The 7-Failure Rule: How Forethought AI Found Product-Market Fit with Co-Founder Deon Nicholas

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.

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

From the episode:
🧩 Watch Forethought AI’s TechCrunch Startup Battlefield pitch: https://youtu.be/mJ0_r3VzV1Y

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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.

Post from TechCrunch on November 13, 2025

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