Profile
Issue 01 · Mom’s Disappointment
Mir Hwang
Founder & CEO, GigFinesse
drummer · dropout · disappointment
A drummer who built the platform he wished existed. GigFinesse powers live entertainment booking for venues across the U.S.
played drums at a wedding last week and then told Bessemer Venture Partners about it. also a ceo apparently.
Press & Recognition
★ press wall ★ press wall ★
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How One Founder Is Fixing the Broken World of Live Event Bookings 2026 -
Where Tech, Collaboration and Creativity Collide: 15 Under 30 Startups, presented by Canva 2025 -
A-LIST Awards: Creative & Digital Media Disrupter Award 2025 -
From Stage to Startup: How Mir Hwang Is Revolutionizing Live Music 2025 - 30 Under 30: Consumer Technology 2024
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Found Podcast: Look back on Rebecca’s Favorite Episodes 2024 -
Beyond NYU: Switching Medicine for the Music Business 2024 -
Mir Hwang, Founder & CEO, GigFinesse 2024 -
20 in Their 20s 2023 -
Pivoting to Survive: How a Cross-Country Move Saved GigFinesse 2023 - GigFinesse Making Live Music Equitable: A Letter From Our CEO 2022
- Founder in Residence 2022
- $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge winner, New Venture track 2019
- Innovention Competition winner 2019
About
who is this guy
Mir Hwang is the Founder & CEO of GigFinesse, a music technology company powering live entertainment for venues nationwide. Under their leadership, GigFinesse has raised over $15M from Bessemer Venture Partners, NJME Investments, NYU Innovation Venture Fund, and other prominent industry angels. The platform is now one of the fastest-growing live entertainment players in hospitality.
mir hwang runs gigfinesse, a company he started instead of going to med school. his mom still asks about med school.
GigFinesse has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Crain’s New York Business 20 in Their 20s. Mir also serves as a Founder in Residence at the NYU Leslie eLab and is an active mentor to early-stage founders.
collected awards from forbes and crain’s as a side effect of just continuing to exist. mentors NYU students who are about to make the same mistakes he made.
Where this is going where this is going
The experiential economy is growing faster than ever. People crave belonging and community, and live music is one of the purest expressions of both. Yet the infrastructure underneath has barely changed in fifty years. Most booking still runs on phone calls, spreadsheets, and verbal agreements. Venues lose hours per booking. Artists lose income to friction nobody chose.
the experiential economy is going off. people crave belonging and community, and live music is one of the purest expressions of both. meanwhile the infrastructure underneath has barely changed in fifty years. still phone calls, spreadsheets, verbal agreements. venues lose hours, artists lose income, nobody picked any of this.
I noticed this from the artist side first. I worked through NYU as a touring session drummer, navigating the same broken process every weekend. I started GigFinesse in 2019 to take that friction out, so creatives can do what they love and get paid fairly, and so the venues, hotels, and operators programming live entertainment can spend more thoughtfully, support more shows, and get real ROI on every dollar. Today we handle 1,500+ shows a month nationwide.
noticed it as a touring drummer at NYU, lugging a kit between gigs that paid in cash and a beer voucher. started gigfinesse in 2019 to take the friction out, so creatives get paid fairly for the thing they actually love, and so the venues and operators programming live entertainment can spend smarter and get real ROI. 1,500+ shows a month, nationwide.
Portraits
candids (no candids exist)
