WeAreArity Wednesday: Dan Heinz
When my friends ask me what it is that I do again…
I say that we use cell data like acceleration and GPS to measure how people drive so that their auto insurance can be priced more on how safely they drive instead of who they are or where they live. Customers opt in to sharing their data for this and other benefits.
Arity is …
A great place to work. My co-workers are curious and driven, but also fun and understanding.
What is your work at home setup like?
I work in my dining room. My mouse, keyboard, and a second monitor are plugged into a KVM switch so that I can hot swap them from my work laptop to my home computer. There is also large number of penguins around me.
We all commuted to the office prior to COVID, how are you spending the extra time?
My commute time has gone directly to my children and indirectly to my wife. I can pitch in around the house and take breaks to help with childcare. I can walk my daughter to school just before morning stand-up and I got to see my baby’s first steps because I wasn’t away at the office!
Most people don’t know that…
I donate blood every 8 weeks at my local hospital.
The theme song of my life…
Is “Achilles Last Stand” by Led Zeppelin. It’s a great psych up song and should be used in every workout montage.
Would you get in a self-driving car? Why or why not?
I would get in a self-driving car for sure. Most of my driving is on long trips and robots are better at focusing than humans.
Who is your favorite innovation pioneer?
It goes way back to the late 1800s: Dmitri Mendeleev. The periodic table of elements is the best infographic of all time. It’s clever, beautiful, and incredibly useful. Small confession: one of my pet peeves is the “Periodic Table of ____” meme because they aren’t periodic at all. They miss the whole point of the table!