The Feedback Loop

The best pitches don’t just explain what you’re building — they name the shift that makes it inevitable. In Episode 054 of The Feedback Loop, Ian Q Grant pitched Greenlit, a verticalized back office platform for the film and TV industry. The product is smart and necessary — but what made the conversation stand out was how Jesse Middleton and Sherveen Mashayekhi helped Ian articulate why now. The shift? A new generation of independent creators is gaining traction — while the workflows behind production (tax credits, contract management, payout waterfalls) remain slow, fragmented, and built for a different era. Greenlit is a response to a creative landscape that’s decentralizing fast. The pitch got sharper the moment the inflection point came into focus — check it out in comments.

Social platforms live or die by one thing: the core behavior loop they’re built around. In Episode 60 of The Feedback Loop, Tyler DeLucia pitched GameReel, a new social platform for the gaming community — combining gameplay clips, forums, rewards, and marketplace features. But as Sherveen Mashayekhi and John Frankel pointed out, the pitch might've done too much — ad tech, Web3 mechanics, gamification, monetization — without first anchoring us in one clear bet. Watch it unfold via the link in the comments!

Let's be honest: most venture investors are dudes, and most dudes don't personally relate to women's health issues. And that makes it hard for startups in the space to attract capital. On Episode 058 of The Feedback Loop, Roma Vishwanath-Deutsch, MS pitched Pinkmatter, a biotech startup tackling one of the most overlooked issues in healthcare: PMD and PMDD. Her discovery? The gut microbiome plays a critical role, and rebalancing it could eliminate symptoms entirely. You'll hear not just about Roma's startup, but an interesting conversation between Sherveen Mashayekhi and Mirit Lugassi about the obligations of founders and investors when they hear pitches outside of their own demographic. The best opportunities aren't always familiar, and funding for founders shouldn't be limited by the venture community's 'personal' experience. Link to check it out in the comments!

He's BACK: John Frankel of ff Venture Capital returns for his third session of The Feedback Loop. As always, he comes with the heat, offering incisive analysis of what 2 founders are attempting to build and how an investor might pattern match them to other startups (for better & for worse). On Episode 060, we hear the first two pitches from that night – Featuring Chris Sandlund pitching a carbon offset platform to facilitate consumer climate action and Tyler DeLucia pitching a social media platform aimed at building better community amongst gamers. Shout out, as always, to these ambitious founders attempting to build the future – we're rooting for you!

Hey, NYC — ChatGPT is back on The Feedback Loop this Tuesday! After a fun experimental debut, we're dialing things up: ?? More real-time feedback ?? Sharper, spicier feedback ??? ?? Its own voice — literally ??? And it’s bringing friends! Expect quick cameos from Grok, Claude, and Gemini. Don’t miss it — RSVP in the comments to secure your spot.

What if you could predict consumer behavior with a "digital twin" of society? Avi Yashchin, founder of Subconscious AI, pitched a bold vision on The Feedback Loop: replacing slow, expensive market research with AI-powered digital twins — simulated groups of people that think and behave like real consumers, allowing companies to test ideas instantly. Check out Avi's pitch and the feedback from investors Sherveen Mashayekhi and Mirit Lugassi, link down below!

Freelancers on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are trapped in a brutal race to the bottom — endless competition, heavy agency cuts, and minimal control over their own credentials. But Marisa M., founder of Joba Network, thinks there's a better solution: a freelancer marketplace powered by blockchain. When Marisa pitched on The Feedback Loop, our resident Web3 skeptic, Sherveen Mashayekhi, didn't hold back. He pushed Marisa to justify why blockchain was necessary — arguing that centralized platforms aren't the villains many Web3 startups portray them to be, and that blockchain might be solving a problem that freelancers don't actually have. Check out the full (and occasionally spicy ???) conversation using the link in the comments!

AI for DevOps and a SaaS-marketplace for local beauty services! Episode 059 of The Feedback Loop has range. And, once more, I'm joined by the excellent Mirit Lugassi of Laconia, this episode wrapping up a great session we had giving feedback together on stage in February. Two founders had a minute each to pitch, then they got feedback on their storytelling and concept. And a shout out to the founders on stage, Naveen Kumar and Chidi Ashley – we're rootin' for ya!

We're excited to share that our Managing Partner Ihar Mahaniok will be re-joining the judges' table at The Feedback Loop on March 18th in NYC! If you haven't been, it's a live event where early-stage founders pitch their startups and get real, no fluff feedback from investors. No slides, no scripts- just straight talk on what works and what doesn't. Ihar will be on stage with Sherveen Mashayekhi, breaking down pitches and chatting with founders. If you're building something (or just love seeing how the startup world works), we hope that you will join us. RSVP here: https://lu.ma/lxs852l1 #VentureCapital #Startups #Founders #EarlyStage #NYC

Join us for The Feedback Loop — tech's best startup event — on Tuesday, March 18th! ?? Watch startup founders pitch live and get instant, actionable feedback from top investors: ? Ihar Mahaniok, Managing Partner at Geek Ventures, early investor in Instacart, Chainalysis, and People.ai, and former engineering leader at Google, Facebook, and WeWork. ? Sherveen Mashayekhi, Founder & CEO of Free Agency, angel investor and startup, careers, & AI expert. No scripts. No slides. Just real pitches and candid, actionable feedback. ?? 29 E 19th St, NYC | 6:00-8:00 PM ?? One-click registration in the comments! ?? Want to pitch? Application link in the comments!