Editor’s Be aware: This text is predicated on Dorota Shortell’s presentation at RoboBusiness 2025. Keep tuned for extra post-show protection and insights from this yr’s occasion.
With the quantity of consideration given to robotics, humanoids, and bodily AI, there are lots of new entrants and startups within the area. They typically have nice, even industry-changing concepts, however what is going to it take to show a good suggestion into enterprise success? We all know that almost all of recent companies fail, so what did those that succeeded do to get there? Studying from each corporations who’ve developed profitable robotics companies and in addition from those that have failed or needed to pivot, provides newer robotics corporations insights on what actions they need to take to maximise their possibilities of constructing a sustainable enterprise.
Tapping into each the 20+ years’ of {hardware}, mechatronic merchandise, and automatic robotic techniques expertise at Simplexity Product Growth and interviews with leaders at over a dozen robotics corporations, I’ve compiled these key classes realized that I shared throughout my discuss at RoboBusiness final week in Santa Clara, Calif. They will greatest be categorized as falling into 5 primary classes:
- Product market match
- Funding
- Growth course of
- Staff
- Scaling
I’ll dive into every one in additional element, beginning with a quote to set the stage.
1. Product market match
“Perceive an important buyer issues first and construct new expertise second. Constructing a brand new robotic ought to solely come after you have got conviction that it’ll resolve an issue value fixing. In any other case, you threat constructing one thing fascinating, however finally ineffective.”
– Christopher Carlson, government vice chairman, analysis, company Growth, and Intuitive Ventures
Carlson and I went to graduate faculty collectively at Stanford and over the previous 12+ years he’s had a really profitable profession at surgical robotic maker Intuitive. Intuitive has been a robotics chief for 30 years, so studying what they did within the early years and the way they develop robots now’s one thing that aspiring robotics corporations might attempt to emulate. Christopher actually emphasised how product market match is without doubt one of the key distinguishing components between success and failure, additionally echoed by fairly just a few of the opposite robotics leaders who I interviewed. The teachings underneath this class are:
Construct your organization round what individuals will purchase: Should you solely take away one studying, it’s to be laser centered on growing an answer for a vital buyer want versus specializing in constructing a robotic. The businesses who needed to do a tough pivot or didn’t make it available in the market most frequently cited that they had been too centered on constructing cool robotic expertise and never spending sufficient time understanding buyer wants. The recommendation right here is to construct your organization round understanding your consumer, not simply on fascinating technological advances. A easy answer that solves a vital want is significantly better than a classy answer that’s solely a “good to have” for potential purchasers.
Use a quick suggestions cycle – ideate, validate with buyer suggestions, iterate on the design: When you perceive what the vital want is that your organization will probably be addressing, then it’s time to collect concepts for easy methods to resolve it and get as a lot suggestions from prospects as you may previous to constructing {hardware}. This will probably be restricted as most prospects might want to see/strive what you might be providing, however doing preliminary interviews helps slim down the issue and outline a product structure that’s extra seemingly to achieve success.
Dusty Robotics did this by interviewing purchasers for a number of months previous to constructing their robotic. Then it is advisable construct {hardware}, collect extra suggestions from prospects, and maintain iterating on the design, in quick cycles. Don’t be in stealth mode. Construct in public because you don’t have a number of pictures on objective. It’s a must to know there’s a marketplace for what you might be constructing if you go on the market.
Safe a beachhead consumer and co-develop with them: Firms who had been profitable at specializing in the consumer mentioned that co-development and having shut collaboration was vital. Quite than attempting to promote a accomplished robotic right into a consumer website, they’d have their engineers on the consumer websites working alongside the consumer to hone the expertise. This was most frequently achieved by having a service enterprise mannequin quite than a product mannequin.
For instance, Dusty Robotics supplied its robotic as a service first, the place they’d print the development traces on the brand new building previous to attempting to promote the robotic. This allowed them to find unspoken buyer wants corresponding to that the load of the robotic wanted to be gentle sufficient for an individual to hold from flooring to flooring and to determine easy methods to account for winds current in open building. In addition they didn’t want the robotic to be excellent as they’d convey one other robotic to the client website as a spare in case the primary one had any points.
Don’t underestimate the challenges of expertise adoption: Whilst you hear that there could also be resistance to purchasers adopting new expertise, watch out to not be so enamored together with your concept that you simply brush that apart. BioMotum realized this later of their growth cycle. Whereas they knew that an early design with cables was troublesome for individuals to know and placed on, they thought that the truth that individuals would get such superior outcomes from utilizing their robotic ankle help machine that the way it regarded was not as vital. Solely later did they understand that the consumer expertise is vital to success of the corporate since if individuals don’t know the way or aren’t prepared to place it on, then the outcomes don’t matter. BioMotum’s CEO and co-founder, Ray Browning, said “it’s by no means in regards to the expertise – it’s about utilizing it.”
Simplify to solely vital product options: It’s a giant mistake to attempt to get each attainable function into the primary launch of your product. Quite, it is advisable be laser centered on the only incarnation of your product that folks will purchase. A course of that Camino Robotics, a developer of robotic help walkers for the aged, used is to write down down all of the attainable product options after which to have potential customers select which certainly one of simply two options at a time they’d select. In addition they had customers stroll by their day, which regularly revealed unmet wants. That helped slim down the listing to these options that had been vital versus nice-to-have.
Additionally, one other firm, Civ Robotics, which is designing surveying robots for outside terrain, advisable having a value related to doing a pilot with a buyer quite than doing it free of charge. Individuals are most severe when cash is concerned. Ensure that the issue you might be fixing is vital sufficient to the client, even when it’s technologically simple. Attempt to get income as quick as attainable.
2. Funding
“It’s robust to work with the entrepreneur that is aware of every thing. Simple to speculate if they’ve an open mindset and know the place they might use assist”
– David Chessler, Chessler Holdings
Chessler is a profitable investor, nonetheless in about 22 working corporations. He’s invested tens of tens of millions in capital through the years and is at the moment working a program referred to as HUSTLE on entrepreneurship in College of South Florida, which incubates pupil concepts.
It all the time prices extra and takes longer than you suppose: A standard cause corporations fail is that they run out of cash or can’t safe their subsequent spherical of funding previous to working out of money. New entrepreneurs are sometimes shocked by how a lot extra prices the enterprise finally ends up having past what was modeled of their first marketing strategy. In any case, you’re inventing one thing new and disruptive that the market hasn’t seen earlier than, so you may’t have an ideal prediction of how a lot it’s going to price. What you may have although is estimates based mostly on earlier comparable tasks which mentors and corporations who’ve beforehand introduced merchandise to market may help estimate. Pay attention and study and add contingencies to your funds for the unknown areas that would take longer than you suppose. It’s additionally simpler to boost more cash you probably have chosen your buyers properly and they’re prepared to maintain investing in you for future rounds.
Develop a sustainable enterprise mannequin: Will you earn a living by promoting your product or promoting a service that your product can do? What number of do it is advisable promote to breakeven? What are the continued prices when you do begin promoting them (guarantee, continued growth, achievement, stock, and so forth)? How a lot money will you want for up-front stock prices? How will tariffs and provide chain disruptions have an effect on your prices and timelines? What phrases will you provide your purchasers? How will opponents react to your providing? What pricing pressures will you see? What are purchasers really going to pay versus what they are saying they might pay? These are simply a few of the questions you need to be answering. What founders additionally typically don’t understand is that the enterprise mannequin will seemingly reshape the structure of your product. So getting that functionality inside your organization early on is vital to constructing the services or products providing that may permit your organization to flourish for years.
Select buyers properly: It’s tempting to take the primary time period sheet that’s supplied to you however keep in mind that you’re interviewing for a long-term relationship. One of many robotics startups that I interviewed commented that it might have been rather more useful if their buyers had automation, {hardware}, and manufacturing experience. It was all the time a problem to elucidate these elements of the enterprise they usually didn’t have significant connections to leverage to assist the entrepreneur of their enterprise.
An investor that I talked with additionally mirrored that sentiment from the opposite perspective. If he doesn’t have the flexibility to stack the deck in his and the entrepreneur’s favor by introducing them to key purchasers or massive gamers available in the market, then he doesn’t really feel his cash will create a large enough impression to speculate. Your main buyers will seemingly even have a seat in your board of administrators so be certain they will make introductions for you in your area and, in flip, be certain to be clear with them in your progress.
What buyers search for:
- Is it disruptive?
- What’s the market dimension of the chance?
- Can we (the buyers) add worth?
- Is the staff there to execute?
- How lengthy will it take to get to implementation?
Attempt artistic advertising and marketing to preserve money: When you obtain funding, you wish to stretch it so far as attainable. There are two nice examples of this that emerged from the interviews. The primary is from Clayton Wooden, former CEO of Picnic Works, the place quite than getting a sales space at CES, which prices tens of 1000’s of {dollars}, they bought a spot within the space the place meals was served to display their pizza making robotic. They ended up on three “better of CES” lists in January 2020 with out incurring the traditional expense that will take.
One other instance is from Aadeel Akhtar, CEO and founder at PSYONIC, who has invented and developed a sophisticated bionic arm. Quite than paying for tradeshow cubicles, he walks round exhibits holding a dwell demo of his arm. He additionally will get in contact with YouTube influencers to function the arm doing artistic duties like bottle tips and flaming board breaking. Every of these movies ended up getting 2 to 4 million views, basically free of charge.
Paint the longer term quite than explaining your product: One of many serial entrepreneurs whom I interviewed has been fairly profitable at elevating cash at a number of startups that he’s led through the years. I requested him what his secret is to with the ability to elevate cash repeatedly. He mentioned that it’s all about storytelling, not explaining the product that you’ve. You’re not promoting the product you have got nor the place you’re at. You’re promoting what your product can allow sooner or later. How will your robotic assist deal with profound labor shortages or convey higher instruments which can be easy to make use of that may lengthen the capability of the labor? Paint an image that your buyers can see and really feel.
3. Growth course of
“Early on it’s exhausting to get significant buyer suggestions about your concept with out constructing it. Make one thing fast & soiled to study from the client as early as attainable. Nonetheless, when you construct one thing too prototype-y at a later stage, the client could reject it.”
– Philipp Herget, co-founder, Dusty Robotics
Dusty Robotics’ autonomous cellular robotic prints building drawings straight on the flooring of recent buildings. Dusty Robotics has been round since 2018 and raised over $69 million in funding.
Use off-the-shelf {hardware} and open-source software program on your MVP: The robotics corporations who’ve been profitable discovered intelligent and fast methods of making prototypes to point out potential purchasers shortly. They cited utilizing off-the-shelf growth kits, open-source software program, and parts of merchandise already in the marketplace to get a prototype that works nicely sufficient to begin gathering real-world information and buyer suggestions. Solely invent what you want. Civ Robotics is an efficient instance of this who was in a position to begin testing early variations of their land surveying robotic inside 4 months.
Embrace necessities, Gantt charts, and product course of rigor on the proper stage: There was a particular correlation between these corporations who had formally written down their necessities after which adopted a structured product growth course of and their success. The businesses who struggled probably the most did the design in an ad-hoc method. Whereas this may be acceptable at first if you’re in experimentation mode (Part 0 Exploration within the course of chart beneath), it was inefficient and detrimental to success throughout the core growth phases. Growing {hardware} is completely different than software program. One of many feedback I heard was that they need to have gone sluggish to go quick. Slowing down, writing down necessities, planning, and following a confirmed growth course of for {hardware} saves time in the long term because you don’t find yourself redoing as a lot work. Beneath is an instance of the product growth course of we use at Simplexity.
Create testbeds to check key performance in parallel: One of many different errors that much less skilled corporations make when growing {hardware} is to construct the whole product unexpectedly after which check it. Subsystem testbeds allow you to check and iterate on the difficult subsystems with out the distraction of interactions with different subsystems which can have their very own points. The extra skilled corporations interviewed construct testbeds to dial in efficiency of a subsystem. For instance, you may take the motor meeting mounted on a bench and check the tip effector independently, permitting the engineering staff engaged on the tremendous construction to run in parallel. Don’t attempt to do the important thing science/invention concurrently whereas attempting to develop the product. Determine key dangerous core expertise gadgets first and de-risk them on nicely managed testbeds.
Use digital twins and simulations: Digital twins or simulation can considerably velocity up your growth cycles. For instance, you may simulate the dynamics of movement in seconds in a simulation versus doing it in {hardware} which may take days. However ultimate testing and debugging are all the time accomplished on the {hardware}.
Don’t begin the FDA course of too quickly for regulated merchandise: A number of of the businesses I interviewed had robotics merchandise that had been additionally medical in nature and controlled by the FDA. One warning that they had was to not begin the FDA course of too early. When you present your design to the FDA, then there’s resistance in altering it, which might not be greatest for the product. When growing a product, you have got 3 unknowns:
- Desirability: does your product fulfill an unmet want available in the market?
- Feasibility: are you able to technically obtain the unmet want?
- Viability: is your corporation mannequin viable sufficient to be aggressive available in the market?
To learn extra about these unknowns, try Christopher Carlson’s article on a Sustainable Product Framework.
Within the early stage, you wish to bounce between assumptions on these three actually quick. Solely after you have confirmed that it’s a good suggestion, then you definitely transfer to a extra customary part gate course of that goes into the regulatory framework. Firms who had FDA regulated merchandise cited how troublesome it was to make the pivot to the product that will be wanted to achieve success available in the market since they already had medical trial information with their preliminary design.
4. Staff
“Teamwork and management are complicated character traits which can be typically referenced by many individuals however are extensively unwell outlined regardless of the mountain of books and out there courses.”
– George Linscott, previously of Visicon Applied sciences
Linscott turned a commodity enterprise right into a extremely profitable product line. He grew the corporate right into a worthwhile entity with over 100 staff after which had a really profitable exit.
Founders, keep humble: As cited within the Investor part above, it’s acceptable, and even most well-liked, to confess that you simply don’t know every thing as a founder. It’s a lot simpler to put money into founders who’ve an open mindset and know the place they will use assist. In fact, it is advisable be assured and enthusiastic about your concept, however to not the purpose of getting a giant ego. Startups who’ve technically succesful leaders who’re additionally humble and worth their staff are probably the most profitable.
Search a powerful technical co-founder with {hardware} growth expertise: One of many corporations who shut down said that they had been lacking a powerful technical co-founder with {hardware} growth expertise. Having the appropriate management internally, who understands easy methods to develop merchandise was a key differentiator. You want somebody in your staff who understands the nuances between completely different time constants of growing mechanical and electrical {hardware} versus software program and easy methods to optimize the interaction between them. It must also be famous that corporations have been profitable in outsourcing their engineering growth to product growth corporations like Simplexity and even unbiased contractors, however having somebody internally who helps drive the structure and imaginative and prescient for the product may be very useful.
Rent the appropriate individuals: When asking corporations about their failure areas, a typical pattern famous was the issue of hiring and typically hiring the flawed particular person. This was normally as a consequence of hiring too quick, however even with one of the best interview course of, with sufficient development, just a few dangerous hires can sneak in. Crimson flags to look out for are individuals with enormous egos, who’re poisonous, and who will not be coachable. You wish to rent individuals with a development mindset who’re prepared to study. That mentioned, you additionally wish to rent probably the most skilled individuals that you could afford. Despite the fact that new faculty graduates are tremendous sensible and value much less in wage, the errors they will make as a consequence of lack of expertise can price the businesses greater than if that they had simply employed a extra senior particular person. One particular person additionally famous to rent people who find themselves “cussed ” sufficient to completely end a product. Observe-through and tenacity are vital in a difficult atmosphere like a startup.
Develop your management & administration abilities: Being a founder and a great supervisor are two completely different ability units. You generally is a nice technologist, however not essentially an awesome CEO. Whereas it’s actually attainable for one particular person to do each successfully, management and administration enhance with coaching, teaching, and follow. If your organization is profitable, then your staff will develop and it is advisable work out easy methods to develop and encourage them in a constructive style (or rent somebody who can). These gentle abilities can typically be dismissed by gifted technical founders, but the leaders who’ve many years of expertise commented that these abilities are what permit an organization to flourish and proceed hiring wonderful staff.
Search a number of mentors: You’d be shocked by how many individuals are prepared to offer freely of their time to assist. Most people who find themselves profitable additionally wish to see others have success and are prepared to supply recommendation and mentorship when requested. It was additionally famous by one of many entrepreneurs that they benefited from completely different mentors for various levels of their firm. Your organization and your journey will maintain evolving, so maintain in search of mentors who proceed to problem your mind-set and who’re good on the subsequent portion of your corporation. At first it’s possible you’ll want somebody who is nice at getting funding, however then later it’s possible you’ll want somebody who has efficiently scaled into excessive quantity manufacturing.
5. Scaling
“Scaling is the toughest half, not engineering.”
– Matt Frost, senior {hardware} supervisor, Amazon Robotics
Frost works on Amazon Robotics’ Vulcan bin selecting robotic. They’ve deployed Alpha techniques and are actually scaling up.
It’s simpler to go from zero to prototype than from prototype to manufacturing: Even with preliminary success, companies underestimate the trouble it takes from constructing tens of items to a whole lot/1000’s. Design for manufacturing, meeting, service, check, and security together with creating correctly dimensioned GD&T manufacturing drawings, writing work directions, qualifying manufacturing companions, and different New Product Introduction (NPI) actions take loads of time and value. One firm mentioned that the prototyping stage over 3 years price lower than 1 yr of attempting to get to manufacturing ramp. The design isn’t full with the proof-of-concept prototype. That’s when the actual work begins. One other one mentioned that the money hit for ramping up stock was a lot increased than they anticipated. These are the kinds of prices that may sink an organization and trigger them to fail at scale, even after they’ve splendidly useful prototypes and a great market match.
Plan for & check your product: Planning for testing your product must be began initially of your growth as you write down the necessities. If it’s a real requirement, then there must be a manner of testing it to verify that the robotic will meet it. This typically means placing in design options to make testing simpler, corresponding to check factors on a customized PCBA design. Be sure to have a plan for a way you’ll check particular person subsystems after which your total product coming off the manufacturing line early within the design course of, not as an afterthought. Linscott said that constructing testbeds in cooperation with their prospects helped them keep away from most main points when doing acceptance testing. One other advice from a profitable robotics firm was to do extremely accelerated life testing. Overload the system and over-cycle it to search out the failure factors early.
Automate for manufacturing: As you scale into increased volumes, you wish to search for methods to automate or no less than semi-automate the manufacturing of your robotic. Semi-automated manufacturing could also be an awesome match for top amount sub assemblies that require off-the-shelf choose and place, gluing or fastening applied sciences. Contemplate customized automation if essential to manufacture your product and punctiliously analyze the associated fee profit in all scaling phases.
Tariffs & multi-sourcing: Within the latest political local weather, a number of of the businesses interviewed associated that tariffs grew to become unpredictable. They needed to have a technique for multi-sourcing their product manufacturing in numerous geographic areas. This isn’t easy to arrange appropriately, so working with a agency who may help you qualify contract producers and have a design and manufacturing package deal prepared handy off to them for quoting is vital. Should you need assistance, Simplexity does do that as a part of our NPI course of. A warning right here is to be cautious of contract producers who’re prepared to do the design work for “free”. They accomplish that with the stipulation that you should have them do all of the manufacturing on your product and because you didn’t pay for the design, you don’t personal it. It’s then very troublesome to maneuver to a different producer or have a number of ones since then it is advisable pay somebody to reverse engineer your product to get the design package deal it is advisable get a number of quotes.
Search the flywheel impact: Upon getting efficiently scaled into quantity, search for flywheel results of making a robotic system that may be utilized to a couple of buyer want. For instance, Intuitive was in a position to leverage the core mechatronic drive that they used for one software after which standardized it as a core functionality for different adjoining functions. Their system that would reliably lower, sew, and retract created a flywheel impact as soon as it was leveraged into functions past laparoscopy. This success allowed them to draw nice technologists, retain them, after which make higher merchandise. Success breeds success.
Conclusion
I’m grateful that over a dozen corporations had been prepared to have a candid dialog with me about their failures and successes. Whereas I had hypothesized that corporations who confirmed their prototypes to potential purchasers sooner can be extra profitable, there was not a direct correlation. Even the businesses who finally needed to shut their doorways confirmed their expertise early and bought suggestions. The important thing differentiator was those who had been in a position to get income early from purchasers. Those that had prospects prepared to pay whereas nonetheless in growth and co-develop with them had been those with continued success. I encourage you to study from all these classes, be fanatical about understanding your prospects’ ache factors, construct a powerful staff, and observe a confirmed course of that will help you obtain your targets. And when you want engineering assist alongside the best way, Simplexity is right here for you.
In regards to the Creator
Dorota Shortell is the CEO of Simplexity Product Growth, an engineering design agency specializing within the design of {hardware}, robotics, and mechatronics. Dorota holds a BSME from Loyola Marymount College, earned her MSME at Stanford College underneath an NSF Fellowship, and has accomplished the Government Management Program at Stanford’s Graduate Faculty of Enterprise.
She is a US patent holder and has over 20 years of recent product growth expertise. She was acknowledged by the Portland Enterprise Journal as a Forty underneath 40 Award winner and an Government to Watch.
