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Highlights
From Surfing Frustration to Insurance Innovation: How Future Proof is Revolutionizing Climate Risk Assessment
Most founders trace their origin stories to conventional startup catalysts – a market gap, technological breakthrough, or industry experience. For Future Proof Technologies founder Alisa Valderrama, it began with waves she couldn’t surf.
In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Alisa shared how her journey started with a seemingly trivial problem in San Diego: “I was literally… just frustrated that sometimes when the waves were good, you couldn’t get in the water because the water was polluted.” This simple frustration evolved into a deeper questioning of environmental economics and eventually led to building an innovative insurance company.
What’s particularly fascinating about Future Proof’s journey is how they identified their true product-market fit. Initially launched as a climate risk analytics platform, the company discovered they had actually built something far more valuable than they realized. As Alisa explains, “We had built a risk decisioning tool and a lot of folks in finance, believe it or not, were still mostly interested in an ESG type tool with qualitative risk assessment for climate… we just kind of overbuilt, frankly for what the financial industry needed.”
This realization led to a pivotal shift in their go-to-market strategy. Instead of trying to sell analytics to financial institutions, Future Proof transformed into a Managing General Agency (MGA) – essentially an insurance company without a balance sheet. “We are not selling analytics into the market. We’re not selling a catastrophe model. We are using our own unique model to select and price risk on behalf of insurers and reinsurers,” Alisa notes.
The company’s differentiation stems from their novel approach to risk assessment. While traditional insurers often rely on broad underwriting rules – like excluding properties within a quarter mile of the Florida coast – Future Proof developed an AI-driven model trained on actual insurance claims data. This gives them unique insight into the relationship between hazard magnitude, property characteristics, and losses at an asset level.
But having superior technology isn’t enough in the insurance industry – trust is paramount. Future Proof’s GTM strategy included a clever approach to validation. Working with one of the world’s largest reinsurance brokers, they conducted extensive out-of-sample testing on 270,000 Florida addresses. As Alisa describes, “Based on the performance of that out-of-sample testing, they kind of have like a proof point of, hey, had you been working with Future Proof for this past hurricane event, here’s how much better you could have done.”
This third-party validation became a crucial element in their sales process, particularly when approaching insurance carriers and reinsurers. It transformed what could have been viewed as a risky bet on new technology into a data-backed opportunity for better risk assessment.
Future Proof’s go-to-market evolution offers valuable lessons for technical founders. Rather than trying to force behavioral change in an established industry, they found a way to package their innovation in a familiar business model. As Alisa puts it, “We are kind of maybe a third wave of InsureTech which is innovating on this issue truly at the heart of what insurance is all about, which is the risk selection and pricing.”
Looking ahead, Future Proof aims to expand beyond just better risk assessment. Their vision includes introducing longer-duration policies and building in financial incentives for resilience investments. As Alisa explains, “Insofar as insurance is really the grease on the wheels of global finance and commerce… it’s never going to take effect without insurance evolving and getting fixed first.”
For founders building deep tech solutions, Future Proof’s journey highlights the importance of finding the right business vehicle for commercialization. Sometimes the path to market isn’t about selling your technology directly, but rather using it to deliver a service that solves an urgent industry need. As Alisa reflects, “We’re in the right place at the right time… we’re working on one of the biggest and most high impact ideas I can think of when it comes to climate change.”
Actionable
Takeaways
Leverage Personal Passions to Identify Business Opportunities:
Alisa's journey from being an environmental enthusiast to founding Future Proof underscores the power of leveraging personal passions to identify and solve complex business problems. Entrepreneurs should explore their personal experiences and interests for insights into unaddressed market needs, especially in areas where they feel a deep connection.
Translate Complex Risks into Financial Terms:
Future Proof's approach to translating climate risk into financial risk highlights the importance of making complex problems understandable and manageable through financial metrics. Founders in sectors impacted by broad, systemic issues like climate change can look for innovative ways to quantify risks and benefits in financial terms to drive investment and action.
Adopt a Multidisciplinary Approach to Problem Solving:
Alisa's background in environmentalism, law, and finance exemplifies the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship. Tackling today's most challenging problems often requires insights from multiple fields. Founders should consider building diverse teams and seeking knowledge outside their primary area of expertise to create more comprehensive and innovative solutions.
Utilize Advanced Technologies for Competitive Advantage:
Future Proof's use of AI-driven projections for underwriting and pricing demonstrates how advanced technologies can provide a competitive edge, especially in traditional industries like insurance. Startups should explore how emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning can be applied to their industries to disrupt established practices and offer better solutions.
Pivot Towards Market Needs for Greater Impact:
The evolution of Future Proof from a climate risk analytics firm to an MGA highlights the importance of being flexible and responsive to market needs. Entrepreneurs should remain open to pivoting their business models based on feedback, market research, and the realization of where their solution can have the greatest impact. This flexibility can lead to discovering more viable and scalable business opportunities.
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