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Founder Case Study · Antler Accelerator

A 60-second pitch.One shot to impress investors.Here's how data made the difference.

Daria Krymova, founder of Jeena, used her own platform to test and optimize her video pitch for Antler, one of Europe's most competitive startup accelerators. The result: a 100% improvement in pitch effectiveness and an invitation to interview.

+100%
pitch effectiveness
€10
total cost of testing
✓
Antler interview invitation

What is Jeena?

Jeena is a neuromarketing platform for short-form video. Real people watch your video with their smartphone front camera on. Jeena captures their gaze direction, wow-moments, and attention frame-by-frame. You receive an AI-powered report with heatmaps, charts, and specific recommendations to make your video work harder.

The challenge

You don't get a second chance at a first impression

Antler receives thousands of applications every cohort. As part of the submission, founders are invited to attach a short video (up to 60 seconds) introducing themselves and their idea. One minute. That's it.

Daria, a data engineer and neuroscience enthusiast who built Jeena to bring affordable neuromarketing to creators and brands, was applying with the very product she had built. The pitch had to be good. Not "I think it looks fine" good, actually good.

"Your pitch could be closed on second 12. And you'd never know. We A/B test buttons, rewrite landing pages, track conversions to the second decimal, but when it comes to a 60-second video for an investor, we just hope it turned out okay."

Daria Krymova

Daria Krymova, Founder of Jeena

Test #1

"Looks fine"... and 31% says otherwise

Daria shot a first-take video (no retakes, no script) and uploaded it to Jeena as an Opportunity. Five real viewers watched it with their front cameras on and completed a short survey afterward.

31%
Jeena Rating: Version 1

Jeena Rating measures content effectiveness based on real audience reactions. Scores below ~45% indicate sustained attention problems.

What the data showed

  • Attention drops sharply before 10 seconds
  • No strong emotional reactions throughout
  • Gaze scatters, viewers distracted by background
  • Viewers politely called it "interesting" in surveys
  • No clear hook in the opening

Sample Jeena analysis outputs

Jeena gaze heatmap and attention mapJeena analysis and AI recommendations

Gaze heatmap · Wow-moments · AI-powered recommendations, all from a single upload

The plan

No guesswork. Just a list of specific fixes.

Jeena's analysis surfaced a clear action plan, drawn from the attention heatmap, AI recommendations, and viewer comments. Daria followed it point by point.

  • Write a proper script. The original had no structure, mixing bio and product in a way that scattered attention across too many ideas at once. (AI recommendation)
  • Add a hook in the first 2–3 seconds. Viewers need a reason to keep watching before they decide to scroll past. (AI recommendation)
  • Maintain eye contact with the camera. Viewers noticed when the speaker looked away and immediately felt less engaged. (viewer comments)
  • Add B-roll footage. Let the visuals carry part of the narrative so the talking-head doesn't have to explain everything verbally. (AI recommendation)
  • Increase editing pace and shot variety. The monotonous single-shot format was a key driver of attention drop-offs. (AI recommendation)
  • Stop moving in the chair. The heatmap revealed that viewer gaze repeatedly drifted toward the chair rather than the speaker's face. (attention heatmap)
  • Replace the abrupt ending with a soft invitation. Instead of a generic CTA, close with an open door to continue the conversation. (AI recommendation)
Test #2

31% → 62%. That's a 100% improvement.

Daria reshot the pitch following Jeena's recommendations and uploaded the new version as a second Opportunity. The data told a completely different story.

62%
Jeena Rating: Version 2

Scores above 50% indicate sustained engagement without attention gaps, a strong signal for content that holds viewer interest through to the end.

What changed

  • Strong emotional engagement from second 1
  • Gaze consistently on the speaker throughout
  • No attention drop-offs detected
  • Positive emotional arc, viewers felt interested
  • Clear, confident delivery captured in data
31%
Version 1 · Before
62%
Version 2 · After
Jeena Rating comparison: same video, reshot with data-driven changes
How it worked

Four steps from gut feeling to data

1

Upload the video

Daria recorded a first-take pitch and uploaded it to Jeena Platform as an Opportunity. No special setup. Just the video file.
2

Real viewers watch it

Five real people watched the video through the Jeena App with their front camera enabled. They also answered a short survey afterward. No lab equipment required.
3

Receive the analysis

Within days, Daria received a gaze heatmap video, a visibility map, wow-moments chart, and an AI-written breakdown with specific, actionable recommendations.
4

Reshoot and retest

She re-recorded following every recommendation, uploaded the new version, and watched her Jeena Rating jump from 31% to 62%.
The outcome

Antler liked the second video too.

Shortly after submitting the updated pitch, Daria received an invitation to interview with the Antler team. As a first-time video creator (whose previous content peaked at deer-in-the-park Reels), she wasn't relying on intuition. She was relying on data.

"I'm a complete beginner at video content. I just did exactly what Jeena told me to do. Those simple changes took my pitch from 31% to 62%, and I was confidentin the quality of my video for the first time. And all of this cost me €10, the price of a coffee and a croissant in Amsterdam."

Daria Krymova

Daria Krymova

Founder, Jeena

Gaze heatmaps
exactly where viewers looked, frame by frame
7 specific changes
from AI recommendations and viewer comments
€10 total
two full analysis runs on the basic plan

Building on the same insight

The same approach that worked for an Antler pitch works for any video where you only get one shot.

🚀

Accelerator applications

Y Combinator, Antler, Techstars, and others. Most accept video introductions. Make yours stand out with data-backed confidence.

💼

Investor pitch videos

Cold outreach, warm intros, or Demo Day presentations. Know that your first impression is working before it reaches the inbox.

🎬

Explainer and product videos

Is your product story landing the way you think? Heatmaps reveal what viewers actually watched versus what they ignored.

📱

Social content and ads

Before you spend budget on distribution, make sure your hook works and your CTA gets noticed. Test, fix, then post.

Early access price: €5 per analysis (now €10)

Know your video worksbefore it matters most.

Upload your pitch, demo video, or ad. Real people watch it with their front camera on. You get heatmaps, wow-moments, and a specific action plan in 1–3 days.

Real people, not AI simulationsResults in 1–3 days14-day money-back guaranteeNo lab equipment needed