Three Course Founders

Sherveen Mashayekhi
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Three Course Founders

I'm tired of hearing the same old conversations and interviews with startup founders where they repeat the same contrived origin story and tell the same safe anecdotes. And I think founders are tired of it, too. As a startup founder myself, I'm a nerd with curiosity about unique market insights, the hard parts of building a company, the differences between industries, the tough moments in team and product scale. And so I want to talk, founder to founder, with the people who have already or are currently in the thick of trying to change the earth spins. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Three Course Founders features conversations between startup founders that go beyond the norm. Content you won't hear elsewhere, recorded live in NYC, on location, in restaurants, over three 'courses' – bringing out the honesty and insights that only a conversation over a meal could. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder & CEO of venture-backed Free Agency. We provide Hollywood-style representation to tech talent. I'm also an angel investor and I host another show called The Feedback Loop. I hope my curiosity intrigues you, and I invite you to dive into the nuance with me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    Building a Dreamy Startup (Founder of Prophetic)

    Starting a startup is, by default, a super hard journey. But it gets even harder - and maybe more interesting - when you're building in deeptech, building a hardware startup, and at the cutting edge of scientific possibility. Today, we get into all of that hard stuff with Eric Wollberg, Co-founder and CEO of Prophetic. It's a team of technologists, engineers, and scientists building a device to help people induce and control lucid dreams. They're building the Halo, a wearable headband to measure brain activity and use targeted ultrasound (in combination with a multimodal AI model called Morpheus-1) for neurostimulation. There are other fun acronyms, like dlPFC, tFUS, fNIRS, and the more common EEG, but the point: he and his team are building out of sci-fi. We talk not only about how Prophetic and lucid dreams work, but we also get into... - Eric's analysis and forecasting for other brain-computer interface companies like Neuralink - How consumers might use and mis-use devices like these, and what they mean for society - Our mutual challenges in raising venture capital, and the storytelling mistakes + corrections we both made along the way - Hiring highly scientific and technical talent - & so much more Oh, and for clarity's sake, a lucid dream: a dream in which you're aware that you're dreaming and, in some cases, even control said dream. "When you're starting a company, it's like you're driving a jet straight down to the earth." "Dreams were the genesis of storytelling." "You have to have a real sober assessment of the state of the tech tree." "Why is Ozempic flying off the shelves and not gym memberships?" This is Three Course Founders, Episode 008: Strapping in, with Eric Wollberg of Prophetic. A special thank you to Sagaponack in Flatiron in NYC – they were gracious hosts, the staff was awesome, and the chefs kept us fed with delicious Asian Mediterranean seafood. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Follow: https://x.com/sherveen Follow Eric: https://x.com/EricWollberg Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Be sure to leave a comment down below once you've listened to the episode! If you're a startup founder, aspiring in deeptech or hardtech, fascinated by next-level storytelling or team-building, curious about the role and mechanics of a technical co-founder, strapping into the emotional rollercoaster of VC funding, intrigued by dreams and BCI devices, then this episode is for you. We don't just discuss the surface level, but get into the deeper stuff that helps us all iterate toward a future worth dreaming about. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 18m

  2. OCT 31

    2x Founder Hesitates on Venture (Founder, General Assembly + Common)

    He built two mainstream startups, General Assembly and Common, but now he's building a media company and taking a break from venture capital. Tune in to my conversation with Brad Hargreaves as we talk about proptech, building brick and mortar businesses, the challenge of remote work in 2024 and beyond, being a founder, managing forever-scaling startup teams, and so much more. We'll also talk about the form and function behind his latest venture, Thesis Driven, a media company that offers a deep dive into real estate trends and urban innovation. We also cover: Brad's journey from General Assembly to Common, why physical spaces are still essential in a digital world, how venture capital can be both a blessing and a burden for founders, the housing affordability crisis and Brad's future run for NYC mayor, and the psychology of resilience for startup founders. This is Three Course Founders, Episode 007: Thesis Driven, with Brad Hargreaves of General Assembly and Common. Timestamps 00:00 Introductions! 02:52 The Journey of General Assembly 04:56 The Concept of Co-Living with Common 09:37 The Importance of In-Person Interaction 16:51 Transition to Thesis Driven 23:27 Nailing the Timing: A Success Story 27:00 Managing People: Challenges and Insights 30:13 The Hybrid Work Environment 34:40 Future Ventures and Lessons Learned 38:44 Housing Affordability: A Public Policy Challenge 41:11 Using Your Calendar to Play Offense 42:26 The Journalist in a Founder 44:23 Politics and Personal Life A special thank you to Grandma's Home in Flatiron in NYC – they were gracious hosts, the staff was awesome, and the chefs kept us fed with delicious Chinese food. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Follow: https://x.com/sherveen Follow Dan: https://x.com/bhargreaves Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Be sure to leave a comment down below once you've listened to the episode! Do you have new perspective on the appeal of venture funding, or brick and mortar businesses? Do you have a new idea in edtech or proptech? Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min

  3. OCT 24

    Startup Founders Get Honest About Layoffs (Founder of Marpipe)

    Today, the sort of honest founder-to-founder conversation you won't find anywhere else – it's me and my friend Dan Pantelo, the founder and CEO of Marpipe. He's raised $10M to build an adtech company, and we'll get to that, but this conversation is more important and more interesting than either of our startups. Because we get to some of the hard stuff of being a startup founder. Dan opens up about company layoffs that still haunt him to this day, and how they're holding him back from being his best self. As he put it, he needed the therapy session. And I share about my own struggles as a leader and CEO, and the ways in which disgruntled employees can make a founder feel trapped. We talk about venture capital, and why Dan plans to never take it again in his next company-building journey. We talk about how to hire honestly, and the work environments required to build the next big thing. But we do begin by covering Marpipe – his startup building an operating system for Dynamic Product Ads (also known as catalog ads). They power catalog ads for the biggest brands in the world, including Nike, Paramount, Crocs, Ann Taylor, Champion, Hanes, DSW, Bloomingdales, Revolve, Kate Spade, and many more. It's an ad unit that feels basic on the surface, but powers more of the web and commerce than any of us might imagine from the outside. We talk about the use of AI in advertising, Marpipe's role in evolving catalog ads, and so much more. This is Three Course Founders, Episode 006: Delivering Stakeholder Value, with Dan Pantelo of Marpipe. A special thank you to Kyma in Flatiron in NYC – they were gracious hosts, the staff was awesome, and the chefs kept us fed with delicious Greek food. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Follow: https://x.com/sherveen Follow Dan: https://x.com/danpantelo Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 21m

  4. OCT 17

    AI Will Disrupt Ketchup, with Marty Ringlein (Founder of Agree)

    Today, I'm sharing three courses of conversation and food with my friend Marty Ringlein. He's an entrepreneur and investor – as a many-time founder, he's built and served as CEO of three startups acquired by Twitter, WPP, and Eventbrite, respectively. On the venture capital side, he's a GP at Adventure Fund, which has invested in early to growth stage companies like Figma, Chime, Plaid, SpaceX, Beehiiv, and SwagUp, to name a few. Now, he's on his latest upstart journey as Co-founder & CEO of Agree, an all-in-one agreements platform at the intersection of fintech, legaltech, and SaaS. It begins with notions of a more modern Docusign or Hellosign, enabling anyone to send and sign an agreement with AI-powered workflows, but gets even more interesting when it blends with notions of Quickbooks or Stripe, integrating payments into the agreement process and post-agreement relationship. In other words, there's typically some financial obligation that comes after the legal transaction – why not send contracts that can also move money? It's three courses of conversation: Marty's unique founder insights, mutual founder therapy, and his strengths and weaknesses (fueled by conversations I had with his founder friends). There are few resumes in tech as dense as this one. Follow him on X at @martymadrid. This is Three Course Founders, Episode 005: AI Will Disrupt Ketchup, with Marty Ringlein of Agree. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Follow: https://x.com/sherveen Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 10m

  5. OCT 11

    It's Not the ATS, with Daniel Chait (Founder of Greenhouse)

    Today, I'm sharing three courses of conversation and food with my friend Daniel Chait. He is the co-founder and CEO of Greenhouse, an end-to-end hiring platform with an applicant tracking system (ATS) at its center. If you've applied to jobs over the past decade, you've probably applied through Greenhouse. It's the ATS used by emerging companies, the fastest growing talent acquisition product amongst the enterprise, and has helped thousands of companies, founders, and employees meet + get (professionally) married. Alongside his co-founder, Jon Stross, he's also the author of Talent Makers: How the Best Organizations Win through Structured and Inclusive Hiring. It's three courses of conversation: Daniel's unique market insights, mutual founder therapy, and his strengths and weaknesses (fueled by conversations I had with his founder friends). This is Three Course Founders, Episode 004: It's Not the ATS, with Daniel Chait of Greenhouse. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Follow: Sherveen Mashayekhi: https://x.com/sherveen Daniel Chait: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhchait/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 9m

  6. OCT 3

    Scurry like a Swan, with Neha Govindraj (Founder of Bonside)

    Today, I'm sharing three courses of conversation and food with my friend Neha Govindraj. She is the founder of Bonside, a financing platform for brick-and-mortar businesses. The way it works: if you're a physical retail business looking to expand, you get access to growth capital from Bonside that you pay back based on your business's income and performance. In other words, you share a percentage of your monthly revenue rather than paying a guaranteed interest rate. It's flexible payback, an upgrade over the traditional solutions of fixed payment loans. And for investors who want access to this asset class, Bonside is their solution: they get to invest in vetted, emerging small businesses, and get monthly payouts as if they were an owner. Beyond the literals, Neha is a huge believer in the future of brick-and-mortar, and it's one of the more interesting parts of our conversation. We also get into the tough stuff of foundership -- like building a sales muscle, dealing with competitors and comparisons, decision fatigue, and so much more. It's three courses of conversation: Neha's unique market insights, mutual founder therapy, and her strengths and weaknesses (fueled by conversations I had with her founder friends). This is Three Course Founders, Episode 003: Scurry Like a Swan, with Neha Govindraj of Bonside. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intros and welcome 02:15 - Bonside and adjacent businesses 12:41 - Industry insight fueling Neha 22:33 - Founders need a sales muscle 31:26 - Selling something new with Bonside 42:09 - Neha's friends give us the gossip 59:40 - Goodbyes! My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Follow: Sherveen Mashayekhi: https://x.com/sherveen Neha Govindraj: https://x.com/nehagov Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    56 min

  7. SEP 26

    Healthtech Fever Dream, with Will Manidis (Founder of ScienceIO)

    Today, I'm sharing three courses of conversation and food with my friend Will Manidis. Will was the founder and CEO of ScienceIO, a venture-backed startup building foundational AI models targeted at the healthcare industry. Earlier this year, ScienceIO was acquired for $140M by Veradigm, the publicly traded company focused on healthcare data and technology. We'll talk through his unique market insights (opportunities for startups in healthtech, AI and healthcare), mutual founder therapy (how founders lose their individual deep expertise during their startup journey), and his strengths and weaknesses (fueled by conversations I had with his founder friends). We also talk about the bad behavior of venture capital, trends in the industry more broadly, his thoughts on Palantir, and more. This is Three Course Founders, Episode 002: Healthtech Fever Dream, with Will Manidis of ScienceIO. My mission with this show is to have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode! Weekly on Thursdays. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and all of the bad startup podcasts out there. Follow: Sherveen Mashayekhi: https://x.com/sherveen Will Manidis: https://x.com/willmanidis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min

  8. SEP 19

    Psycho-founders, with Matt Harris (Founder of Bloom Credit)

    Today, I'm sharing three courses with my friend Matt Harris, founder of the fintech startup, Bloom Credit. We'll talk through his unique market insights (underwriting, credit scores, what VCs get wrong about fintech), mutual founder therapy (what changes in a founder's brain when they're on VC funding), and his strengths and weaknesses (fueled by conversations I had with his founder friends). Matt founded Bloom Credit in 2016, raising some $20M from Resolute Ventures, Commerce Ventures, and Slow Ventures to build an API platform for credit products. But Matt's also one of those CEOs who made the choice to pass the baton, stepping out of the CEO role in 2021 to let the team bloom in a different direction. Now, he's an active angel investor (in companies like TrueAccord, Karat, and Smile ID) and an executive coach. Through TwentySeven Nine, he's working with VC-backed founders who have raised from firms like a16z, Index, First Round, and Y Combinator, helping them with everything from fundraising + OKRs to combatting what he calls founder burnout. His mission is to make the founder journey easier and more rewarding for VC-backed startups. And mine? To have deeper conversations with people trying to change the way the earth spins -- to follow my own curiosity, and help me and you better understand how the world works and how to move with more intention. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder and CEO of venture-backed Free Agency, and I'm an angel investor & startup super-nerd. Follow: Sherveen Mashayekhi: https://x.com/sherveen Matt Harris: https://x.com/mdharrisnyc Find video episodes on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@sherveenshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    49 min
  • 8 Episodes

About

I'm tired of hearing the same old conversations and interviews with startup founders where they repeat the same contrived origin story and tell the same safe anecdotes. And I think founders are tired of it, too. As a startup founder myself, I'm a nerd with curiosity about unique market insights, the hard parts of building a company, the differences between industries, the tough moments in team and product scale. And so I want to talk, founder to founder, with the people who have already or are currently in the thick of trying to change the earth spins. Inspired by Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Three Course Founders features conversations between startup founders that go beyond the norm. Content you won't hear elsewhere, recorded live in NYC, on location, in restaurants, over three 'courses' – bringing out the honesty and insights that only a conversation over a meal could. I'm Sherveen Mashayekhi, founder & CEO of venture-backed Free Agency. We provide Hollywood-style representation to tech talent. I'm also an angel investor and I host another show called The Feedback Loop. I hope my curiosity intrigues you, and I invite you to dive into the nuance with me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Sherveen Mashayekhi
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sherveen Mashayekhi
  • Show Website
    Three Course Founders

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