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Jonathan Jackson - Flooding, Fairness, and Sticking to Your Knitting
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Flooding is becoming an increasingly obvious mega issue in the world today. It costs anywhere between $200 billion and $500 billion in the US alone each year. They're 31% of natural catastrophes and 1.8 billion people, about a quarter of the planet, live under flood risk. This is a nightmare for insurers who are raising their premiums in response, 17% last year in the US alone. But what if you could change the cost structure of this issue - where possible, allow homes and businesses enough lead time to take high value items out of harm's way, take the cars off the parking lot of the dealership and the goods off the warehouse floor? This can transform the insurance economics around flooding and is exactly what Previsico is doing. Jonathan Jackson is an exceptional entrepreneur now on his fourth company, and it was a pleasure to have him on The Fundamental Molecule to hear what he's building at Previsico and how he's building it. Please enjoy my conversation with Jonathan Jackson.
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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-fundamental-molecule/id1714287205
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Jonathan Jackson describes the growing challenges for insurers due to unpredictable floods, and how his company, Previsico, addresses this with precise, actionable flood warnings that utilize advanced forecasts and ground sensors. This enables businesses to mitigate up to 70% of flood damage and transform the economics of insurance. He discusses Previsico's origins as a UK university spin-out, its customer-driven US market entry, the significance of a clear ROI, and core company values such as fairness and purpose. Jonathan finishes by advising entrepreneurs to focus on their specific area of expertise.
00:00 - Why Flooding Is a Massive Insurance Crisis
01:59 - How Insurers Struggle to Price Flood Risk
07:04 - Key Differences in UK vs US Flood Insurance
08:47 - Why Businesses Are Forced to Self-Insure Flood Loss
09:58 - Provisico’s Approach to Preventing 70% of Flood Damage
11:14 - How Forecasts and Sensors Enable Real-Time Response
14:52 - The ROI of Ground-Truthing Flood Data
16:24 - How a Government Grant Sparked Provisico’s Founding
21:10 - Breaking Into Insurance Through Public-Private Partnerships
24:18 - Cracking the Insurance Market with Lloyd’s Lab and Zurich
25:40 - How to Sell to Risk-Averse, Slow-Moving Enterprises
29:12 - Expanding to the U.S. Through Customer Pull, Not Push
31:11 - Building Culture Around Fairness, Purpose, and Creativity
37:18 - Why Water Entrepreneurs Must Stay Laser-Focused
Links:
Burnt Island Ventures: https://www.burntislandventures.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-jackson-a393102/
SM Material
Key Takeaways:
"Flood risk maps estimate property location risk. Insurers use them to determine underwriting."
"A 1% flood risk every year means you could be flooded year after year. It's about communication."
"Provisico's service, with a good flood plan, can achieve 70% commercial loss prevention."
"We enable insurers to mitigate losses, improving their profitability through accurate flood warnings."
"Our flood forecast prepares organizations for flood, while sensors provide high-confidence alerts."
"Our vision is global. We aim to reduce flood loss by 50% or more, helping people worldwide."
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