00:00:00 – 00:00:09 Nitin Bajaj Welcome to the Industry Show. I’m your host Nitin Bajaj and joining me today is Mari Anjaparidze. Mari, welcome on the show.

00:00:10 – 00:00:12 Mari Anjaparidze Thank you for having me, Nitin.

00:00:13 – 00:00:16 Nitin Bajaj Great to have you here. Let’s start with who is Mari?

00:00:18 – 00:00:45 Mari Anjaparidze Who is Mari? I would say I am an artist with a passion of building and execution. I see projects in a very artistic way. How the dots connect. I have always been very fascinated by building from scratch, whether that’s an architectural project or writing a song or building a 3D model or even my first ever company. The art of filling the gap in the world has always driven me.

00:00:45 – 00:00:59 Mari Anjaparidze I was born and raised in a country of Georgia, located in Eastern Europe, which is 3.5 million people. I was actually a professional opera singer as a 13-year-old. And won several Eastern European competitions.

00:00:59 – 00:01:22 Mari Anjaparidze But soon after, I got very interested in architecture and design and got very fortunate to work with very high-end design companies. And I think I got a big vision from every angle in this industry and there was a big gap that needed to be filled. So here I am building a product around it.

00:01:24 – 00:01:45 Nitin Bajaj That’s such a cool journey. Tell us a little bit about Arqio. You’ve been on this journey fairly recently now. Tell us why do this? You could be singing more opera. Why build this instead? And also give us a sense for the size and scale and also who your typical customer is.

00:01:45 – 00:02:06 Mari Anjaparidze So Arqio is an AI powered interior exterior design platform. Basically, it is for designers, homeowners, also for furniture stores and salespeople who work in the furniture stores. You can take a picture of your space, upload in our platform, and it will do the professional design work in seconds.

00:02:07 – 00:02:24 Mari Anjaparidze So why am I doing this is that I’ve been passionate about architecture and basically art in my whole life. And I think when I saw the gap, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. And when I moved to SF, it was enough inspiration for me to build something around it.

00:02:24 – 00:02:54 Mari Anjaparidze We launched the product a month ago, the late September. We hit 3K users and views on day one, and after a month, we’ve got 800+ users using our platform. It was very fascinating for me to see people using my platform, and the validation is a validation for a little child in me. We get very nice reviews from the customers sending us before and after pictures. It’s been a journey.

00:02:56 – 00:03:24 Nitin Bajaj First off, congratulations. It’s fascinating to see how you’ve been one, just very adaptive, going from one domain in industry to following your passion, but also moving across countries and cultures and starting something and seeing this amazing traction and validation. So congrats on many successes.

00:03:25 – 00:03:28 Mari Anjaparidze Thank you. I appreciate it.

00:03:28 – 00:03:52 Nitin Bajaj Yeah, and this is obviously not easy. So a lot of hard work, a lot of resilience, a lot of discipline went into it. And I’m sure as you’re working through not just the product, but also in the domain and industry, you come across many different challenges. What’s the one big challenge you would like to call out?

00:03:54 – 00:04:27 Mari Anjaparidze I would say that it’s a big challenge for us to reach to the real goal that we’re aiming to. It definitely started as a visualization because I think there’s a big gap in there too. But I’m aiming to have the best architectural and interior design software that is merged with AI and To make it to that point, I think AI should be able to recognize architectural drawings, help people with floor planning, or recognize the floor plans and build the design out of it.

00:04:28 – 00:04:48 Mari Anjaparidze For now, we don’t have anything like that. And to build that, it needs a lot of very professional engineering support. I think that’s my big challenge right now, to build big team that could really help me and support me to get to that point where my product is what I intended it to be.

00:04:48 – 00:05:02 Mari Anjaparidze Even though now it’s perfect and everyone likes it, it’s not there where I want it to be. So I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge, but it’s something that I’ve been looking for, and it needs a lot of time to get there.

00:05:03 – 00:05:18 Nitin Bajaj Yeah. You’re looking to unlock the next. Level of your vision from here on. It’s a big step. Now, on the other side of challenges come opportunities. What’s the one that excites you the most?

00:05:20 – 00:05:33 Mari Anjaparidze I think I’ve answered this with this last question. I’m very excited to get to that point where we have the perfect product, where it really helps architects with floor planning, visualization of 3D models and architectural drawings.

00:05:38 – 00:06:14 Mari Anjaparidze When I worked in my last company that I worked for, I was an interior architect and lots of projects were on me. And it took me a very long time to execute even one project because every project comes with floor plan, four elevations. If it’s architectural project and not interior design, it needs roof plans, electricity. There’s just so much to do. And if we could fill that gap with AI and give the support to architects and interior designers, that would be amazing. So I’m very excited to bring that on the table for designers.

00:06:15 – 00:06:31 Nitin Bajaj That’s awesome. And knowing you, I know that vision will become reality in a very short time. So I’m rooting for your success. As we look into the future, I would love to reflect back in the past and ask you to share two moments

00:06:34 – 00:06:52 Nitin Bajaj from your life and career. One where things did not work out as you had expected. There was maybe disappointment, lessons, failure, and another moment where things exceeded your expectations and became a success beyond what you had imagined.

00:06:52 – 00:07:20 Mari Anjaparidze Okay. I think I would say something that didn’t work out, but then it taught me a lot would be building my first company. It was an open house automation for real estate agents called Rewora. It still works. It has customers. But where I made a mistake was I didn’t build around my passion, but I built in order to build. I was just testing myself to build some. I think I’ve spent almost a year on this project.

00:07:20 – 00:07:41 Mari Anjaparidze The lesson was, I would say, clarity that you can build something that works and still building the wrong thing. I needed to build in my niche where I have real experience and connections. The clarity led me to Arqio and sometimes the best thing you can do is to walk away from something good to build something great.

00:07:42 – 00:07:53 Nitin Bajaj I love that. Love that clarity, that wisdom. And as you rightly said, sometimes you have to go do the thing that gives you that base from which you can jump.

00:07:54 – 00:08:01 Mari Anjaparidze Exactly. It’s very important to scale, I would say, in order to stand up again.

00:08:02 – 00:08:29 Nitin Bajaj Yeah. And I think one of the things we learn as an entrepreneur, as we go through that journey is what are we made of? Who are we? And we learn more about ourselves as we go through this journey of building something and falling and getting back up again. So that was your example of something that did not work out but ended up becoming a great lesson. What’s the success?

00:08:31 – 00:08:52 Mari Anjaparidze I think I would go back to my childhood when I was a kid. As I told you, I’ve mentioned that I used to sing opera, but I was very professional in singing and I really thought that I would become a professional singer when I was a kid. And I think a breaking, like my break in singing was when I won an opera competition.

00:08:52 – 00:09:18 Mari Anjaparidze The amount of hard work that it took for me to get there and I think for a kid, that amount of pressure of discipline is a lot, but it also teaches you about life. That moment taught me something that I think is carried into me. Everything and everything that I do now, that when you fall in love with a craft, excellence stops feeling like effort.

00:09:18 – 00:09:36 Mari Anjaparidze And that little version of me didn’t know anything about startups or design, but she already understood the discipline, performance, and creating something people feel. And I think I still can build from that place. I think what made me survive in that time when I was a kid is the passion.

00:09:38 – 00:09:48 Mari Anjaparidze Find your niche, find what you love and it will be easier because it will take half of your anxiety and all this hard work that you’re doing. It will make it enjoyable.

00:09:50 – 00:10:02 Nitin Bajaj Love that, very beautifully shared. Now, moving away from work and a lot of things, what do you do to de-stress, relax and just have fun?

00:10:04 – 00:10:25 Mari Anjaparidze Yes, that’s a good question. I actually am trying to go back to singing. So I’m trying to get back to music. Since I started architecture, I think I forgot how much the music helped me to be creative. Now that I’m remembering it, my mind works better, clearer, less foggy. I think it’s healthy for your brain to stay creative and artistic.

00:10:26 – 00:10:43 Mari Anjaparidze I think I also love spending time with my friends. I love hiking and physical activities. I’m a big host. I love throwing parties and gatherings. As we’ve mentioned, I’m always been the planner friend. I like doing weekend trips. I’m the one who plans it.

00:10:43 – 00:11:03 Mari Anjaparidze Also, Georgian Supras that I brought it to San Francisco. Hopefully it will be monthly. The last weekend, I gathered 25 people in my house and cooked for all of them by myself. And it was a very special moment for me. Yes. So I think spending time with people I love and bringing people together, I think is my version of having fun.

00:11:04 – 00:11:24 Nitin Bajaj Love that. And that’s, I think, the most beautiful way to have fun is around people you love, hanging out with and just having conversations, as you were saying, that have nothing to do with work, business, just getting to know each other and living in the moment. Is there a book or a podcast that is a favorite of yours that.

00:11:24 – 00:11:54 Mari Anjaparidze You want to share? I would say a book. And I don’t think it’s very known book in different countries, but I really want to recommend one of the oldest and most philosophical Georgian texts that I’ve ever read. And I think it’s very, I think it’s the second, the most important book after Bible in my country, which is the Knight in the Panther’s Skin. It’s from 12th century. We don’t know the real writer. We have made up names for them.

00:11:54 – 00:12:13 Mari Anjaparidze And this book is very philosophical. It applies to every single person about every single subject. Very philosophical. And one of my favorite phrases that I go back to this book is it translates to our life is nothing but a bottomless vessel. It never truly fills.

00:12:14 – 00:12:46 Mari Anjaparidze And for me, especially as a founder, it’s a grounding reminder. That we always think if I hit the next milestone, I’ll finally be like feel enough. But the truth is that we will always want more. And ambition can be very powerful, but if you let it control you, you lose the joy of life, which is why it’s very important to let yourself know that, hey, this is human nature, but if I let it control me, I might not even be able to enjoy what I’ve created.

00:12:46 – 00:12:46 Nitin Bajaj So.

00:12:47 – 00:13:04 Mari Anjaparidze It’s okay to stop for a second, take a step back and look at look what you’ve done and enjoy it. So this book is filled with so many beautiful phrases like this. I think every line in this book is like this. So I would definitely recommend.

00:13:05 – 00:13:23 Nitin Bajaj Thanks for sharing. I’m going to look it up. Which is also a very good segue into The next section of our show, which is my favorite, and we call this the one line life lessons. And, Maria, I would love for you to share your one line life lessons with us.

00:13:23 – 00:13:45 Mari Anjaparidze Uh huh. I would say my favorite in the beginning would be if it doesn’t shake you, it won’t shape you. I don’t think anything worked out for me if it didn’t at least shake me a little bit. It takes a lot of time. Yes, luck exists, but it needs to shake you.

00:13:45 – 00:14:11 Mari Anjaparidze I would say the next one, speed and execution, beat perfect plans every time. You can plan a lot of things, but if you don’t work hard and execute, it’s just plans. And it also applies to a talent. I think the biggest talent is being able to work hard. Rather than being a good singer.

00:14:12 – 00:14:30 Mari Anjaparidze Also, your younger self is watching, so make her proud. I always talk to her and she’s very proud of me. Even though I’m not to the point where I want her to be, she’s still very proud of me and I treat her very nicely, so be nice to them.

00:14:30 – 00:14:48 Mari Anjaparidze I would say the next one, the best work happens when the art meets discipline. Every single work is art. That’s the way I see it. Connecting dots. Execution is art. Tech is art. Seed is a beauty.

00:14:48 – 00:14:55 Mari Anjaparidze And the last would be, don’t wait for the right moment. Just create it. You are the one who controls it.

00:14:57 – 00:15:16 Nitin Bajaj Love that. Love all of them. Mari, thank you so much. For sharing your online life lessons, but also for sharing your journey. Congratulations and kudos for all the successes. And I know you’re just getting started and looking forward to continuing this journey and looking at many more successes to come.

00:15:17 – 00:15:23 Mari Anjaparidze Thank you, Nitin. Thank you so much. And I love what you’re doing. I hope to see you to my next Supra.