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Forethought AI won Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018. Since then, the company raised two rounds of funding and is now a leader in human-centric artificial intelligence.

During this live event, Dean Nicholas, CEO and co-founder of Forethought, and Vanessa Larco, NEA partner and Forethought board observer, talked through the company's early days. The two talked in depth about how Forethought launched its AI-based service amid stiff competition and a booming tech industry.

Nicholas shared the pitch deck that helped the company win Startup Battlefield. He admits: the deck's design isn't pretty, but it worked in part because of several key slides around traction and partners.