The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal
00:45:03 · Grace Brown
[00:45:03] S1: Yeah. I... The interesting thing about robotics that I think some people also forget is, like, the culture of the nation or the country and the developers also get built into the products that you build. And China's definitely years ahead of most Western societies in terms of hardware development. Their manufacturing IP and skill sets is far beyond pretty much every country, like the quality, the reliability, the speed. So they are building a lot of hardware products much faster, much cheaper than you can get done anywhere else. So it's a huge advantage. But particularly when it comes to the social infrastructure and the social intelligence layer, it does need to be... Like, it it... The culture of where you're building it does need to be considered in that stack because people value... Like, how we read... Even if you think about driving, how you would drive on the roads in Australia, there are differences to how you would drive on the roads in America. Or even driving in San Francisco and New York is a very different dynamic. We have these people have these, like, social understandings of what's appropriate, when to turn, when to speed, and it's different country to country. And that's even more that's even more significant and true when it comes to interacting with people. So I also say all the time, a lot of the values of founders, of teams, and developers, the values that they have and their worldviews actually get translated into the products that they build. And that's why I say it's also a really... Like, you almost have to think about what do these teams value because the products... The values that they have get translated into the products that they build, and the products that you ship become the world that you create. And so it is... While it's exciting and it's a lot of fun and it's a massive opportunity, I always say it's also a responsibility to do it right.
00:46:46 · Vidit Agarwal, Grace Brown
[00:46:46] S0: Totally. And I think this is a very topical area that is being... There's a bit of light being shined on it, Is how does this go? I think even with a lot of the AI LMs that are being talked about is they're being shaped by our biases and our judgments and our restrictions as humans. So they actually become replicas of us. So that'll be really interesting. Two areas I thought we could touch on is one, I'm really fascinated to talk about your growth journey as the CEO and building the company. Think that that is something people say you've reflected a lot on. And I think you've invested time in building people around you, not building, but finding people around you that can help you with that. And two is the fundraising part. I think you've had a fascinating journey on the fundraising side. Where do you want to start? The CEO growth or fundraising? [00:47:34] S1: Let's start with the CEO growth. What are your questions there?
00:47:34 · Grace Brown, Vidit Agarwal
[00:47:34] S1: Let's start with the CEO growth. What are your questions there? [00:47:38] S0: Okay. Well, that is such a... There's so much we could cover and I feel like that could be an interview in itself. But maybe a broader question is how do you reflect on scaling the company because your company is not a traditional company in that you can sit behind a laptop and vibe code and ship all around the world, right? You've got hardware, as we just talked about. You've also moved from Australia to San Francisco. Maybe that maybe that can be... Because I feel that's an inflection point for you. Curious if you agree. Like, how do you think the... What did you have to unlearn when you left Australia and moved to San Francisco as co founder and CEO of your company?
00:48:18 · Grace Brown
[00:48:18] S1: Well, some of the comparisons... Like, if you're comparing Australia and The US, while we're both English speaking countries, our views on work is very different, drastically different. And so, yeah, I guess there's a completely different way of working here and a way of operating here that attracts some of the top, I think, founders and talent in Australia because you feel a lot less... There's not that negative connotation, but less so on the comparisons between Australia and The US. I think when it comes to, like, my... When it came to my journey... And this is true for any founder. I think the CEO and founder of a pre seed company is a dramatically different founder and CEO of a series b company, or at least you'd hope so because the company is so different. The company that you're running, what you do is so dramatically different. And I recognize this really early on that since I started the company, I knew I had to grow faster than the company. To make sure that I could step into the shoes of being the CEO for this company in this next chapter. And you're constantly thinking about what is it between where you are today and where you wanna get to for that next inflection point, and what's the delta, and how do you cover it. And I think part of the reason Andromeda has gone so fast and gotten to where it is today is because I... My mind inherently, its double edged sword, thinks in deficits. I'm constantly looking at myself of, like, where do I wanna grow? Where do I wanna improve? What am I missing? What am I missing in my life? What do I wanna have that I don't have? Not in a shallow sense, but just in a, you know, what... I think particularly since coming to San Francisco, it's actually gone a lot more philosophical, and I've gone much deeper on reading various sorts of philosophies and just really trying to answer the question, what does it mean to live life really, like, really well? But, anyways, I'm digressing a little bit. But going back to, I guess, the CEO of each... Oh, sorry.
00:50:05 · Vidit Agarwal
[00:50:05] S0: Well, maybe to be more specific, like, I think one thing that everyone I spoke to in the research said that you've reflected a lot on is the people side, right? Like I think we talked earlier, like your strengths have been the technical side and the product and I've seen this in my own company. People is the hardest thing, right? That is not a rinse and repeat motion and there isn't a formula to that. You can't learn that. You can read all the books, you can speak to all the other CEOs, but in my view, you go through it, you just don't know and we as humans are emotional creatures. Brings complexity. How and you're still on this and I think you'll always be on this but no one ever like quite makes it. I actually think that's a red flag if someone says I have made it as a people manager and I'm perfect. Like I don't know if you have the self awareness if you think you've made it. But tell me, how have you... Even in the last, say, twelve months or six months, if you wanna go more specific, how have you grown as a people leader, not just a company builder?
00:51:04 · Grace Brown
[00:51:04] S1: I think... Exactly to your point, that's definitely the hardest part of the whole journey. I think in the early days, if I'm thinking just for myself and putting myself first, I would say I overextended myself emotionally, perhaps, for the people in this journey with me. I wanted to make sure that whoever was on this journey, employees, investors, customers, I wanted to always make sure that they had the best experience. And, you know, that's almost like not a great place to be making all your decisions from because sometimes that's indirect... Actually, very often, that's in direct contradiction to what's best for the company and best for where you need to go. And so I think I've been trying to... Definitely learning and trying to find the right balance of... You know, inherently, I think in that... When I was much younger, definitely had a lot of people pleasing tendencies. Still do and still trying to outgrow that. But... But I think when it comes to managing people... I guess, sorry, I didn't quite really answer your question. But...