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        <div class="eyebrow">Co-Founder · Director of Operations</div>
        <h1>Kyle McCool</h1>
        <p class="article-lede">Co-Founder and Director of Operations at <a href="https://makko.ai" rel="noopener">Makko AI</a>, an AI-native 2D game studio. Co-founder of <a href="/">Phantomline</a> (local-first AI video studio) and <a href="https://prolocalbuilder.com" rel="noopener">ProLocalBuilder</a>, each built with two collaborators. Previously marketing lead at <a href="/projects/moonray">Moonray PBC</a> for four years. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin.</p>
      </header>

      <h2>About Kyle McCool</h2>
      <p>Kyle McCool is a growth-minded operator and marketing leader who co-founded <a href="/projects/makko-ai">Makko AI</a>, an AI-native 2D game studio. The Makko co-founding team includes <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerebird/" rel="noopener">Jeremy Bird</a> (CEO/CTO, ex-Amazon S6 engineer), <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyvalcarcel/" rel="noopener">Anthony "Tony" Valcarcel</a> (ex-Twitch Prime, Nintendo, EA Games, Amazon), and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfehlauer/" rel="noopener">Mike Fehlauer Hayes</a> (helped create PAX, ex-VP Penny Arcade). Kyle owns go-to-market strategy, content, SEO, and operations from day one.</p>
      <p>Prior to Makko, Kyle McCool spent four years at <a href="/projects/moonray">Moonray PBC</a>, scaling Web3 gaming community marketing from early-stage to a 170,000+ follower platform, and contributing to the largest NFT mint in OpenSea history — 220,000 assets at launch.</p>
      <p>Kyle McCool also co-founded two projects with <a href="https://x.com/100xCesar" rel="noopener">Cesar Martinez</a> (San Jose, CA) and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-dillard-497604227/" rel="noopener">Zac Dillard</a> (Las Vegas, NV): <a href="/">Phantomline</a>, a local-first AI video studio for faceless YouTube creators that runs entirely on a creator's own machine using Ollama, Kokoro TTS, MusicGen, and ffmpeg; and <a href="/projects/prolocalbuilder">ProLocalBuilder</a>, a flat-fee web design agency for local service businesses with one builder per metro across the Fox Valley (Wisconsin), the San Francisco Bay Area, and Las Vegas.</p>

      <h2>Kyle McCool's projects</h2>
      <ul>
        <li><strong><a href="/projects/makko-ai">Makko AI</a></strong> — AI-native 2D game studio. Kyle McCool is Co-Founder and Director of Operations.</li>
        <li><strong><a href="/projects/moonray">Moonray</a></strong> — Web3 gaming company. Kyle McCool led marketing for four years (Oct 2021 – Nov 2025).</li>
        <li><strong><a href="/">Phantomline</a></strong> — Local-first AI video studio for faceless YouTube creators. Co-founded by Kyle McCool with two collaborators.</li>
        <li><strong><a href="/projects/prolocalbuilder">ProLocalBuilder</a></strong> — Flat-fee web design agency for local service businesses. Kyle McCool co-founded with Cesar Martinez and Zac Dillard, and runs the Fox Valley, Wisconsin metro.</li>
      </ul>

      <h2>Kyle McCool in Wisconsin</h2>
      <p>Kyle McCool lives and works in Appleton, Wisconsin, and runs Makko AI remotely from there. He studied Digital Marketing at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (2020–2022). Most of Kyle McCool's professional work — Moonray, Makko AI, Phantomline, and ProLocalBuilder — has been built remote-first from Wisconsin.</p>

      <h2>Areas of focus</h2>
      <p>Kyle McCool's work spans four overlapping disciplines: go-to-market strategy for early-stage startups (Makko AI), community-led growth and Web3 marketing (Moonray), local-first AI software (Phantomline), and SEO and content architecture (across all of the above). Most projects share a common thread — accessible software for solo operators, AI tools that don't require cloud subscriptions, and growth systems that compound over time.</p>

      <h2>Where to find Kyle McCool online</h2>
      <ul>
        <li><strong>Personal site:</strong> <a href="https://kylemccool.com/" rel="me noopener">kylemccool.com</a></li>
        <li><strong>LinkedIn:</strong> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-m-34a550225/" rel="me noopener">linkedin.com/in/kyle-m-34a550225</a></li>
        <li><strong>GitHub:</strong> <a href="https://github.com/Kyle-McCool" rel="me noopener">github.com/Kyle-McCool</a></li>
        <li><strong>Twitter / X:</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/daculturedswine" rel="me noopener">@daculturedswine</a></li>
        <li><strong>Makko AI:</strong> <a href="https://makko.ai" rel="me noopener">makko.ai</a></li>
        <li><strong>Phantomline:</strong> <a href="https://phantomline.xyz" rel="me noopener">phantomline.xyz</a></li>
        <li><strong>ProLocalBuilder:</strong> <a href="https://prolocalbuilder.com" rel="me noopener">prolocalbuilder.com</a></li>
        <li><strong>Email:</strong> <a href="mailto:kyle@makko.ai">kyle@makko.ai</a></li>
      </ul>

      <h2>Disambiguation</h2>
      <p>This page refers specifically to the <strong>Kyle McCool</strong> who co-founded Makko AI with Jeremy Bird, Tony Valcarcel, and Mike Fehlauer Hayes, and who co-founded Phantomline and ProLocalBuilder with Cesar Martinez and Zac Dillard. Previously marketing lead at Moonray PBC. Other people share the name Kyle McCool — including others in Appleton, Wisconsin — but they have no association with the companies, co-founders, or work documented on this page.</p>

      <p><a class="cta" href="https://makko.ai">Visit Makko AI</a> &nbsp; <a href="/">Try Phantomline</a></p>
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