Hi there!
PreThink was founded by Dan Egan (me) in 2021 to help with on a wide array of personal finance and investing.
I've worked at Betterment since 2013 on how the design of personal finance apps influences behavior.
I love helping create new digital tools, data visualiations, science fiction, dogs, and snowboarding.
I studied economics and decision science, finishing my MSc in 2005. I've collaborated on a few academic papers, done a lot of public speaking and press, and some pretty cool coding. You can find me on Twitter and GitHub.
I'm based in NYC.
Work
Founder, PreThink
PreThink is my side-hustle company, consulting & advicing for organizations who want practical behavioral
science in financial services and tech.
You're here, so I hope you already knew that.
Head of Behavioral Science, Betterment
I joined Betterment as employee number 21 back in 2013. I help design our web and native apps, the process of how
we make portfolios, and come up with novel ideas for better behavior.
Barclays Wealth
I developed a advice framework based on personality mappings to portfolio construction, ran the training program
for advisors, wrote commentary and did press.
Education
MSc, Decision Science, London School of Economics
Thesis: Hierarchical aggregation of expert opinion.
Bayesian statistics, hierarchical models, cognitive psychology, system dynamics.
B.A. with Distinction, Economics, Boston University
Distinction Thesis: Offshore Wind Power and Oligopoly Price Stability.
Why "PreThink?"
"He can look ahead. See what's coming. He can - prethink . Let's call it that. He can see into the
future. Probably he doesn't perceive it as the future."
"No," Anita said thoughtfully. "It would seem like the present. He has a broader present. But his present lies
ahead, not back.
Our present is related to the past. Only the past is certain, to us. To him, the future is
certain. And he probably doesn't remember the past, any more than any animal remembers what happened."
- From The Golden Man, by Philip K. Dick