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Forethought AI co-founder Deon Nicholas shares how he built a company that puts customers (not hype) at the center. In this episode of Build Mode, he unpacks his “7-Failure Rule,” the early experiments that shaped Forethought’s success, and why conviction should always come from your users, not your investors.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:23 The Founder Journey: Adapting Every 6-9 Months

05:33 From AI Research to Solving Business Problems

11:12 Finding Your Customer: The Importance of User Conversations

18:22 Building Demos and Landing First Paying Customers

25:12 The Seven Failure Rule for Product Market Fit

30:38 Preparing for and Winning TechCrunch Disrupt

35:16 The Reality of Fundraising and Chasing Metrics

39:07 Navigating Competition in Customer Service AI

43:03 Stepping into Chairman and What's Next

44:57 Outro

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Isabelle Johannessen is our host. Build Mode is produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. And a special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.