Tango.vc #3: Investing in Robotics with Y Combinator founder Trevor Blackwell

Ivan Kirigin of Tango.vc interviews Trevor Blackwell, the cofounder of Y Combinator and Anybots.

Trevor has invested in dozens of robotics startups through YC.

We discuss founding Anybots, why iteration speed matters, what will happen in self driving, vertical vs horizontal platforms, and the true cost of regulation.

0:00 Intro
1:34 The thesis at the start of Anybots
3:27 Wheels vs legs for telepresence robots
6:50 Why did Anybots make legged robots
8:04 What do you think of Boston Dynamics Spot Mini
9:50 Vertical vs Horizontal applications in robotics
12:24 A proof of concept proves to everyone what is possible, and emboldens copy cats
13:37 What would have happened to Cruise if GM hadn't acquired them
16:15 What does it takes to launch self driving car service like Waymo or Cruise
18:04 Benchmarks for autonomous driving performance
19:48 Why it's better to have customers hungry for a solution
21:06 How to overcome the challenge of rule based behavior planning, like Tesla doing end to end ML
23:42 How early stage startups should build hardware by focusing on iteration speed and tight customer feedback loops
26:58 Vertical vs Horizontal applications and their impact on iteration speed, like building 3D printed houses
28:43 What should hardware companies get done during the YC batch. Ideally cheat with teleoperation if you can
31:17 Why Tesla's approach to getting data from real drivers is very effective path to full autonomy. You need to figure out a business model that isn't bleeding money while you're getting data.
33:47 What Elon Musk gets wrong about end to end autonomy
35:38 What robotics companies would you like to see applying to Y Combinator?
36:36 Drone delivery is working well where people are more desperate. Generally technology is developed where need is greatest, and then moves more broadly to other applications.
38:50 We get accustomed to high quality, like the speed of delivery. The standard can always improve. How many more iPhones would people buy if delivery were every 15 minutes.
40:19 Speedy delivery for auto parts is a clear application.
41:38 How telemedicine can be much more efficient
42:32 Regulations in medicine make developing products far more expensive.
43:15 Regulation is like a fog of war which dramatically lowers iteration speed
44:50 Inaction causes harm, including an example of the cost of $1 parts and the tradeoffs for human life.
46:06 What do you think of Marc Andreessen's "It's Time to Build". San Francisco doesn't feel like the future. We need more experiments.

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Видео Tango.vc #3: Investing in Robotics with Y Combinator founder Trevor Blackwell канала Ivan Kirigin