The Feedback Loop

Ep. 39: How VCs REALLY Judge Your Startup


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How do venture capitalists REALLY think through a startup pitch? Well, today is Episode 039 of you getting to find out, as we get to hear pitches from 3 startup founders and see 2 investors react in real-time.


If you're interested in startups and founders building the future, and the venture capitalists funding them, this is a must watch. And today, we hear from founders across personalized skincare (can we finally get over all the conflicting advice on TikTok?), AI-driven nutritional tracking (our investor wants this for his gym bro son), and experiential employee benefits (can this fix our loneliness epidemic, or at least make a dent?).


It's Episode 039 of The Feedback Loop, and it's a fun one!


Pitch 1 (VAIN)

Pitch 2 (Acurixx)

Pitch 3 (ANI)


As always, hosted by Sherveen Mashayekhi, Founder & CEO of Free Agency. ​Today's guest investor, returning to the show for the FIFTH time, was Mike Ma of Sidecut Ventures.


The Feedback Loop is all about getting ambitious founders on stage to pitch and get unfiltered feedback from experienced, honest investors.


Because the thing that can hold even the best founders back from reaching their ambition? Their pitch. Whether a startup founder is raising money, recruiting a team, or selling their product, it's the pitch at the start of any given conversation that starts them on a journey to success.


For those founders on stage and in the audience, it's an answer to the essential query: how to pitch your startup.


More on our guest investor for the episode:

​​Mike is a tech CMO turned venture investor — he runs Sidecut Ventures, backing mission-driven pre-seed founders, and is an Operating Partner at Sway Ventures. He was previously MD at Nex Cubed, a pre-seed accelerator for underrepresented founders. In other words, he knows startup storytelling!


Follow Sherveen: https://x.com/Sherveen

Follow Mike: https://www.instagram.com/michaelwma


To attend The Feedback Loop in-person or apply to pitch as a founder, head to afterfeedback.com.


Thank you to all of the brave founders who participated in this episode. The Feedback Loop is dedicated to creating an engine of support for startup founders attempting to change the way the earth spins. We're on your side.


Curious as to this episode's takeaways? You'll hear about a lot, including how to think about AI features and staying competitive in the AI-driven app space, how men are stealing their girlfriends' skincare, how to sequence a startup pitch, why a question in a pitch meeting is an invitation, how to bring up your credibility as a founder, the challenges of pitching an innovative idea in a legacy industry, and so much more.


This is purpose-built for startup nerds, tech industry fanatics, future founders, and everyone in between.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The Feedback LoopBy Sherveen Mashayekhi