Heron Data Founder Associate

Questions
1.​ Based on what you know about Heron Data, what is our ideal customer profile for insurance?
2.​ Find ten LinkedIn Profiles that align with the ideal customer profile (individuals, not companies),
noting why you think they fit your ideal profile from Q2 above.
a.​ (Bonus) How would you adapt your approach if you had to find 1,000 leads?
3.​ Estimate the potential market size of the ideal customer profile you described from Q2 above
4.​ Pick one of these prospects, and pretend the prospect has requested a 1-page informational
memo on Heron as they evaluate our software. Please prepare this memo
5.​ (Bonus) Now consider if a customer from a segment entirely outside of insurance signed up for
Heron today (e.g., a medical clinic). How would we determine whether we should spend time on
this customer segment?

Answers
1.​ It would be ideal to talk to a customer, but I did the next best thing by reviewing the case studies.
From what I understand the main challenges, pain points, and needs are:
a.​ Pain Points
i.​ Fast growth, hampered by manual processing bottlenecks
ii.​ Data entry errors and inefficiencies
iii.​ Handling Diverse Document Formats
b.​ Goals and Objective
i.​ Improve Data Quality
ii.​ Enhance Analytical Capabilities
iii.​ Streamline Data Management
iv.​ Regulatory requirements are met
Based on this, the ideal customer profile for companies would be
●​ Organization Revenue and Size
○​ $50M to $1B in annual gross premiums: Companies with significant underwriting
operations and budgets for technology investments
○​ 200-1000 employees: Large enough to require efficiency but at the same time small and
open to adopt new technologies
●​ Industry
○​ Managing General Agents (MGAs)
○​ Reinsurers and wholesale insurance providers
○​ Property and Casualty Insurance
○​ Health Insurance providers
●​ Target Departments
○​ Underwriting: Direct users of the product for financial analysis and risk scoring
○​ Risk Management
○​ Operations

The following companies suit our ideal customer profile. Their headquarters are in New York, making
them convenient to access.
●​ Hudson Insurance Group
 ●​ AmTrust Financial Services
●​ Arch Insurance Group
●​ Transatlantic Reinsurance Company(TransRe)
●​ Everest Re Group
●​ Allied World Assurance Company
●​ Assurant, Inc.
●​ ProSight Specialty Insurance
●​ Healthfirst
●​ Global Reinsurance Corporation of America
●​ Berkley Mid-Atlantic Group
●​ Fidelis Care

2.​ Since we now have a clear idea about what kind of companies we should target, time to focus on
buyer personas i.e. the decision-makers or individuals who can influence the decision-making at
these companies.
Behavior patterns and preferences of our buyer personas: Tech Savvy, Data Driven, Collaborative,
Results Oriented

Company Name Position LinkedIn Profile Reason

Hudson Michael Executive https://www.linke IT Transformation

Insurance Cifone VP din.com/in/micha Leader
Group el-cifone/

AmTrust Jill Kenniston VP https://www.linke Leaders in Technology

Financial Product din.com/in/jill-ken and Active on LinkedIn
Services Systems niston/

Arch Teddy VP https://www.linke Responsible for growth

Insurance Tiftickjian din.com/in/teddy-t in the northeast region.
Group iftickjian-7b582a1
7b/

Transre Rashed VP https://www.linke Leads Technology

Bohra din.com/in/bohrar Transformations
/

Everest Jocelyn VP https://www.linke Head of Process

Insurance Hussey din.com/in/jocelyn Automation
-hussey/

Allied Louis Iglesias President https://www.linke Values Relationships

World and CEO din.com/in/louis-i over transactions
glesias-18466015
3/

Assurant Giulio VP https://www.linke Passionate about

Pappalardo Business din.com/in/giuliop Technology
Developm appalardo/
ent

ProSight Beth VP- https://www.linke One of the

Specialty Bohan-Reese Business din.com/in/beth-b decision-makers in
Insurance Operation ohan-reese-b675 operations
s 1810/
 RGA Tamica Director- https://www.linke Director of Innovation
Gooden Underwriti din.com/in/tamica
ng -gooden/
Innovation

Healthfirst Malik K Director https://www.linke Transformation leader

Thompson Enterprise din.com/in/moker
change u/
managem
ent

2b. I have 2 methods if I were to find 1000 leads: Ethical and Unethical
Ethical
●​ I would use Apollo.io from which I can filter using various parameters like Company name, #
employees, Industry, etc. Use the filters so it fit our ideal customer profile and find leads using
that website
●​ Publish White papers and case studies on LinkedIn to develop a social media presence
●​ Use LinkedIn's sales navigator and advanced search to filter by industry, job title, company size,
location, etc.
Unethical​
●​ Create a job posting for a similar role
●​ Give everyone who applied a take-home assignment, which involves finding 10 LinkedIn leads
●​ So, to have 1000 leads, we would just require ~150 submissions(assuming 30% are the same).

3.​ Potential Market Size

Type of Company Total Companies Target Companies Source

($50m-$1B, <1000
employees)

MGAs ~600 ~150 Link

Reinsurers ~200 ~40 Link

Wholesale ~200 ~40 Similar to Reinsurers

Property and Casual ~900 ~200 Link

Health Insurance ~1000 ~250 Link

Total Companies ~ 700 (rounding up from 680)

Assuming an Average Revenue of ~$250m per company
700*250 ~ $175B
This is the total revenue for our targeted companies. Assuming these companies spend about 5% of
their revenue for technology purposes and/or to drive innovation
5% of 175b = $8.75b
Between these, we assume 80% of revenue goes towards expenses and continuing and running current
services, leaving about 20% to drive innovation.
20% of $8.75 = $1.75b
Assuming, 80% of the budget goes for innovation outside of Heron Data’s scope of work and 20% of the
remaining is available.

20% of $1.75 = $350m

Taking an average, of ~$350m

This gives us the final estimate of the market size of the ideal customer profile ~$350m.

4.​ There are multiple personas involved while making a buying decision at these firms. So it is
important to map out concerns for all of these personas in the memo

Role Buying Center Role Needs Likely Objectives

VP of Underwriting Decider Accurate, efficient risk Concern about

scoring; reduce manual implementation time
processes; improve the and integration with
profitability of existing tools
underwriting

IT Director Gatekeeper Seamless integration Potential incompatibility

with legacy systems; with current
robust security and infrastructure; data
compliance features privacy concerns

COO Influencer Streamlined operations; Skepticism about ROI

cost-effective tools to or upfront costs
enhance operational
efficiency

Risk User Real-time risk insights; Fear of additional

Manager/Underwriter actionable data for workload or steep
better decision-making learning curve

Procurement Manager Purchaser Transparent pricing and Pushback on pricing

favorable contract structure or lack of
terms competitive bidding

Memo:

To: Michael Cifone, Executive VP, Hudson Insurance Group

From: Johannes Jaeckle, Founder, Heron Data
Subject: Transforming Underwriting Efficiency with Heron Data
Introduction:
In today’s competitive insurance landscape, efficient underwriting is essential to maintaining profitability
and staying ahead of the curve. At Heron Data, we specialize in helping insurers like yours to streamline
the underwriting processes through cutting-edge AI-powered financial analysis. By transforming raw
bank transaction data into actionable risk scores, we enable insurance companies to make smarter,
faster decisions, ensuring both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Key Benefits of Using Heron Data

1.​ Enhanced Efficiency for Underwriting

○​ Problem: Lengthy manual workflows increase turnaround times and reduce productivity.
○​ How we can help: Heron Data automates transaction analysis, reducing the underwriting
process from hours to minutes.
2.​ Improved Accuracy and Risk Management
○​ Problem: Inaccurate or incomplete financial analysis can lead to increased claims costs.
○​ How we can help: Our AI-powered models provide detailed, real-time risk profiles, helping
you select the right policies with precision.
3.​ Seamless Integration and Security
○​ Problem: Concerns about compatibility with legacy systems and data privacy.
○​ How we can help: Heron Data integrates effortlessly with your existing IT stack and meets
the highest security standards (SOC 2-compliant).
4.​ Cost-Effective Operations
○​ Problem: Pressure to reduce operational costs without compromising quality.
○​ How we can help: By minimizing errors and accelerating processes, our tool improves
ROI and supports profitability.

Why Heron Data?

1.​ Trusted by 130+ financial institutions and insurance providers.

2.​ Proven track record of helping organizations improve underwriting efficiency by up to 40%.
3.​ Dedicated support team to ensure a smooth onboarding process.

Next Steps:

We’d love to schedule a demo tailored to your underwriting team’s specific needs. Let us know your
availability, and we’ll provide an in-depth walkthrough of how Heron Data can revolutionize your
operations.

Contact Information:
Johannes Jaeckle
Founder, Heron Data
[email protected]

5. To determine whether a customer segment is worth investing time, I would do the following.
●​ Determine all the requirements, what type of data we can expect, file formats, expected results,
how to manage discrepancies, Compliance requirements, etc.
 ●​ After determining the requirements, get an understanding of whether we can support using our
current capabilities, and if not how much time, effort and cost it will take to build for these
capabilities.
●​ Create an ideal customer profile, and calculate the potential market size based on our customer
profile.
●​ Determine the extent of training required to gain the domain knowledge required to serve the new
customer segment
●​ Calculate and compare CLV& CAC of Insurance with the new segment.

I would use these factors to determine whether or not it is worth investing in a new customer segment.