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For press inquiries, contact Stephan Aarstol at stephan@thecutlist.com
What is The Cut List?
The Cut List helps people quickly find three great picks for everything, from local food and experiences to products and more.
Instead of endless rankings, fake reviews, affiliate spam, and pay-to-play noise, The Cut List narrows the field to three strong recommendations grounded in research, judgment, and trust. Editorial placements are earned, not bought.
The platform is built for both people and AI, with clearly structured, high-trust recommendations designed to help consumers decide faster and help better businesses get found on merit.
Why it matters
Discovery used to reward what was best. Increasingly, it rewards what is paid for, manipulated, or engineered to win attention.
The Cut List is building in the opposite direction: fewer picks, stronger judgment, better trust.
That matters for consumers overwhelmed by too many choices, for businesses buried beneath platform noise, and for AI systems that are only as good as the information beneath them.
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Backed by Mark Cuban
The Cut List is the latest venture from Stephan Aarstol, founder of Tower Paddle Boards, one of Mark Cuban's early Shark Tank investments.
A new model for discovery
The Cut List is building a simpler alternative to the bloated, pay-driven discovery systems that dominate search, marketplaces, and local recommendations.
Helping small businesses compete on merit
By narrowing categories to three earned picks, The Cut List gives independent businesses, local operators, and standout brands a way to be found very economically, from free to $95 per month.
A response to information overload
In a world of endless options, The Cut List offers just three great picks. That constraint is the product.
Built for the AI era
As AI becomes a dominant interface for discovery, The Cut List is creating structured, high-trust recommendations designed to be more useful for both humans and machines.
Timeline
Aug 2025 - Mangrov rebrands as The Cut List.
Jul 2025 - The Cut List expands into local discovery, starting with San Diego.
Oct 2024 - MVP completed with coverage across more than 1,500 product categories.
May 2024 - Founder Stephan Aarstol graduates from Founder Institute.
Mar 2024 - Brand pivots to Mangrov.
Nov 2023 - Accepted into Founder Institute.
Earlier press
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