Extend. With a rich experience and a Bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Wisconsin and a Juris Doctorate in law from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Woodrow was the last missing part of the puzzle. These 4 fantastic business leaders joined their skills and created a history.
Hard Work Pays Off
The dream team was assembled, and in 2019, Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow started the ride called Extend.
The first months were hard, but the team was well-prepared and ready to deal with any issue on their way. With headquarters in San Francisco, the team was working hard to store all the details related to product purchases and warranty plans, so the customers won’t need to save their receipts. Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow were dedicated to their work and offered 24/7 services to create an all-in-one experience for their customers from start to finish.
It won’t be a lie if we say that Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow created a company to increase awareness of the downsides of the legacy model. Extend has set out to fight the legacy model with more flexible offerings and modernize the warranty industry using novel technology.
Extend has built a completely new method for the business of extended protection plans and warranties, offering an efficient and cost-effective way for brands and retailers. Moreover, Extend provided a simple way for clients to purchase and file claims against retailers, which announced an enormous round of capital as it seems to take the business to a wholly new level.
The customers recognized the extending hard work, and it didn’t take long before it drew the attention of a lot of potential customers. As experienced business managers, Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow didn’t stop improving their services. The following year, 2020, was a pretty tough year for all businesses, but not for Extend.
While the world was struggling with COVID-19, Extend was pretty successful. The company sold a whopping 300,000 protection plans. What’s even more, with customers like Peloton, Backcountry, iRobot, and hundreds of other names, Extend was on track to sell lots more.
In 2021, Extend joined eCommerce solutions, including BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, etc. The company also offered custom API integrations for major merchants who already have an eCommerce platform.
Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow take care of all their customers, and they have even taken a company poll to help their customers get to know them better. Their platform, Extend, is available in 17 different languages, plus there are over 400 employees are always ready to help.
From a Trend to a Real Brand
For the love of the truth, extended protection plans and warranties have long been a reason for disagreement among consumers. Although contracts and protection plans sound like the inner calm in theory, unfortunately, they sometimes feel like provoking upsells. The silent message says that somehow the manufacturers accept that their products won’t last for long.
Hard work and excellent services Extend offers make them an authentic brand. So, only a few companies can stand shoulder to shoulder with Extend, like Dwolla, Loansifter, TrueLayer, and Stripe Connect.
To make themselves known, the 4 co-founders had to amass certain funds. Extend had had 4 funding rounds so far, with the first one happening in 2019 when Extend raised $4 million thanks to 3 investors. At the end of the same year, Extend raised $16.4 million in series A, but series B in 2020 was more successful and helped Extend raise even $40 million.
The company kept increasing its popularity, which resulted in 2021 being a pretty productive year for them. Series C was very profitable and included an impressive combination of financial and strategic investors. Led by the prominent SoftBank, the series C raised Extend a stunning sum of $260 million.
That opens a door toward a wide variety of places where the company could integrate and provide extended warranties and other types of protection plans.
Extending the Future
Extend has cosmic plans for the future. The team behind the company plans to use the funding to keep expanding its business. Joe’s program includes a slow but sure move into covering more areas than just the extended warranties that become active after retailer or manufacturer warranties run out.
Joe, Michael, Rohan, and Woodrow share a single goal: to keep their existing customers and attract new ones. They prefer customers who sell straight to consumers, even though several new deals with sellers mention the opportunities for a more ample opportunity for traders looking for additional services to offer their shoppers to increase the range of their services to beat their rivals.
Extend is becoming more powerful day by day as the number of satisfied customers rapidly grows. By providing a better way for shoppers to protect the items they love, Extend is on its way to becoming a force to be reckoned with in this industry.