Leap Year: Season 2, Episode 2 - One Of Those Nights

For many businesses, a business owner policy can be a lifesaver and keep a temporary setback like a break-in or a fire from becoming something that truly threatens the future of their businesses.|

February 19, 2013

From the looks of things, C3D has started to attract a lot of attention in Silicon Valley. Some of this is positive buzz from the press like the semi-successful appearance Jack made last week on What's Trending. But the specific attention to the C3D office — that is smashing it up and stealing their latest prototypes — is much less welcome. Not only did Jack promise a product launch in three months, three times faster than they planned, now Bryn will need to start from scratch to get their new product ready in record time. Maybe their benefactor Glenn Cheeky can help? Kind of, but while he did put them in touch with detective Smiley, he also instructed them not to file a police report and suffer the related bad publicity. Glenn's advice makes sense. Bad press can quickly rub the shine off an exciting new company for analysts, investors and consumers. But operating without funds can do just the same — and probably quicker. The C3D team is in a unique situation with the intense media and gossip network of Silicon Valley influencing their judgment. But what if this was just a normal business? How would they get back on their feet after a break-in? Well, if C3D had a business owner policy (BOP), they would have been able to get compensated for their damaged equipment to start out, even if it's leased. This policy typically also pays to remove debris left behind from the break-in and for damaged personal items. It will even pay to restore electronic data destroyed on electronic files (luckily Bryn learned from last year and started to back their files up off site) and for business interruption claims for lost income due to the break-in. Since C3D is a startup working to get a new product on the market, business interruption might not apply, but for many businesses this coverage can be a lifesaver and keep a temporary setback like a break-in or a fire from becoming something that truly threatens the future of their businesses. So, what's the next step for C3D? Finding the people who broke into their office could let them exact some revenge, but will it help them get their product to market on time?