Lex Fridman Podcast

Simone Giertz: Queen of Sh*tty Robots, Innovative Engineering, and Design | Lex Fridman Podcast #372

Simone Giertz is an inventor, designer, engineer, and roboticist famous for a combination of humor and brilliant creative design in the systems and products she creates. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex to get 15% off - InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off - Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil EPISODE LINKS: Simone's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@simonegiertz Simone's Twitter: https://twitter.com/SimoneGiertz Simone's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonegiertz YETCH Store: https://yetch.store PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 2:06 - Early creations 18:58 - Sh*tty Robots 33:56 - Robots and human connection 36:11 - Dating AI 39:30 - Proud parent machine 41:21 - Creative process 42:47 - Bubble wrap music box 48:09 - Education 53:43 - Difficult projects 55:13 - TED talk 1:01:29 - Brain tumor 1:10:07 - Fear of death 1:14:31 - Mass production 1:29:56 - Truckla 1:34:46 - Weapons 1:38:45 - Consciousness 1:40:49 - MMA 1:44:53 - China, Kenya, and USA 1:49:45 - Advice for young people 1:53:38 - Meaning of life SOCIAL: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman

Simone GiertzguestLex Fridmanhost

Apr 16, 20231h 59mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Simone Giertz on shitty robots, mortality, and meaningful design

Lex Fridman talks with inventor and YouTuber Simone Giertz about her journey from 'queen of shitty robots' to thoughtful product designer and entrepreneur. Simone explains how playful, deliberately flawed robots helped her overcome perfectionism, build an audience, and explore the human–technology relationship. They dive into her battle with a brain tumor and radiation treatment, and how that reshaped her relationship with work, health, and gentleness toward herself. The conversation also covers manufacturing challenges, design philosophy, AI, community, and what it means to build a life and career around genuine enthusiasm rather than duty.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Use ‘shitty’ projects to bypass perfectionism and actually start.

Simone intentionally built robots that were doomed to fail in funny ways, which lowered the stakes, made experimentation safe, and allowed her to learn engineering by doing instead of being paralyzed by the need to make something impressive.

Ambitious first projects can work if you let curiosity pull you through.

Her first hardware project—a Bluetooth guitar-string iPhone case with an app—was objectively too hard for her skill level, but the thrill of realizing it might be possible kept her going through ignorance, frustration, and a steep learning curve.

Design everyday objects as if they’re malleable, not fixed.

From adjustable fruit bowls to bubble-wrap music boxes and a two-surface puzzle table, Simone treats mundane objects as starting points, asking, “Why are they like this—and could they be better or weirder for how humans actually behave?”

Building products at scale is a completely different skill from prototyping.

The Everyday Calendar taught her that mass manufacturing requires different materials, tooling, quality control, risk tolerance, and timelines than one-off builds, and that margins and reliability often dictate design choices as much as aesthetics.

Serious illness can rewire your definition of ‘being good.’

Her brain tumor and radiation shifted her from equating goodness with overwork and discipline to seeing it as listening to her body, resting without guilt, and recognizing that prior self-care gave her crucial resilience during recovery.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Enthusiasm is a much more potent fuel in life than duty.

— Simone Giertz

Just because something is boring doesn’t mean that it’s important.

— Simone Giertz

I used to think being good meant pushing myself really hard. Getting sick taught me being good can mean listening to my body.

— Simone Giertz

I kind of had to reprogram myself to think: just because this is fun doesn’t mean it’s not work.

— Simone Giertz

I’m the former queen of shitty robots, but I’m still trying to do things with integrity.

— Simone Giertz

Early making and the origins of Simone’s engineering creativity (guitar-string iPhone case, toothbrush helmet, breakfast robot)The 'queen of shitty robots' era: humor, failure, and overcoming perfectionismProduct design and entrepreneurship: Everyday Calendar, Yetch store, manufacturing, and pricing realitiesBrain tumor diagnosis, surgery, radiation, and how serious illness changed her view of life and workHuman–object interaction and design philosophy (forks, doorknobs, fruit bowls, bubble-wrap music box, puzzle table)Internet fame, self-deprecation, gender dynamics, and building a sustainable creative careerRobotics, AI, and emotional attachment to machines, plus ethical concerns about future tech

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