# Dan Preston

> Dan Preston is the co-founder and CEO of Stand Insurance, a San Francisco-based insurtech company using physics-driven AI and digital property twins to insure climate-impacted homes in wildfire and hurricane zones. A Stanford-trained computer scientist, Preston previously led Metromile as CEO from 2014 to 2022, guiding it through a SPAC IPO on NASDAQ and eventual acquisition by Lemonade. At Stand, he has raised $65 million across two rounds and grown the company to over $1 billion in insured value within its first year, with expansion into Florida's catastrophe market. His vision: insurance as an active driver of community resilience, not just a financial safety net.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Stand Insurance
- **Organizations:** Stand Insurance, Metromile (former CEO), Dave Inc. (board member), AisleBuyer (co-founder, acquired), Convective Capital (advisor connection)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Computer Science (Summa Cum Laude, Michtom Prize for Outstanding Achievement), Brandeis University, M.Sc. Computer Science (AI, Machine Learning, Computer Vision), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led Metromile as CEO from 2014-2022, taking it public via SPAC IPO on NASDAQ, AisleBuyer acquired by Intuit in 2012, Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University, receiving the Michtom Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Computer Science

## Career timeline

- **2003-2007** — B.S. Computer Science, Brandeis University, graduated Summa Cum Laude
- **2007** — Founded Photrade, an online marketplace for photographers; company folded in 2008
- **2007-2008** — Research assistant at Harvard's Time Series Center (astronomy event discovery) and Tufts University (Earth surface classification, gene set analysis)
- **2008-2010** — Software engineering at Inera Inc. (NLP for academic journals) and internship at Google
- **2009** — Co-founded AisleBuyer LLC, a mobile retail shopping platform
- **2010-2012** — M.Sc. Computer Science, Stanford University
- **2012** — AisleBuyer acquired by Intuit
- **2013** — Joined Metromile as Chief Technology Officer
- **2014** — Promoted to CEO of Metromile
- **2016** — Led Metromile's transition from MGA to full-stack insurance carrier
- **2017** — Metromile ranked top 10 on Glassdoor Best Places to Work
- **2018** — Launched AVA, Metromile's AI-powered claims automation system
- **2019** — Established Metromile Enterprise B2B division
- **2020** — Led Metromile to profitability during COVID-19 pandemic
- **2021** — Took Metromile public via SPAC merger on NASDAQ (MILE), February 10, 2021; secured $50M from Ryan Graves's Saltwater fund
- **2022** — Metromile acquired by Lemonade; Preston joins Dave Inc. (NASDAQ: DAVE) board
- **2024** — Co-founded Stand Insurance with Jason Mueller, Sam Shank, and Bill Clerico; raised $30M Series A
- **2025-10** — Stand raises $35M Series B led by Eclipse; expands into Florida; $1B+ in insured value in California

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led Metromile as CEO from 2014-2022, taking it public via SPAC IPO on NASDAQ
- AisleBuyer acquired by Intuit in 2012
- Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University, receiving the Michtom Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Computer Science
- Published academic research on ML applications in astrophysics, computer vision, and genetics at Harvard and Tufts
- Stand Insurance reached $1 billion in insured value within first year of operation in California
- Raised $65 million total for Stand Insurance across Series A and Series B
- Led Stand's expansion into Florida catastrophe insurance market in October 2025
- Board member of Dave Inc. (NASDAQ: DAVE) since January 2022
- Metromile ranked top 10 on Glassdoor Best Places to Work in 2017

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Stand raises $35M Series B led by Eclipse; expands from California into Florida, the largest catastrophe market in the US
- **2025-10** — Stand surpasses $1 billion in insured value in California in first year of operation
- **2025-10** — Dan Preston speaks at ITC Vegas 2025 on how partnerships address insurtech barriers in managing commercial risks
- **2025-09** — Stand named among new HO insurers entering Florida market following hurricane seasons
- **2025-01** — Stand launches California homeowners product emerging from stealth, targeting high-value wildfire-exposed properties

## Links

- Website: https://standinsurance.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danrpreston/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/danpres
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danpreston_1/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dan-preston
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13