• Submersible Robots That Can Fly

    Last month, the entire world was abuzz when five über wealthy explorers perished at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near the grave of the once “unsinkable ship.” Disturbingly, during the same week, hundreds of war-torn refugees drowned in the Mediterranean with little news of their plight. The irony of… Listen ⇢

    Submersible Robots That Can Fly
  • Automate 2023 Recap And The Receding Horizon Problem

    “Thirty million developers” are the answer to driving billion-dollar robot startups, exclaimed Eliot Horowitz of Viam last week at Automate. The hushed crowd of about 200 hardware entrepreneurs listened intensely to MongoDB‘s founder and former CTO (a $20Bn success story). Now, Horowitz aims to take the same approach that he… Listen ⇢

    Automate 2023 Recap And The Receding Horizon Problem
  • Gen-Z Roboticists In The Age of ChatGPT

    This past Wednesday I had the good fortune to host my firm’s sixty-fourth Idea Dinner on the challenges and opportunities facing the automation industry. Part of ff Venture Capital‘s mission is partnering with corporates to bolster our portfolio’s reach and contribute to the broader innovation ecosystem. In this spirit, I… Listen ⇢

    Gen-Z Roboticists In The Age of ChatGPT
  • 2023: The Year of Tombot – The Robo Dog

    Hands down, the robot story of 2022 was the San Francisco Police Department’s decision, and subsequent retraction, to order a fleet of killer robots. The highly-debated proposal tried to set nerves at ease by stating: “Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when the risk of loss… Listen ⇢

    2023: The Year of Tombot – The Robo Dog
  • Countering Luddite Politicians With Life (and Cost) Saving Machines

    Earlier this month, Candy Crush celebrated its decade birthday by hosting a free party in lower Manhattan. The climax culminated with a drone light display of 500 Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) illustrating the whimsical characters of the popular mobile game over the Hudson. Rather than applauding the decision, New York… Listen ⇢

    Countering Luddite Politicians With Life (and Cost) Saving Machines
  • ffVC’s Drones & Robotics Summit: Automation Is The Recession Hedge

    Chicken Little blog missives have inundated Medium’s site lamenting the stock market’s decline. Since joining ff Venture Capital’s partnership this summer, I’ve been awestruck by the level of optimism that permeates the organization. While others are now constricting their activity; ffVC is plowing ahead by closing its seventh fund and… Listen ⇢

    ffVC’s Drones & Robotics Summit: Automation Is The Recession Hedge
  • Solving Supplychain Woes With Robot-Enabled Humans

    The Pandemic has propelled e-commerce to stratospheric heights with sales skyrocketing over 30% in 2020, and close to 40% in 2021. Globally, online shopping jumped to nearly $30 trillion led by Alibaba and Amazon. This consumer behavior shift has accelerated the adoption of warehouse automation technologies with packaging systems estimated… Listen ⇢

    Solving Supplychain Woes With Robot-Enabled Humans
  • BCI Startups Compete To Augment Human Disabilities With Unmanned Systems

    The ultimate purpose of robotics is to improve the human condition. As organic species, our bodies are vulnerable to damage and disrepair. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on the “Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics,” the entry on “care robots” highlights its societal benefits over countering dystopian fears: “One reason why… Listen ⇢

    BCI Startups Compete To Augment Human Disabilities With Unmanned Systems
  • The Impact of AI-Enabled Smart Cities

    I’m the type of traveler that explores new cities by getting lost, to the chagrin of Google and Apple maps. As more urban centers become connected with AI, resulting in an increasing number of pedestrians looking down, few are left to discover hidden haberdasheries and coffee houses. This was the… Listen ⇢

    The Impact of AI-Enabled Smart Cities

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My goal for this book is to help you at a pivotal point in your ideation process and, at the same, introduce you to a cadre of potential mentors. Through interviews with some of the most respected luminaries in this field, I aim to help fortify your resolve to follow your passions and build a billion-dollar company. The chapters of this book have been organized like field guide, as if you are setting out on a trip in the wild. Just like it’s essential to satiate yourself before scaling mountains, fast-tracking your innovation into the hands of early adopters is vital for achieving success on Main Street.

“Oliver Mitchell is among the world’s leading thinkers about robots and robotics. He is also one of the world’s leading visionaries about how humans think about robots, invest in robotics, and build robotics companies. …. The reader gets to be the beneficiary of Oliver’s creation of a new knowledge ecosystem.” – Dan Burstein, New York Times bestselling author of 15 nonfiction books, and Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Millennium Technology Value Partners.

“This book … [draws] from interviews with industry experts who share firsthand experiences from real-world ventures, the author distils invaluable lessons from both their successes and failures. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to my students and colleagues involved in robotics research and education as an exceptional resource for guiding their entrepreneurial pursuits.” Katsuo Kurabayashi, Professor and Chair, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, USA.