Waverly Deutsch

I am going to return to the world of technology, which is much more pressing, more relevant now, again, beloved logic. I love the theater. I love teaching. But I don't love academia. I don't love a career as a humanities academic. I will go back to technology. Now, this is the early 90s. This is 1991, 1992. So technology's in a boom. It's in the very early stages of the internet bubble.

I am going to return to the world of technology, which is much more pressing, more relevant now, again, beloved logic. I love the theater. I love teaching. But I don't love academia. I don't love a career as a humanities academic. I will go back to technology. Now, this is the early 90s. This is 1991, 1992. So technology's in a boom. It's in the very early stages of the internet bubble.

In fact, it's a little bit pre-bubble. It's as the internet is becoming part of our daily life, we're really using dial-up AOL or CompuServe. I'm having a conversation one night with a friend, and we're out to dinner with my partner and her husband, my friend's husband. We're having this conversation and she turns to her husband, she said, she'd be perfect for Forrester Research.

In fact, it's a little bit pre-bubble. It's as the internet is becoming part of our daily life, we're really using dial-up AOL or CompuServe. I'm having a conversation one night with a friend, and we're out to dinner with my partner and her husband, my friend's husband. We're having this conversation and she turns to her husband, she said, she'd be perfect for Forrester Research.

And I said, all right, what's a Forrester Research? I had never been in the business world. I had never thought about careers in business. And turns out he was an analyst for Forrester. They were a tiny little boutique market research company that looked at the impact of technology change on big business. Their tagline was helping companies thrive on technology change.

And I said, all right, what's a Forrester Research? I had never been in the business world. I had never thought about careers in business. And turns out he was an analyst for Forrester. They were a tiny little boutique market research company that looked at the impact of technology change on big business. Their tagline was helping companies thrive on technology change.

So why was this an unbelievably opportunistic moment? I call it luck, karma, fate, the world, just throwing open a door when you need one. If there's one thing a PhD proves that you can do, it's research. That is the fundamental thing that you do, right, as a PhD student. And I had a technology background. I knew how computers worked. I knew how to talk that language.

So why was this an unbelievably opportunistic moment? I call it luck, karma, fate, the world, just throwing open a door when you need one. If there's one thing a PhD proves that you can do, it's research. That is the fundamental thing that you do, right, as a PhD student. And I had a technology background. I knew how computers worked. I knew how to talk that language.

I could very quickly learn the modern technologies. And I joined Forrester as the first research associate that they had. Hired directly. The woman who preceded me had created the position. She had been an admin on the sales side. She created the position of research associate. I was the first person they hired into that job.

I could very quickly learn the modern technologies. And I joined Forrester as the first research associate that they had. Hired directly. The woman who preceded me had created the position. She had been an admin on the sales side. She created the position of research associate. I was the first person they hired into that job.

I went on to experience a growth company with the entrepreneur, founder, CEO still in place. We were less than $10 million in revenue. We were 20 people. I was employee number 27. There had been a little bit of modest churn and we went on our rocket ship. We had hired a new VP of sales out of IBM and he

I went on to experience a growth company with the entrepreneur, founder, CEO still in place. We were less than $10 million in revenue. We were 20 people. I was employee number 27. There had been a little bit of modest churn and we went on our rocket ship. We had hired a new VP of sales out of IBM and he

revolutionized the approach to go to market and sales and the company took off and we were the first company to tell Fortune 1000 chief technology officers, chief information officers, you have to pay attention to the internet. And that was what put us on the map.

revolutionized the approach to go to market and sales and the company took off and we were the first company to tell Fortune 1000 chief technology officers, chief information officers, you have to pay attention to the internet. And that was what put us on the map.

We were working in the early days that I joined with their transition from big mainframe computing to client server computing and the PC and the role that the PC would play And we were establishing ourselves as a leader in technology market research, but it was really our call around the internet that took Forrester to the public company that it became and is today.

We were working in the early days that I joined with their transition from big mainframe computing to client server computing and the PC and the role that the PC would play And we were establishing ourselves as a leader in technology market research, but it was really our call around the internet that took Forrester to the public company that it became and is today.

The founder CEO, still the CEO, personal friend, lifelong relationship. But I got to work very closely with him, see his journey, see what it means to scale a company, see what it means to take a product idea and turn it into reality. And that's where I fell in love with the entrepreneurial process.

The founder CEO, still the CEO, personal friend, lifelong relationship. But I got to work very closely with him, see his journey, see what it means to scale a company, see what it means to take a product idea and turn it into reality. And that's where I fell in love with the entrepreneurial process.

I love that question. And I think that it, for me, it changed very much over time. The moment in my life, I was 29 years old when I graduated with my PhD. The moment in my life where I had the opportunity to join Forrester, no analysis was involved. No examination of the job, the market size, the career potential, no analysis.

I love that question. And I think that it, for me, it changed very much over time. The moment in my life, I was 29 years old when I graduated with my PhD. The moment in my life where I had the opportunity to join Forrester, no analysis was involved. No examination of the job, the market size, the career potential, no analysis.