CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 0:34
Why the U.S. is falling behind on robots—and why it matters
Evan Beard argues the U.S. is losing manufacturing competitiveness as China installs far more robots. He frames robots as a foundational category that enables many other industries and says he has raised these concerns in Congressional testimony.
- •Evan Beard says China installed nine times more robots than the U.S. in the last year
- •Robots are described as a foundational category that affects many other sectors
- •Evan Beard says the U.S. is no longer competitive in manufacturing and is falling further behind
- •Standard Bots is introduced as a U.S.-based company building the hardware, software, and AI stack
- 0:34 – 0:58
Standard Bots’ focus: industrial robots for real factory problems
The team contrasts practical industrial robotics with flashy but less useful demonstrations. They describe rapid growth and emphasize building systems that deliver real value to customers rather than spectacle.
- •A speaker dismisses backflips and races as cool but not needed for customers
- •The company positions itself as solving real problems quickly
- •A speaker says the company is expanding factory space roughly every six months
- •Evan Beard highlights deployments ranging from small businesses to large organizations
- 0:58 – 1:38
A decade-long journey: building from scratch and earning the first customers
Evan Beard recounts how long it took to move from experimentation to shipping robots, including moments of doubt and outside pressure. He explains that building the robot from scratch—down to motors, motor controllers, and firmware—made the process slower and harder.
- •Evan Beard says the company officially started 10 years ago with early experimentation
- •He describes friends staging an “intervention” questioning progress and viability
- •He emphasizes they weren’t just writing software but designing core components like motors and controllers
- •A speaker notes the complexity: thousands of components and many subassemblies per robot
- 1:38 – 2:54
Growth inflection: from the first 100 robots to platform-scale ambition
Evan Beard describes how selling the first 100 robots took seven years, followed by rapid year-over-year growth. He connects the company’s trajectory to the idea of robots becoming a major platform shift and aspires to build a generation-defining company.
- •Evan Beard says it took seven years to sell the first 100 robots
- •He says the company has grown five to 10 times every year
- •He says they’re on track to be 10% of new robot deployments installed in the U.S. by the end of next year
- •He frames robotics as a platform shift that can create companies as important as Apple or Nvidia
- 2:54 – 4:18
Why New York: building hard things with teams that stay
Asked why he built in New York rather than Silicon Valley, Evan Beard emphasizes retention and long-term commitment. He then traces his personal path into robotics—from web design and computer science to Y Combinator—before self-teaching mechanical and electrical skills.
- •Evan Beard contrasts Silicon Valley job-hopping with the need for stability when building hard products
- •He describes learning web design early and making money building websites
- •He studied computer science at Duke and did Y Combinator building a CRM
- •Exposure to robotics at Y Combinator led him to self-teach and commit to robotics
- 4:18 – 4:59
Customer discovery: 100 conversations and the usability problem in robots
Evan Beard explains how talking to customers shaped the product direction, focusing on making robots easier to use. They describe existing robot interfaces as outdated, hard to learn, and often dependent on specialized integrators.
- •Evan Beard says Y Combinator emphasized ‘make something people want’ through customer conversations
- •He says they spoke with 100 customers about what they liked and disliked
- •He says many robots are too hard to use, with confusing interfaces that require memorization and manuals
- •He says customers often can’t set robots up themselves and can only start/stop/reset after paying for installation
- 4:59 – 6:06
Making robots accessible: iPad control and reusable ‘skills’
The team describes designing software that reduces programming burden and brittleness. They explain features like a “locate” capability and share a firsthand example of a new employee creating a routine quickly using an iPad interface.
- •A speaker contrasts rigorous but difficult legacy robot programming with easier approaches
- •A speaker describes a “locate” skill to help robots find parts without programming many fixed points
- •They emphasize reducing brittleness when parts move or conditions change
- •A speaker says they made a first routine in about 15 minutes using an iPad
- 6:06 – 6:40
Business philosophy: don’t profit from customer pain; profit from production
A leader explains that parts of the robotics industry monetize support and service in ways that feel like profiting from customer problems. Standard Bots claims a different approach: align incentives with customer output and success.
- •A speaker asks why customers want to work with Standard Bots and points to changing how robotics is done in America
- •They criticize for-profit service programs that monetize customers’ operational pain
- •A speaker says the company message is: “We will not profit off of our customer’s pain”
- •A speaker states the goal is to profit off customers’ production
- 6:40 – 7:40
Why build robots in America: control, communication, and owning production
The episode addresses the cost advantage of sourcing from China and argues for U.S.-based production despite higher costs. A speaker explains the trade-offs of overseas contract manufacturing and highlights the benefits of owning the factory and reducing communication barriers.
- •Evan Beard says sourcing from China can be five to 10 times cheaper than making in the U.S.
- •A speaker describes earlier experiences where labor could be cheaper than automation in some overseas factories
- •They argue designing while someone else builds—especially overseas—creates barriers and risks
- •They say owning the factory removes many issues tied to outsourcing production
- 7:40 – 9:46
Inside the factory: in-house electronics manufacturing and rapid iteration
The team gives a tour of their SMT electronics room and explains how boards are designed and assembled in-house. They argue vertical integration helps them iterate faster as AI requirements change and reduces dependence on long external lead times.
- •A speaker introduces the factory floor and says everything is designed by Standard Bots
- •They walk through the SMT process: bare boards, component reels, pick-and-place, inspection, AOI, and completed boards
- •A speaker says every electronic board in Standard products was made in that room
- •They highlight faster iteration—making a new board in a day or two rather than waiting weeks—especially as AI needs shift
- 9:46 – 12:08
Robots as the next platform—and the link to the American Dream
The episode frames robotics as the next major platform shift, with software moving from screens into the physical world. Evan Beard and another speaker connect domestic robotics to economic mobility, manufacturing jobs, and rebuilding the middle class through productivity.
- •A speaker compares platform shifts: mainframes to PCs, PCs to internet, internet to mobile, and now to robots
- •They argue programming robots today is painful and repetitive, motivating a platform-level rethinking
- •Evan Beard says foundational technology like this should be built in the U.S.
- •A speaker shares a family immigration story tied to upward mobility and notes jobs have been offloaded over time
- 12:08 – 15:15
The hardest moments: bootstrapping, home prototypes, and sticking with it
Evan Beard and a teammate describe early struggles in prototyping and manufacturing readiness, including learning hard lessons about materials and design. They also recount personal strain, self-doubt, and the decision to continue despite looking unreasonable to others.
- •Evan Beard revisits how long it took to get from prototype to meaningful customer traction
- •He describes designing motors, motor controllers, and firmware with a very small bootstrapped team
- •A speaker describes prototyping at home with a 3D printer running all night and constant break/fix cycles
- •Evan Beard recounts feeling seen as a “naked artist” and deciding to persist anyway
- 15:15 – 16:58
Scaling speed: aggressive timelines, trade-show demos, and hands-on leadership
Team members describe Evan Beard’s push for fast execution and how it shapes the company’s pace. Evan explains his belief that ambitious goals require tight timelines and problem simplification to move quickly.
- •A speaker says Evan often pushes for one-week timelines and the team delivers most of the time
- •A speaker recounts preparing a live trade-show demo on a tight schedule and making it work
- •A speaker says Evan showed up daily in the factory for months to fix challenges
- •Evan Beard says beliefs about timelines influence outcomes, and speed comes from simplifying and breaking down problems
- 16:58 – 20:15
From impressive demos to reliable products: why arms (not humanoids) and how data helps
The conversation shifts to the gap between what robots can demonstrate and what they can reliably do in production. The team explains why they focus on arms and wheel bases, and how field distribution and data collection devices support training toward higher reliability.
- •A speaker says the industry has extremes—believing robots can do everything vs. believing they’re overrated—and reality is between
- •They warn that videos can be misleading and discuss scrutinizing speed and editing tricks
- •Evan Beard explains a “home alone” test as a safety and robustness bar for humanoids and says they focus on arms and wheel bases instead
- •A speaker says 70% success is a ‘terrible teammate’ for industry needs, which target far higher success rates; field data and deployed robots provide an edge
- 20:15 – 23:53
Designing for ordinary people amid labor shortages—and what success would mean
Evan Beard and the team discuss labor scarcity and the need to design robots that everyday workers can deploy and manage. They argue accessible robots can shift workers toward safer, higher-paying roles, then close by reflecting on long odds and the ambition to build a world-scale company.
- •Evan Beard cites difficulty hiring manufacturing talent and describes a coming shortage of millions of workers
- •A speaker describes aging skilled tradespeople and using limited skilled labor for more intensive tasks
- •Evan Beard says designing for ordinary people is important to avoid leaving workers behind and calls robots ‘power tools of the 21st century’
- •He says the mission is expanding human capacity with accessible robots, and he acknowledges the long odds of building an Apple- or Nvidia-sized company while focusing on doing their best
