How Does a Startup Survive the Pandemic? An Interview with Hungry

Show Notes
Guest Profile

Jeff Grass and Eman Pahlevani are a pair of entrepreneurs who were working on a business when they stumbled upon a personal pain point - how can they access affordable, fresh, home-cooked food when they’re stuck in an office all day? That’s how they came up with the idea for Hungry, a platform that connects chefs with companies for catering. The business took off and the founders clinched some high-profile investors, including Jay-Z and Usher. That was in March of 2020. Almost overnight, the world went into lockdown , offices closed, and Hungry’s business was effectively eviscerated. Instead of coasting, Jeff and Eman were clawing their way back. Not exactly the script they had written when they started Hungry…but then again, food-tech was a path neither of them expected to take.

Jeff Grass

CEO

Jeff Grass, the Co-founder & CEO of Hungry, is an entrepreneur and engaged leader who is motivated by big, game-changing ideas that will make our world a better place. He believes purpose-driven, people/customer-centered and goal-oriented organizations will succeed. A serial entrepreneur, prior to Hungry Jeff was the Co-founder & Chairman at LiveSafe, Inc. as well as Co-founder & Chairman at buySAFE, Inc. He is also a husband and father of two incredible children that keep him young and remind him daily to keep things in perspective.

Eman Pahlevani

Founder & COO

Eman Pahlavani is a successful D.C.-based serial entrepreneur. After graduating from law school in 2012, he and his brother Shy Pahlevani founded LiveSafe — a venture-backed mobile app company that crowdsources safety intelligence. The brothers teamed up with a longtime friend and business partner Jeff Grass to successfully grow LiveSafe into a global enterprise. Later in 2017, Eman, Shy, and Jeff again teamed up to create food-tech platform HUNGRY — the first-ever online marketplace connecting local top chefs with businesses in need of office catering.