
Ask HN: Ambitious robotics entrepreneur with failing Kickstarter. Seeking advice - pinkrobotics
Howdy HN,<p>My name is Tyler, I&#x27;m a robotics entrepreneur and I just started a Kickstarter that is going to fail (see www.PinkRobotics.ca). I won&#x27;t blame it, anyone else or even myself for it failing. Could I do a lot better? Obviously. Will it make the difference? Probably not. Nevertheless, I still think the world needs my campaign to succeed; but there is also little I can do to make that happen.<p>So, I seek the often sound and level headed advice of HK et al.:<p>My story:
I have a BSc in CS, where I focused on AI stuff, and an MSc where I published about applying AI stuff to HPC stuff. I went to a space university program and learned about space stuff. Then, I did seven years of a PhD where I tried to be ambitious but it didn&#x27;t work out, so I quietly left without succeeding anymore. Then I did a year long solo motorcycle trip around Mexico, starting and ending in Canada. After, I started a robotics company to address climate change with technological solutions. I applied to YC and UBC startup programs to use large drones and other robots to help fight the locally pressing issue of wildfires. Neither organization was interested, for several understandable reasons including: I am alone, no likelihood of a short term high yield return and the societal benefit of my project wasn&#x27;t considered. So, I &quot;gave up&quot; and applied to a dozen jobs in my area. Only to not receive any replies at all, from anyone, not even rejections. Likely a blessing though, as I have no faith in my ability to pass a technical interview at this point in my &quot;career&quot;. So I worked for a friend doing tradeswork to the pay the bills, until covid hit and I went on gov&#x27;t support. I again focused on my robotics stuff, which has led me to my Kickstarter which will likely fail in just under 6 weeks.<p>I see three options for myself going forward: keep up the robotics hussle until death or success, study and get a job in my area for money and respect, or get a job where I can be happy.<p>Advice?
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tlb
I think there's potential for automated forestry to capture carbon, but the KS
video doesn't really help me imagine how it would work. What would the robots
actually do in the forest to capture a lot more carbon? How many different
kinds of robots would it take? Can people do some of those jobs in the
meantime while the robots are under development? Are there forests, even small
ones, being managed this way today?

Rather than making one system to do all the forestry jobs, it's probably
better to design one robot for one particular task that can save money for
forestry companies. Once you have a business selling one kind of robot, expand
outwards from there.

~~~
pinkrobotics
I could definitely improve the KS video and presentation a lot :)

And you are right, a likely good place for me to start, is in logging industry
(forestry). Though, I was more hoping to build robots to create and maintain
forests, not cut them down at scale more efficiently.

Making robots to hasten climate change may not be the right approach to
solving it. Yet, the best customers I could get would be logging, mining or
oil.

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tixocloud
Tyler, it sounds like you're quite passionate about robotics and the potential
for addressing wildfire issues. Firstly, nothing wrong with continuing to fund
yourself through a regular job while working on your passion. Folks love to
glorify the all-or-nothing dynamic but frankly, there are plenty of folks
who've done side hustles in order to get their startup up and running. Have
you thought about consulting in an area where your potential customers are
likely to be? This path lets you build expertise and network where your
robotics solution could eventually be brought into. Best part is that you
develop credibility and can adapt your solution to address exactly what the
market needs and reduce your risk your failure.

In a similar position as yourself, I'm in deep tech and can share similar
frustrations where funding is scarce and commercialization seems far away.
Having attempted to fundraise, I can say that we've been blessed to be forced
to bootstrap at this stage and are slowly identifying our commercial path.
Happy to help you find a market.

The good news is that you are in a hot investment area and I can probably
point you in the right direction with the right investors. Firstly, how far
along are you? Do you have a prototype and have you spoken to potential
customers?

One program that might be suitable for you is Creative Destruction Lab, who
specialize in deep tech such as robotics
([https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/program/](https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/program/)).
They don't take any equity and you'd have opportunities to be mentored and
invested. I'd be happy to provide an introduction.

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pinkrobotics
Hi! Thank you for all the feedback.

The creative destruction lab looks really cool, and I may ask for an
introduction, but, I worry that I'm am not really trying to build a business
here. I don't see a product or customers in growing forests robotically. It's
just a forest. And the robots are to handle the scale, they are doing nothing
a low skilled worker couldn't do.

I don't see any real business opportunity outside of selling carbon credits,
but there are vastly more profitable ways to use land.

But it's a reliable and feasible solution to climate change nonetheless, and
something I could theoretically do with funding. So, hence Kickstarter, a
place where businesses don't need to be businesses! :)

Oh, I built a rover named Henry, but I can't quite say that he is a forest
planting prototype.

~~~
tixocloud
Have you considered non-profit or social entrepreneurship? Although you may
not plan to start a business, having the same mentality could help you figure
how to obtain the resources you need to bring your dream to life.

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itronitron
There are a number of farming tech related startups that would probably be
interested in talking with you as your skills and interests may overlap with
theirs. They occasionally post on the HN Who's Hiring thread. Hang in there!

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ChrisBode
There are various cultivating tech-related new businesses that would most
likely be keen on chatting with you as your abilities and interests may cover
with theirs. They every so often post on the HN Who's Hiring string. Hold
tight! Wishing you a best of luck!

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maxwin
Perhaps try to register as a non profit organization and apply for
institutional grants from foundations.

If you want to run it as a viable business, farming as other people mentioned
has potential for disruption. But it might be a bit ahead of its time and more
risky.

Another area that companies will pay big money for is manufacturing process
automation.

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kyle_martin1
Tyler,

I would get a job that to provide yourself a safety net such that you can
continue your passions. It doesn't have to be all or nothing!

~~~
pinkrobotics
Well, for each hour of each day, I do need to choose to work on either one
thing or another, not both. I hoped to spend the majority of my hours working
towards saving our world from climate change. If I get a safety net job, the
majority of my hours will be spent getting someone else rich.

Don't get me wrong. This is likely what I will need to do to pay for rent and
food. I'm just not happy about it. And saddens me when I see large numbers
elsewhere

~~~
kyle_martin1
I can see you're passionate about this and that's a great trait to have as an
entrepreneur. I'd invite you to consider that most of life isn't linear. It's
full of twists and detours but if you keep your vector pointed in the
generally right direction, over time you'll end up somewhere awesome.

This image always a good reminder: [https://studentaffairscollective.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015...](https://studentaffairscollective.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/01/success-what-people-think-it-looks-like-300x243.jpg)

I am in a similar position-- a full-time roboticist and an moonlighting
entrepreneur on the side. My goal here is to pick up marketing and sales
skills that when the right robotics business opportunity presents itself...I'm
ready for it.

If there's anything I've learned by watching the string of robotics companies
close shop recently, it's that business model is more important than the
technology.

Don't give up!

If you'd like to chat more-- you can hit me up at kyle (AT) castalytics dot
com.

~~~
pinkrobotics
Your image and words remind me of this:

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4b-52jtos&t=30m46s](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AD4b-52jtos&t=30m46s)

Marketing and sales are the domains I am the worst at, maybe we should chat.
Though, while I do foresee a market for carbon, I do not see much in the way
for climate solving robots, only return is saving the world ;)

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pinkrobotics
Kickstarter at: [http://www.PinkRobotics.ca](http://www.PinkRobotics.ca)

