Profile

Des Traynor

Location: USA

Des Traynor is a co-founder and serves as a member of Intercom’s Board of Directors and Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Mr. Traynor was head of user experience at Contrast.

NUMBER

#195

Xs

89

Investments

40

Exits

2
Photo by areteindex.com
Unicorns
Overview
About Des Traynor
Number of Portfolio Companies 5
Location USA

Des Traynor is a co-founder and serves as a member of Intercom’s Board of Directors and Chief Strategy Officer. Previously, Mr. Traynor was head of user experience at Contrast. Prior to that, he co-founded Bigulo.com. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and software engineering from Maynooth University. He leads product strategy, marketing, customer support and customer training. Previously, he co-founded Exceptional and was a UX web application designer.

DES TRAYNOR

Technology Entrepreneur | User Experience Expert | Angel Investor

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Intercom Co-Founder and R&D Lead | August 2011 – Present

  • Serve as Co-Founder of AI-First Customer Service platform
  • Lead Research and Development efforts
  • Guide strategic company direction and board-level decision making
  • Developed Fin, an AI customer service product resolving 50%+ of support volume
  • Instrumental in growing Intercom’s market position and technological innovation

Contrast User Experience Lead | July 2008 – July 2011

  • Designed user experiences for web applications
  • Managed project development for client and internal projects
  • Handled multiple roles including UX Lead, Project Manager, and Client Relations

National College of Ireland Lecturer in User Experience Design | October 2009 – May 2010

  • Taught User Experience modules in Masters Program on Emerging Web Technologies
  • Delivered foundational computer science coursework

iQ Content Senior Usability Analyst | April 2007 – June 2008

  • Provided interface design consultancy
  • Led design initiatives for large businesses and government agencies
  • Conducted training and spoke at industry events

NUI Maynooth Lecturer and Research Assistant | September 2003 – April 2007

  • Lectured courses in Web Development, GUI Design, Algorithms, and Programming
  • Conducted research across various Computer Science disciplines

ANGEL INVESTMENTS

Invested in over 80 technology companies, including:

EDUCATION

Maynooth University

  • PhD (Incomplete), Computer Science and Software Engineering
  • BSc Hons, Computer Science and Software Engineering

CORE COMPETENCIES

  • User Experience Design
  • Software Development
  • Technology Entrepreneurship
  • AI Product Development
  • Strategic Leadership

CERTIFICATIONS

Google Analytics Authorized Consultant

Contact Information

  • Location: Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

LinkedIn Connections: 500+ – Professional Followers: 14,195 followers

No data.

Company name
ENTRY ROUND
VALUATION at entry ($M)
Xs
VALUATION 
Pre-seed
$33,56M
228,25
$7 660M
Series A
$22M
78,18
$1 720M
Series B
$675M
25,93
$17 500M
Series B
$255M
8,82
$2 250M
Series B
$443M
5,21
$2 310M

No data.

2025