Free Agency

[Sherveen Mashayekhi @Sherveen]

Want to see me and @pitdesi evaluate founders live tomorrow in NYC?

Brave startup founder who wants pitch feedback money just can't buy?

@feedbackloop0 –
6 founders on stage
1 min to pitch their startup
Unfiltered investor feedback

RSVP and application link ahoy...

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

It’s the steepest pullback since the pandemic.

Is it fears of a recession? The impact of tariffs? Looming automation and AI displacement? Drop your thoughts below! ⬇️

(graph courtesy of Reuters)

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

What's your current "walk-away number"?

And how much has it changed in recent months? In other words: if a recruiter slid into your inbox today, has the minimum base you'd accept shifted? 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

The question matters because the average number just fell hard. The New York Fed’s April Survey of Consumer Expectations shows the reservation wage — the minimum pay people say they’d accept to switch jobs — plunged to $74.2k, down from $82.1k in November. 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

If you're prepping your stories for interviews, start here:
Where was the tension?
What were the tradeoffs?
That's probably where your best story lives.

(End 🧵)

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

Most people tell interview stories like they’re writing a résumé.
Chronological. Polished. No friction.

But the best stories live in the tension. 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

ship a stripped-down MVP & get real usage data fast. That v1 became the foundation for the roadmap over the next year.

The real win wasn’t the tool. It was getting it done, using the data to build a case for the features we wanted to build next. All without losing momentum." 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

❌ The only difference is that the banner broadcasts your search to your entire network — and that rarely leads to meaningful opportunities, but might lead to you being subtly or consciously judged as too "on the market."

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

Hot take: Recruiters judge your “Open to Work” banner — whether they admit it or not.

Remove it.

It’s uncomfortable advice — but it’s based on how hiring actually works. 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

✅ When you turn on the “Open to Work” setting, recruiters using LinkedIn Recruiter will see that you're open to new roles — regardless of whether you add the public green banner to your profile photo. The banner is optional and purely public-facing. 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

Here’s the reality: vibe DOES matter.

It should be skimmable, clean, and story-driven. No random summary sections, no Asana-in-your-tools-section fluff, and please — no hanging words.

Treat your resume like a pitch deck. Every pixel is working for you, or against you.

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

“If you can’t format your resume properly, why would I trust you with a high-stakes project?”

It sounds harsh — but it’s the kind of subconscious judgment recruiters & hiring managers make daily. 🧵

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

Remember:
📌 Keep bullets to 1–2 lines
📌 Watch for skimmability (left to right, top to bottom)
📌 Avoid visual clutter like summary sections or multiple columns
📌 Don’t let one stray word hijack an entire line

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

She started during the pandemic, long before non-alc became buzzy.

She talks about what gets lost when founders outsource too early — and how she got to 500+ accounts without a distributor, just by emailing every day.

Watch here: https://t.co/LZZax8VKtj

[Free Agency @JoinFreeAgency]

What does it look like to build a beverage brand from scratch — with zero industry experience, no distributor, & a mission rooted in personal loss?

Lily Geiger, founder of Figlia, a non-alcoholic aperitivo, joined @Sherveen for Ep 022 of The Sherveen Show to tell the story...🧵