Dec 16, 2025 · 36m · innovators-investors
Antoni Kaniowski on Venture Vuilding and the Future of Work with AI
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Antoni Kaniowski, Chief Operating Officer of Good Futures, joins host Christian Marquez on the Innovators and Investors Podcast to discuss systematic venture building, the operational advantages of holding company structures, and strategies for building defensible AI-native startups in the evolving workforce.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
Kristian as informed peer 3.5 Guest teaching 3.3 Guest disagreement 0.8 Kristian pushing back 0.4
speaking balance: gold is Kristian, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 29:45 Contrarian view on product irrelevance in B2B
Kaniowski explicitly takes a controversial stance, rejecting standard tech startup wisdom by asserting that product features and interfaces do not matter compared to transactional execution.
Hardest push from Kristian ▶ 13:42 Host pushes alternative investment structuring optionsMarquez gently pushes back on rigid categorization between VC and holding structures, asserting that SPVs offer superior flexibility for early operating models.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 20:05 Reframing SaaS multiples and architecture limitsKaniowski educates on market mechanics, dispelling misconceptions about AI competition by arguing pure SaaS companies were historically overvalued rather than displaced overnight.
Kristian holds their own ▶ 13:42 Marquez demonstrates financial structuring expertiseInvited by Kaniowski as an expert, Marquez details LP capital dynamics, GP track records, and vehicle structures with clear authority.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Kristian as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Kristian pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venture Building Mechanics and CMU Sourcing | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Marquez asks introductory exploratory questions about the venture builder model and sourcing from CMU. Kaniowski explains the mechanics, distinguishing startup studios from holding operating models in an informative tone. | |
| Ideal Founder Profiles and Commercial Coaching | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Marquez prompts Kaniowski on founder characteristics and cross-border US vs. European market dynamics. Kaniowski provides detailed perspectives on how European founders face higher barriers at home compared to the US market. | |
| Venture Capital Versus Holding Company Structures | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | After Kaniowski explicitly defers to Marquez on investment modeling, Marquez demonstrates substantial domain knowledge about SPVs, tech-enabled services, and LP flexibility. | |
| Founder Autonomy and Private Equity Discipline | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Kaniowski elaborates on the operational tension between founder autonomy and checklist micromanagement, drawing parallels to private equity discipline. Marquez validates the rationale for repeatable execution. | |
| AI Native Architectures and SaaS Valuation Shifts | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Kaniowski challenges the prevailing narrative around SaaS valuations, arguing SaaS was simply overvalued rather than disrupted solely by AI, and outlines vertical versus horizontal software architectural realities. | |
| Workforce Friction, AI Risk, and Building Trust | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Marquez asks about technical risk and rapid model obsolescence. Kaniowski candidly shares instances where products were wiped out by foundational models and highlights why B2B trust remains defensible. | |
| Antoni Kaniowski's Operational and Consulting Journey | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | A biographical review segment where Kaniowski recounts building bespoke product companies for German consulting firms and his background in management consulting. | |
| Delivering Business Outcomes Over Product Features | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Kaniowski offers a provocative stance that product features matter far less than business transactions in B2B. Marquez synthesizes and extends the concept, contributing insights on fund lifecycles and LP alignment. |
Statements from this episode (13)
Kaniowski: AI-Native Strategies Are Supplanting the Hire-Train-Deploy Model
“In essence, the companies will be filling the gaps in the higher train deploy model, which used to be a corporate strategy, which is now being supplanted By AI native strategies.”
Kaniowski: Venture Builders Outperform Standalones via Shared Infrastructure
“So a venture builder is a type of a fund operating company on both. Which is focusing on producing companies in a repeatable fashion, and it is counting on having a higher success rate than launching companies individually, because you're relying on a set of s…”
Kaniowski: Good Futures Generates Ideas Internally and Recruits CMU Founders
“In our case, we are doing our own ideas. We're sourcing founders from outside, particularly from Carnegie Mellon University, and we're looking for external capital as well.”
Kaniowski: US B2B SaaS early adopters take risks European buyers avoid
“My Personal experience has been that it has been relatively easy to be, to find open doors when you are a small ventures and relatively small product looking for early adopters who are Open to some risk, willing to test the waters, willing to give something a …”
Kaniowski: European B2B SaaS founders should target the US early or late
“So I can either recommend it very early on when somebody is still thinking that they're in the stages before they even started doing a go to market and outbound, then it's the best moment for them to shift their mindset and focus solely as a US centric or glob…”
Kaniowski: VCs Do Not Know How or Want to Invest in Operating Companies
“So far, what we found out is VCs don't know how to invest in an operating company and don't want to.”
Marquez: SPV Structures May Be Easier Than Funds Because LPs Gain Flexibility
“Starting in a model that's, that resembles a special purpose vehicle versus a fund may be easier. To start in the beginning because, you know, it gives LPs a lot more flexibility and it could be easy to get them over the line.”
Kaniowski: The final 20% of any startup stage wastes substantial effort
“Usually the last 20% of any stage is an area where a lot of time and effort on both sides is wasted.”
Kaniowski: Venture building uses operational tools and mindsets from private equity
“Venture building is a discipline. Is essentially using similar tools and similar mindsets to PE operators. And there's overlap. The scale is much different, but there's an overlap in how to operationalize and go down to the essence of a decision as fast as pos…”
Kaniowski: Pure SaaS companies were overvalued and AI is lowering their multiples
“My reaction to that dropping valuations is that I have the impression that pure SaaS companies have been overvalued for the past years, and now the AI wave is a reason for them to be valued at lower multiples.”
Kaniowski: Horizontal AI apps like note-takers will be integrated into incumbents
“Horizontally, and this is the most companies we see now, augmented note takers, augmented video editing platforms, I would say, They will be integrated and connected into the established companies anyway.”
New AI models one-shotted several Good Futures startup ideas
“We've seen this firsthand as a few of our ideas have been basically one-shotted by newer models. And basically our building of it doesn't make sense anymore because a new model comes with a sub feature that solves that.”
Kaniowski: Typical venture builders come from 10-15 year single-company exits
“Most people come from large exits from one company. That they've been doing for 1015 years, and then they are looking to multiply their capital by building multiple companies at the same time. This is the typical venture building profile that I see”