Welcome to the Friday edition of The Max Revenue Letter, recapping the news, trends, and top producer insights from the week. LFG!

WithCoverage put out a not-so humblebrag this week: over $50 billion in client revenue protected, 1,000+ fast-growing companies, and a clear mission to replace the traditional broker entirely. Their framing: brokers are commission-incentivized to sell higher premiums, while WithCoverage runs on flat fees and claims its AI catches coverage gaps and pricing inefficiencies brokers are too lazy to look for.

Here's the part that should actually get your attention: while they're bragging about their roster of VC-backed startups, we're hearing from brokers on the ground who are actually losing real accounts to them, and not just tech companies. We've heard directly from producers who've lost business to WithCoverage ranging from hospitality to construction to food manufacturing, industries that look nothing like their glossy Opendoor/GoPuff/Polymarket client list. Whatever this started as, it's not staying in its lane. Insureds are hearing their messaging and taking it hook, line, and sinker.

Producer takeaway: Don't dismiss this as noise, and don't panic either. The parts of your job that are pure policy comparison and gap-spotting are genuinely becoming commoditized by startups like this. The parts that aren't: face-to-face advisement, deep specialization, and human-to-human relationships built over years. That's exactly the moat we've been talking about all summer. If your value prop is "I'll shop your program" this is a real threat. If it's "I understand you and your business better than anyone else who could sell you insurance," it isn't. Yet.

According to Bloomberg, $200 million in goods disappeared off US freight rail in 2025, across roughly 75,000 thefts. This isn't random pilferage, it's organized: gangs that pivoted from drug trafficking during pandemic supply-chain chaos now target long, lightly staffed trains at predictable stop points near urban rail bottlenecks. In the Southwest, thefts are tied to Sinaloa-linked networks; around Memphis, to the Gangster Disciples, Crips, and Almighty Vice Lords. Some crews have escalated to sabotaging tracks or cutting brake lines to strand trains in remote areas.

The railroads are fighting back hard. Union Pacific has spent $30 million on drones and AI-enhanced cameras since 2023. CSX dropped $7.5 million on 14,000 feet of razor-wire fencing at one Memphis yard alone, and it's working: an 80% year-over-year drop in thefts in that region since the upgrade. But light criminal penalties and a still-pending federal bill mean deterrence has real gaps.

Producer takeaway: If you write cargo, inland marine, or logistics clients moving freight by rail, ask specifically about transit theft exposure and whether coverage reflects organized, high-volume theft rather than incidental loss. And if a client ships through known hot corridors (Southwest, Memphis-area yards), loss-prevention investment on the carrier's end is a real underwriting data point worth asking about at renewal, not just relying on the railroad's own security spend to protect the cargo.

North Carolina remains the only state with an outright third-party litigation finance ban, still the case as of yesterday's Insurance Journal coverage. HB 315 (the Prohibit Litigation Investments Act) took effect June 22, banning third-party litigation funding entirely, and it passed with almost no opposition (112-0 in the House, 45-1 in the Senate).

But no other state has followed with a full ban. Instead, 20 states now have laws regulating TPLF, including Tennessee, Utah, Mississippi, Ohio, and New Hampshire, all enacting statutes while HB 315 was moving through the NC legislature. The pattern across all of them: guardrails, not walls. Mandatory disclosure, barring funders from directing case strategy, and caps on investor payouts, but not prohibition.

Why the difference matters: the litigation funding industry argues it's essential for cash-poor plaintiffs to take on well-resourced corporate defendants, an access-to-justice argument that carries real weight with legislators even in states otherwise sympathetic to tort reform. An outright ban is a much bigger political lift than a disclosure rule, which is likely why most states are choosing the softer path.

Producer takeaway: What's actually happening across most of the country is transparency requirements, which help but don't eliminate the underlying pressure TPLF puts on casualty and GL severity. Watch disclosure-law states as the more realistic near-term trend, not full bans.

In this episode, Trey Shields sits down with David Cooper, who built his own risk purchase group (RPG) focused on public entity transit programs after entering insurance at 44. They also get into his journey through Larry Linne"s IncitePerformance Group and Million Dollar Challenge, hitting $2M+ in seven years, and what keeps him grounded outside of insurance.

You must progress level by level or you won’t make it out alive.