๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ. The accident left me with chronic pain and enough titanium in my back to fuse four vertebrae. ๐งตHere what I wish I'd known to minimize the impact of this traumatic event on my startup: **Pre-unnamed horrors** ๐I wish I knew to buy the right insurance: with the right property (if I'd had auto or non-owners auto) insurance I could have received a 10x payout from the accident and more support for my medical bills (yes, even as a pedestrian). We help people solve this challenge every day Coverage Cat and Iโm really proud of how we do it. ๐ซI wish we had a better contingency plan for key-person risk: a clear plan to mitigate losses in a catastrophic scenario would have eased a lot of self-imposed stress throughout my recovery. Thankfully, early on, Max Cho did a great job of setting out company values that prioritized our people and customers above growth at all costs. This set the tone for the team Thomas BotelhoChris DurantiJazzmin Lu to crush our goals while I recovered and set us up for our current growth ๐. Without this planning, and the team's empathy and support, my recovery would have been 10x worse. **If it happens** ๐ท I wish Iโd documented everything: there was significant uncertainty around what would happen after I got hit, and better documentation would have given me peace of mind and helped ensure that I'd be able to claim any available compensation. Take pictures of everything. If possible, record a narrative of what happened and collect witness testimonies and videos, medical and police reports, pictures of where the accident occurred. Do it all ASAP. As my personal injury lawyer later clarified-- documentation is invaluable if you have to bring suit. โ๏ธ I wish Iโd known how to find and evaluate a good personal injury lawyer: the search for an attorney boils down to finding someone you trust with your case and who will take a fair fee. Almost all personal injury lawyers operate on contingency (they get paid if you get paid, most quoted me at 1/3rd of any winnings). Ask lawyers you trust to help you find this person. I got lucky with a referral in North Carolina through my network who took no-contingency fee for an immediate settlement with the insurance company. The payout sucked, but it wasn't for lack of quality representation. โ I wish Iโd stayed more positive throughout the recovery process. I also wish I had offered myself more grace in the moments when I wasnโt able to stay positive (yes, these are contradictory). There were some dark, miserable moments of self-pityโ especially when the pain got worse. The will to struggle on and the grace to not be too hard on myself when I couldnโt keep pushing are the most important things I could control in my recovery process. If the worst comes to pass, I hope this post helps you feel better prepared ๐ช