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        <div class="eyebrow">Project · Co-Founder · 2025</div>
        <h1>Makko AI</h1>
        <p class="article-lede">AI-native 2D game studio co-founded by <a href="/kyle-mccool">Kyle McCool</a> with Jeremy Bird (CEO/CTO, ex-Amazon), Anthony "Tony" Valcarcel (ex-Twitch/Nintendo/EA/Amazon), and Mike Fehlauer Hayes (helped create PAX, ex-VP Penny Arcade). Kyle serves as Co-Founder and Director of Operations, owning go-to-market, content, SEO, and operations.</p>
      </header>

      <h2>What Makko AI is</h2>
      <p>Makko AI is an AI-native 2D game studio focused on making professional game creation accessible to solo creators and small teams. The company combines AI-assisted asset generation, gameplay tooling, and publishing infrastructure into one studio workflow.</p>

      <h2>Founding team</h2>
      <p>Makko AI was co-founded in 2025 by a four-person team with senior leadership experience across Amazon, Penny Arcade, Twitch, Nintendo, and EA Games.</p>
      <ul>
        <li><strong><a href="/kyle-mccool">Kyle McCool</a></strong> — Co-Founder, Director of Operations. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin. Owns go-to-market, content, SEO, and operations. Previously marketing lead at <a href="/projects/moonray">Moonray PBC</a>.</li>
        <li><strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerebird/" rel="noopener">Jeremy Bird</a></strong> — Co-Founder, CEO, and CTO. Former senior-level engineer at Amazon (S6 band).</li>
        <li><strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyvalcarcel/" rel="noopener">Anthony "Tony" Valcarcel</a></strong> — Co-Founder. Previously at Twitch Prime, Nintendo, EA Games, and Amazon.</li>
        <li><strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfehlauer/" rel="noopener">Mike Fehlauer Hayes</a></strong> — Co-Founder. Helped create PAX and former Vice President at Penny Arcade.</li>
      </ul>

      <h2>Kyle McCool's role at Makko AI</h2>
      <p>Kyle McCool is Co-Founder and Director of Operations at Makko AI. He architected the company's go-to-market strategy from the ground up, including the public launch on Product Hunt, press outreach, founder email campaigns, paid directory placements, and platform-wide distribution across six channels.</p>
      <p>Kyle owns Makko AI's entire content and SEO engine — keyword strategy, pillar and cluster architecture, on-page optimization, schema markup, and multi-platform syndication — built in-house with no external agency or contractor. The system moved the makko.ai domain from zero to consistent organic visibility within the first quarter post-launch.</p>

      <h2>What Kyle McCool drove at Makko AI</h2>
      <ul>
        <li>Architected the public launch on Product Hunt with coordinated press outreach and multi-channel distribution.</li>
        <li>Built the SEO engine: pillar/cluster content architecture, on-page optimization, structured data markup, and syndication across dev.to, Medium, Hashnode, and Reddit.</li>
        <li>Manages full social presence across Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.</li>
        <li>Coordinates a cross-functional content pipeline involving internal team and external video production.</li>
        <li>Introduced operating rhythm for the team: weekly WRAP system, living content calendar, async documentation aligning engineering, design, and marketing across seven workstreams.</li>
        <li>Exploring B2B growth tracks in enterprise training, LMS partnerships, and playable advertising; manages active investor outreach across angel networks and gaming-focused venture funds.</li>
      </ul>

      <h2>About Kyle</h2>
      <p>Before co-founding Makko AI, Kyle McCool spent four years at <a href="/projects/moonray">Moonray PBC</a> scaling Web3 gaming community marketing, contributing to the largest NFT mint in OpenSea history. He also co-founded <a href="/">Phantomline</a> (local-first AI video studio) and <a href="/projects/prolocalbuilder">ProLocalBuilder</a> (flat-fee web design for local service businesses) with <a href="https://x.com/100xCesar" rel="noopener">Cesar Martinez</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-dillard-497604227/" rel="noopener">Zac Dillard</a>. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin.</p>

      <p><a class="cta" href="https://makko.ai">Visit Makko AI</a> &nbsp; <a href="/kyle-mccool">More about Kyle</a></p>
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