Deon Nicholas is the Founder of Forethought, the AI information retrieval company that recently won TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield in SF. Forethought has raised $9M in funding led by NEA, and the co-founders of Forethought have been recognized in Forbes 30 Under 30. In this candid presentation, Deon discusses the origin of Forethought, how they won TechCrunch Battlefield, and what that meant for the business.

1. HOW I WON TECHCRUNCH
BATTLEFIELD AND WHAT
HAPPENED AFTER
DEON NICHOLAS
Founder
Forethought
@dojiboy9

2. Deon Nicholas
Founder
Forethought
@dojiboy9
How I Won TechCrunch Battlefield and What
Happened After

3. Background
• Deon Nicholas, Founder of Forethought
• Canadian — Coding since I was 14 — Waterloo
• Formerly Facebook, Palantir, Dropbox, Pure Storage
• Forbes 30 Under 30 2018
• Forethought
• TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 — Battlefield Winner
• AI “information retrieval” — starting with Customer Support
• Founded Sept 2017 — Raised $10M from NEA, K9, Village

4. Prepping for Disrupt
Focus
Pitch
Preparation
Secret Codenames…?

5. Launch Day
• Anxiety is the enemy
• Preparation is the enemy of anxiety.
“Everyday is contest day.”

6. What Happened Next
• Customers — 40+ Inbound Enterprise Leads
• Recruiting — Team has Tripled
• Market Recognition — Forbes 30 Under 30, etc.
• Fundraising — Raised $9.2M Series A
We were suddenly one of the
“hottest” startups in Silicon Valley.

7. Takeaways
Relentlessly focus on what
matters to your business.

8. THANK YOU