Bonding over a shared problem
In 2022, while working as a software engineer at Braze, Monik started thinking seriously about launching something of his own. He started with jobs applications, a problem he knew well. The best candidates tailor their resumes, but it’s slow and tedious. When LLMs launched, he saw how AI could automate it. He started building a browser plugin that generated tailored resumes and application answers.
A friend who knew what he was working on suggested he connect with Anthony, who was building something similar. Anthony, an engineer who’d worked at Lyft and Scale AI, was also in New York.
They met for ramen on the Upper West Side expecting to swap notes, but discovered they were thinking about the problem in the same way. The decision to work together came quickly and naturally.
Pivoting through 16 ideas
They teamed up on the AI resume tool, but couldn’t get anyone to use it, let alone pay. So they pivoted. First to a chronic care app. Then AI-generated personas. Then a YouTube influencer tool. Then an automation tool for Amazon dropshippers.
They worked off a spreadsheet of 16 ideas over a year and a half, adding more as others failed. They shared their demos on subreddits but got flagged for spam. They DMed people in Facebook groups, but were ignored. No matter what they tried, they just kept getting no’s. The only feedback was rejection.
“You couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Monik says, “but we never thought about quitting, because it wasn’t an option. Anthony and I never even talked about it. What would we quit anyway? Quit being ourselves?”
Each new idea gave them energy, but the cycle never changed. Ship, promote, hit a wall.
Eventually, they landed on voice AI, which felt like the most logical next step for where LLMs were headed. They built a prototype that handled inbound calls and appointment booking, signed their first customer, and four days later, interviewed with YC and got in. They entered the Winter 2024 batch with their idea for a horizontal voice AI platform.
A nudge in the right direction
Getting into YC gave Monik and Anthony momentum, but it didn’t solve the core problem. They were still struggling to find real customers and any signs of a hair-on-fire problem. They spent the batch building a flexible voice AI platform for industries with high call volume like healthcare, pest control, and even a big Australian bank, but it didn’t feel like anyone urgently needed their product.
After Demo Day, while some teams closed funding quickly, Toma’s process took time. There were investor nos, follow-up questions, and a fair amount that just didn’t respond. In the end, they raised what they needed, but it wasn’t a standout round, and they still didn’t have a clear winner of a product. What they did gain was more foundational. Monik says, “We learned a lot about selling and about pitching, and it gave us a lot of clarity as to what we were building and why. I think it was a great exercise. Whatever the outcome, I think as a company we gained a lot more than just money.”
But Monik and Anthony found that the process itself was valuable, not just in pitching, but also in learning how to sell, how to tell their story, and, most importantly, how to figure out what they were actually building.
After YC, they kept testing use cases and posting demos online, just like they had during pivot hell. In response to a demo for booking medical appointments, they got an unexpected message. A car dealer in Oklahoma asked, “Could you build this for us?”
They got on a call. The dealer described a mess of issues, including missed calls, handwritten notes, and disorganized workflows that ultimately hurt the customer experience. Monik and Anthony didn’t know yet if this was the solution they should be building, but the urgency felt real. They messaged to say they’d be in town and asked to meet. When he agreed, they booked flights that day.
Solving pain by feeling it firsthand
When Monik and Anthony flew to Oklahoma, the problems were obvious the moment they walked into the dealership. The team was overwhelmed, and the systems for calls, appointments, and in-person service were broken.
A quick meeting wasn’t going to cut it. Monik and Anthony realized this industry didn’t work like anything they’d built before. The dealer could see it too, so he gave them a crash course. He invited them to spend time with every department, across every location in his multi-store group, so they could see how the whole system worked. They made a deal with the dealer to stay, observe, and try to find a real solution. Using their existing voice AI prototype, they started rebuilding it for auto, refining flows, cutting features, and shaping it around what teams actually needed.
They quickly went from observing to answering phones, handling intake, and even joining manager training. Every day surfaced new insights.
They wanted more inputs, so they went to other dealerships across the country. At each one, they embedded with the staff, observed everything, and made daily updates to the product. Along the way, they became part of the community, joining their new friends at cowboy museums, baseball games, shooting ranges, and backyard barbecues.
From the outside, it looked like nothing was happening at Toma. No splashy funding announcements. No social posts. No updates to their site. Even though they had job listings up, they hadn’t made any hires. But inside the company, something entirely different was happening.
Behind the scenes, Monik and Anthony were flying across the country, living out of suitcases, and, taking a page from the Collison installation, onboarding dealerships one by one in person. Each trip led to another customer, and word started to spread. Dealers were reaching out, asking if they could be next. For the first time, it felt like they were experiencing real traction.
Setting a standard through intentional hiring
Revenue was growing fast, double digits every month, and the pressure was intense. They needed help badly, but refused to hire just anyone. The early team would define the company, and they weren’t willing to trade speed for fit.
“We were super stressed. We barely slept,” Monik said. “But we wanted to hire really good people. The kind of people who would set the tone for how this company runs.”
So they handled everything themselves. It was a tough time for Toma, but looking back, Monik doesn’t regret the choice. “In hindsight, I think some of our best hires were our first hires. If we had messed that up, I don’t think we’d be here.” As they deliberately grew the team, reaching 17 by mid-2025, every new person carried the DNA of the early days.
Shortly after their Series A, the team gathered for an offsite. Monik and Anthony looked around and finally felt it. “Everyone was heads down, working shoulder to shoulder on the same mission. After all the pivots, pressure, and sleepless nights, it hit us how far we’d come. It made all the hard parts feel worth it.”
From one dealership to US and beyond
Toma didn’t start with a plan to reinvent the auto industry. Monik and Anthony were engineers helping people apply for jobs. But following real customer problems led them to a massive, messy, overlooked market.
Today, they’re focused on fixing the hardest operational issues in U.S. dealerships, a $200B industry powered by nearly 300 million vehicles.
“If we can clear the noise and help them run smoother, faster, with less overhead, we’re not just saving time. We’re unlocking growth for them. That’s the future we’re building toward.”
Once they prove the model in the U.S., they see a clear path to scale globally. Every country has vehicles, and every dealer faces similar friction.
From shipping scrappy ideas to reshaping a $200B industry, this is the reward for never quitting.