Daisuke Iwase, 32, immediately felt chemistry when he was introduced to Haruaki Deguchi in Tokyo's Akasaka district two years ago. The chemistry was all business.
Three hours of talks about a strategy for a potential online insurance firm was enough to persuade the young graduate of the Harvard Business School to start a company with Deguchi, who had worked at Nippon Life Insurance Co. for 35 years.
Two years on, Iwase and Deguchi are in the final stage of launching the online business Lifenet Insurance Co. on May 18. The life insurer will offer coverage similar to that of big-name insurers but undercut their prices by 30 percent, they said.