Annie Luu uses Marlee to help founder teams scale fast

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At Investible, Annie Luu played a key leadership role coaching some of the world’s most promising startup founders. From pitching to founder chemistry, she used Marlee to support high-potential teams, corporates, and investors in working through blind spots and scaling fast, without friction. Her coaching success story shows how one mismatched founder duo overcame tension, built trust, and accelerated growth using Marlee’s motivational insights.

About Investible:

Investible is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on backing high-potential tech startups globally. With a hands-on approach, they support founders through accelerator programs and strategic coaching to help scale their ventures.

Annie coached two co-founders in the Investible Lab: an eight-week accelerator program designed for promising startup founders.

Industry: VC, Entrepreneurial development
Website: www.investible.com
‍Employees: 35

Challenges:

Like any relationship, communication is key to building a high-performing and successful business. Two co-founders had a brilliant business idea and a strong, complementary skill set. But their communication was a constant emotional rollercoaster, making it difficult to manage productivity from week to week.

Frequent misunderstandings, tension, and the persistent feeling of being out of sync were getting in the way of their progress, even though their startup had been identified as one of the top three in the Investible Lab program.

One recurring issue was a mismatch in communication style. For example, one co-founder would often look over at the other and ask, “What’s wrong?” interpreting their body language or facial expression as a signal of concern. The other, caught off guard, would respond, “Nothing’s wrong!” but then feel triggered into a bad mood because of how the question was framed. That seemingly small moment often snowballed into full disagreements.

Solution:

For founders to get the most out of the Investible Lab accelerator program, it’s crucial they’re aligned and working in an environment that brings out their best. Using Marlee, Annie uncovered a key reason behind the ongoing tension: the co-founders had fundamentally different communication styles.

One founder had a high motivation for affective communication, highly attuned to tone, body language, and nonverbal cues. The other was motivated by neutral communication: focused on the literal meaning of words and how precisely they’re used. These opposing styles were unknowingly pitting them against each other. Neither was giving or receiving the kind of communication they naturally responded to, and both were being triggered without realising why.

Through their Marlee profiles, Annie helped the co-founders identify these blind spots and build a shared awareness of their differences. That insight became the foundation for a working-style resolution rooted in mutual understanding and appreciation. As Annie put it:

“Communication affects one hundred percent of the relationship: their complementary unique skills make them a brilliant team, but they are let down by misinterpretations on how they speak and interact with each other.”
—Annie Luu, High Growth Coach, Investible

With Marlee’s tools, the co-founders could finally see the why behind each other’s behaviours and begin forging common ground. Annie coached them in how to shift their language, reduce the friction between their polarised communication styles, and build a more productive, trusting partnership.

“Ultimately, it was incredibly insightful for them to be conscious of each other’s different communication styles, learning to accommodate those styles and understand the work context behind them.”
—Annie Luu, High Growth Coach, Investible

Results:

By the end of the eight-week accelerator program, the co-founders’ improved communication helped them pivot their business model, generate revenue, and build a growing customer base. Within 12 months, they’d expanded their team to five and taken their startup overseas.

Annie is passionate about supporting startups at pivotal moments in their wild, high-speed journey. In mentoring this pair, she was able to build rapid rapport and deliver productive coaching with the help of Marlee. The co-founders reported a significant improvement in their working relationship, allowing them to move forward with confidence and less tension.

“Startups are fast-paced, and I need to be able to uncover the core issues quickly. I love being able to show immediate transparency with a client in their Marlee results, and eliminate the need for endless questions to determine a working solution.”
—Annie Luu, High Growth Coach, Investible

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Why Marlee:

Helps coaches identify founder blind spots quickly and accurately
Builds shared understanding between co-founders with opposing communication styles
Supports early-stage founders to scale faster and more harmoniously
Drives faster rapport and stronger founder relationships

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