One founder gets 60 seconds to pitch two venture capitalists – and you watch them pick the idea apart, live.

Welcome to Episode 078 of The Feedback Loop – the show where startup founders road-test their pitch in front of real investors, and the rest of us learn what actually moves the needle in a funding conversation.

Today’s founder & startup

Khalil Shanti is the co-founder of Atria, an AI research and compliance copilot for architects and real-estate developers.

Instead of juggling dozens of zoning PDFs, fire-safety manuals, and ADA checklists, Atria wants you to drop in an address and a building program, then return the exact mix of city-specific setbacks, egress rules, and code references you need to stay legal – before you break ground.

See a real pitch and real investor feedback, where investors press Khalil on market size, data moats, and GTM strategy -- including why your back-story matters, the edge investors can bet on, and what it means to get venture-scale.

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Today's guest investor was Mike MacCombie, General Partner at Generous Ventures. Mike has spent the past 8 years in venture capital – as an investor, operating + platform partner, community builder, and superconnector, supporting founders at the earliest stage. Find him on X at @MikeMacCombie.

As always, hosted by Sherveen Mashayekhi, Founder & CEO of Free Agency. Follow him on X at @Sherveen.

To attend The Feedback Loop in-person or apply to pitch as a founder, head to afterfeedback.com.

Because the thing that can hold even the best founders back from reaching their ambition? Their pitch. Whether a startup founder is raising money, recruiting a team, or selling their product, it's the pitch at the start of any given conversation that starts them on a journey to success.

We dive into…

• Two datasets, one product – Why combining zoning GIS + building code could make Atria a category winner, or a never-ending data crawl.

• Project-based pricing – Why architects hated SaaS seats and how passing a tech fee to the client might unlock faster adoption.

• Domain founders vs. “AI wrappers” – Khalil’s co-founder teaches architecture, his family runs construction projects – is that the moat investors want?

• Market size reality check – How to frame a believable TAM without hand-waving at “$50B in lost billable hours.”

Khalil Shanti, co-founder of Atria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalil-shanti

Thank you to all of the brave founders who participated in this episode. The Feedback Loop is dedicated to creating an engine of support for startup founders attempting to change the way the earth spins. We're on your side.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One brave founder has just 60 seconds to pitch two venture investors – and you get to see what happens next.

Welcome to Episode 077 of The Feedback Loop: a show designed to help startup founders refine their pitch, product, and go‑to‑market strategy by receiving on‑the‑spot critiques from real VCs. If you’re a founder or an investor yourself, this is your backstage pass to how actual funding conversations unfold.

This week: Daniil tells us about Mark AI – an “AI agent” for coaches and consultants that automates the entire marketing stack (funnels, emails, analytics, CRM) through a chatbot‑style interface. With countless GPT‑powered rivals cropping up, can Daniel’s vision for truly “no‑code marketing” stand apart – and do smaller businesses provide a big enough path to venture‑scale growth?

Daniil’s backstory? Two prior martech startups: one failed, one exited at 15x revenue. Now, he’s laser‑focused on coaches and consultants who can’t afford expensive freelancers or super‑complex platforms. Mark AI promises a single chatbot‑style interface that spins up websites, writes email copy, and deploys marketing automations – no coding or big budgets required. But our investors question whether Mark AI’s “all‑in‑one” approach can fend off the GPT‑powered competition and keep adding value as new models improve.

Why Watch?

Real Pitch, Real Feedback – See how investors interrogate Daniel’s market size, competition, and product differentiation in a hotly contested AI landscape.

Lessons for Founders – Learn how to distill your story into a razor‑sharp pitch, leverage personal backstory to build credibility, and define a clear go‑to‑market edge.

Insight for VCs – Discover how experienced investors weigh the pros and cons of an “all‑in‑one” AI platform, and what they look for in crowded verticals like martech.

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Today's guest investor was Mike MacCombie, General Partner at Generous Ventures. Mike has spent the past 8 years in venture capital – as an investor, operating + platform partner, community builder, and superconnector, supporting founders at the earliest stage. Find him on X at @MikeMacCombie.

As always, hosted by Sherveen Mashayekhi, Founder & CEO of Free Agency. Follow him on X at @Sherveen.

To attend The Feedback Loop in-person or apply to pitch as a founder, head to afterfeedback.com.

Because the thing that can hold even the best founders back from reaching their ambition? Their pitch. Whether a startup founder is raising money, recruiting a team, or selling their product, it's the pitch at the start of any given conversation that starts them on a journey to success.

Highlights We Explore Today

From Failure to 15x Exit – Daniel’s martech background shapes his perspective on what small businesses actually need in a marketing platform.

AI for “No‑Code” Marketing – Building websites, funnels, email sequences – can a chat interface truly replace multiple specialists?

Hyper‑Competitive Landscape – Do smaller coaches and consultants offer a big enough market, and how do you stand out when bigger companies copy or acquire new AI tech?

The Power of a Personal Narrative – Investors push Daniel to share his “why,” so they can see a clear bet, not just another GPT wrapper.

Daniil Musatov, co-founder of Mark AI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmusato

Thank you to all of the brave founders who participated in this episode. The Feedback Loop is dedicated to creating an engine of support for startup founders attempting to change the way the earth spins. We're on your side.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He’s got 60 seconds to pitch 2 venture investors – and he wants to track the amount of coffee you drink every day to help you sleep!

It’s Episode 076 of The Feedback Loop, featuring founder Maxwell (Max) Luz building Stym AI. It's an AI-powered, camera-first “smart caffeine” app that wants to show you how each espresso or energy drink might impact your vibe now and your sleep later.

Caffeine is the world’s most popular stimulant, yet few know their ideal daily intake – or how that 4 p.m. latte could mean a restless night. Is tackling that problem with an easy-to-use app that leverages vision and object recognition an interesting path?

Or do our investors think there's a broader health tracking category and issues with other startups in the space (and the quantified self movement) that might hold things back?

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Today's guest investor was Mike MacCombie, General Partner at Generous Ventures. Mike has spent the past 8 years in venture capital – as an investor, operating + platform partner, community builder, and superconnector, supporting founders at the earliest stage. Find him on X at @MikeMacCombie.

As always, hosted by Sherveen Mashayekhi, Founder & CEO of Free Agency. Follow him on X at @Sherveen.

To attend The Feedback Loop in-person or apply to pitch as a founder, head to afterfeedback.com.

Because the thing that can hold even the best founders back from reaching their ambition? Their pitch. Whether a startup founder is raising money, recruiting a team, or selling their product, it's the pitch at the start of any given conversation that starts them on a journey to success.

Today, we dive into...

From Caffeine to Sleep – Does a “smart caffeine” app naturally expand into deeper wellness or stay hyper‑focused on one routine?

Retention & Value – Once users learn their caffeine cutoff, do they churn? Investors push Max to propose a bigger vision for Stym AI.

Vision Models & Accuracy – Stym AI uses image recognition to scan drinks and estimate caffeine content, but how much precision do customers really need?

Toward Venture Scale – Can an app for coffee lovers become a massive business, or does it need to evolve into broader health tracking?

Maxwell Luz, founder of Stym AI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-luz

Thank you to all of the brave founders who participated in this episode. The Feedback Loop is dedicated to creating an engine of support for startup founders attempting to change the way the earth spins. We're on your side.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.