The Loop

We live in exponential times. All meaningful growth comes from compounding: a constant, gradual, inexorable bending of the curve in your favour. If you want to ride the curve rather than being crushed by it, you need to start thinking in loops.

John Boyd was an aviation pioneer. A legendary airman, he created the Top Gun flight school. He was famous for being able to shoot down an opponent from a position of disadvantage using something he called the OODA loop. It was so effective that it completely reversed common wisdom in aircraft design: the US Airforce stopped making bigger and bigger planes, switching instead to agile airframes like the F-15.

Today, loops are everywhere. An AI that once responded to a single prompt can now be woven into a workflow that’s able to complete complex tasks. But the real breakthrough happens when you connect that workflow back on itself, and then start judging and improving the results. Developers call these evals, but the loop is more than code. Once your company is in a loop, what matters is how fast you iterate, and how much each iteration improves.

In this talk, Startupfest chair Alistair Croll walks you through the liftoff that splits startups, investors, and even societies into those that ride the curve, and those it leaves behind.