Matthew Jones is a managing director at Anthemis, a London-based venture capital firm focused on insurance and risk related technologies. Matthew shares Anthemis’ thesis-driven insurtech investment approach, and the things that excite him the most in the first call with founders. He also explains why it’s difficult to uncover opportunities in insurance if the team lacks someone with a deep understanding of the industry.
Matthew Jones is a managing director at Anthemis, a London-based venture capital firm focused on insurance and risk related technologies. Matthew shares Anthemis’ thesis-driven insurtech investment approach, and the things that excite him the most in the first call with founders. He also shares authentic stories showing why it’s difficult to uncover impactful opportunities if the team lacks someone with a deep understanding of the industry.
Highlights:
[3:20] Why many venture capital investors would look at you as if you had two heads when you mentioned insurance in 2014.
[8:45] Two kids in a garage writing software can disrupt a traditional industry. However, to build a successful insurtech company, you need to have someone who deeply understands the industry.
[12:05] Although due diligence for tech startups is tricky, it’s the unpredictability of opportunities in the space that makes early-stage investing exciting.
[20:42] Optimizing for investors who are super quick may not be the right thing to do for the company’s long-term growth needs.