Feb. 12, 2026, 3:24 p.m. ET
All technical systems that exist to unite people have created a situation where modern dating becomes increasingly confusing to navigate. Dating applications provide users with unlimited matches while social media platforms create a culture of comparison which leads to relationships developing at a speed that exceeds people’s capacity to handle their emotions. The situation creates a paradox because people now have better access to relationships yet they find it harder to identify their partners who will fulfill their emotional and romantic needs.
It’s this contradiction that led Brian Shkodrani, an entrepreneur, innovator, and relationship coach, to question the foundation of modern love itself. Shkodrani believes the problem isn’t that people don’t want meaningful relationships. It’s that they’ve been given the wrong tools to build them.
That belief is now taking shape in XYZ, a compatibility-based relationship app designed to help singles, dating partners, and couples understand not just who they’re attracted to, but who they’re actually compatible with.
The Limits of Chemistry-Driven Dating
Swipe-based dating has fundamentally changed how people meet. Algorithms sort potential partners by proximity and preferences, while profiles emphasize photos, short bios, and surface-level traits. Chemistry happens quickly, but clarity often doesn’t.
Shkodrani argues that this model over-relies on instinct while ignoring structure.
“Chemistry can be powerful,” he explains, “but it doesn’t tell you how two people handle conflict, growth, money, emotional needs, or long-term direction. Those are the things that determine whether a relationship lasts.”
Shkodrani has worked with individuals and couples across one-on-one coaching, group programs, workshops, and live seminars. In that time, he has worked with a wide range of individuals and couples, many of whom came to him after relationships that felt intense at first but slowly unraveled.
What he observed was consistent: most breakups weren’t caused by a lack of attraction or effort, but by unexamined misalignment.
Treating Relationships as Systems, Not Mysteries
Rather than viewing relationships as unpredictable emotional experiences, Shkodrani began studying them as systems – dynamic structures made up of behaviors, values, expectations, and life trajectories.
This approach led him to develop a multi-dimensional compatibility model designed to surface questions people rarely ask early enough in relationships—questions about whether partners want similar lives, not just each other; whether they grow at compatible speeds; how they process stress, conflict, and change; whether their emotional needs and communication styles align; and whether their visions for the future ultimately reinforce or compete with one another.
These questions became the foundation of what would later evolve into the XYZ Compatibility Framework, a structured system designed to assess alignment across key dimensions of a relationship.
The framework didn’t replace romance, but contextualized it.
“Love doesn’t fail because people are broken,” Shkodrani says. “It fails because people don’t have a blueprint.”
From Coaching Insight to Scalable Technology
As Shkodrani’s coaching work expanded, a limitation became clear: meaningful relationship insight was often locked behind one-on-one sessions, available only to those who sought coaching or therapy directly. Scaling that impact required a different medium.
That realization sparked the development of XYZ, a compatibility-based relationship app scheduled to launch in the near future.
Unlike traditional dating apps, XYZ is designed for three distinct but overlapping audiences:
Singles who are tired of swiping, filtering, selecting, and want to be matched directly based on deeper compatibility rather than surface attraction.
People who are dating and want early insight into long-term alignment.
Couples who want tools to improve communication, awareness, and relational growth.
At its core, XYZ uses structure to help users identify compatibility strengths, friction points, and growth opportunities before misunderstandings turn into resentment.
A New Category of Dating and Relationship App
While the dating app market is crowded, XYZ positions itself differently. It’s not optimized for endless swiping or short-term engagement, but for intentional decision-making.
The app’s design reflects Shkodrani’s belief that modern relationships require more than instinct. They require emotional literacy and systems thinking.
In addition, matching and selecting potential partners shouldn’t be a tiring, time-consuming, disappointing process. People aren’t supposed to spend hours swiping, formulating openers (or responding to them), and trying to make conversations move forward. This is an often-tedious part of the process that can be totally skipped, with the app’s algorithm automatically doing the matching and opening the conversation based on the level of compatibility, identity, and preferences.
XYZ helps users understand how they give and receive love, assess alignment across lifestyle, values, communication, intimacy, and future goals, uncover blind spots that often remain invisible until conflict emerges, and replace vague “gut feelings” with informed self-awareness
This philosophy stands in contrast to the dopamine-driven mechanics of many dating platforms, which prioritize engagement metrics over relational outcomes.
Brainergy and the Broader Ecosystem
XYZ doesn’t exist in isolation. It is the technological extension of a broader body of work developed under Brainergy, Shkodrani’s personal development and relationship education platform.
Through Brainergy, Shkodrani teaches about relationship stages and emotional development, masculine–feminine polarity and attraction dynamics, communication and emotional regulation, and long-term compatibility versus short-term chemistry.
These frameworks have been delivered through live events, digital education, coaching programs, and workshops across different formats and audiences.
XYZ translates this depth into a scalable, accessible system, bringing research-informed frameworks to people earlier in the relationship process, before patterns become entrenched.
Why Compatibility Is Becoming the New Conversation
Culturally, conversations around dating and relationships are shifting. Burnout, ghosting, commitment anxiety, and emotional fatigue have become common experiences. Many people are no longer asking, “How do I get more matches?” but “How do I choose better?”
Shkodrani believes compatibility is the missing piece.
“People often stay in relationships hoping things will align later,” he says. “Compatibility doesn’t magically appear with time. It has to be understood, negotiated, and maintained.”
By integrating compatibility assessment into the earliest stages of connection, XYZ aims to reduce the emotional cost of trial-and-error dating while empowering people to make clearer decisions.
The Entrepreneurial Dimension
Beyond relationships, Shkodrani’s work reflects a broader entrepreneurial mindset: identify a systemic problem, understand it deeply, and build tools that address the root cause rather than the symptoms.
In this sense, XYZ represents more than an app; it’s an attempt to redefine how technology supports human connection.
The platform emphasizes compatibility and reflection, encouraging users to move at a considered pace and examine whether their goals, values, and expectations align over time.
Rethinking Compatibility in Modern Relationships
One of the most disruptive aspects of Shkodrani’s philosophy is his rejection of the idea that failed relationships are personal failures. Instead, he reframes them as data points or signals of misalignment rather than inadequacy.
“Two good people can still be wrong for each other,” he explains. “That doesn’t mean love failed. It means compatibility wasn’t fully understood.”
This perspective has resonated with many of the people Shkodrani has coached, particularly those navigating high-achievement careers alongside the desire for meaningful partnership.
Looking Ahead
As XYZ prepares for launch, its ambition is clear: to create a new standard for how people approach dating and relationships, one grounded in clarity rather than chaos.
In a landscape dominated by instant gratification and emotional guesswork, Brian Shkodrani’s work suggests a different path forward: one where structured compatibility analysis, personal development, and technology work together to support deeper, more sustainable connections.
If modern love feels harder than it should be, Shkodrani’s answer is simple, but challenging:
Stop guessing. Start understanding.
