Baukunst

With eerie visions of humanoids looming in the distance, we can learn a lot from a practical look at the consumer robots shipping today that are reaching back into the world for the first time. I'm hosting another Teardown Library session next Thursday in SF with PA Consulting to look at the most advanced robot vacuum on the market, the new Roborock Saros Z70. These fill up fast so grab a spot if you want to join us! https://lnkd.in/gCrkm7BY

An amazing opportunity to join a team on the cutting edge of eye care.

Last year we invested in a new beverage company that we’ve been quietly excited about. This week, as they launch nationally in Target, we can finally share the story of how we partnered with Morgan Buehler Zanotti to back Waay. Morgan is one of the most celebrated founders in natural foods. Her first major career milestone was leading marketing at the well-loved kombucha company KeVita. Then in 2015, she co-founded Primal Kitchen alongside Mark Sisson, the original voice of the paleo movement and one of the most influential figures in ancestral health. Their first product, avocado oil mayonnaise, sold out its first 18,000-unit run in a week, and only three years later with no outside capital, Kraft Heinz acquired Primal Kitchen for $200 million. Morgan stayed on as President of Primal for 5 years, stewarding the brand through a remarkably long and successful post-acquisition tenure. Morgan brings the insights, operational excellence, and network she earned from these ventures to Waay. Primal Kitchen took two and a half years to commercialize its first product; Waay went from finalizing its formula to a national Whole Foods rollout in just six months. Waay is now available nationally at Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Target, and online at Amazon. We're proud to be backing Morgan as she builds the defining brand in a category that's just getting started. And we can't wait for you to try it.

What does the next decade of manufacturing look like in an AI-driven world? Join us on April 23rd for an interactive session hosted by Tyler Mincey and Toby Shorin, where we’ll explore how AI is reshaping manufacturing and industrial creation. You can find more details and RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/griRbvJt #baukunst #ai #manufacturing

Most people think startup funding is one world. It's not. Institutional capital and venture capital operate with completely different incentives, timelines, and risk tolerances - and understanding both changes how you think about building. Next Monday, Jumbo Ventures is hosting Kristen Craft (Fidelity Investments) and Matt Thoms (Baukunst VC) for a real conversation about how capital - at every stage - shapes the next generation of startups. Moderated by Ryan Sorbi (Fidelity). 📅 Thursday, April 16th | 4:00–5:00 PM | 302 Cabot, Light refreshments to follow. If you're serious about building, come ask hard questions.

The first hire you make sets the culture. The first process you build sets the habits. In hardware, both get very hard to change once they're established. Tyler Mincey works alongside hardware founders from their earliest days at Baukunst and is an expert in building the organizational foundations that give hardware startups the culture and process they need to execute at every stage. The founders who scale hardware successfully are almost always the ones who invested in people and process earlier than felt necessary. Building the right foundation early in hardware: • Hire people who are comfortable with ambiguity. Hardware development is 50% figuring out what you don't know. • Build documentation habits from the first prototype, "we'll document it later" is a lie you'll pay for. • Decision rights need to be clear early; who can spend what, who can make which calls. • Culture is not a values poster; it's what behavior gets rewarded and what gets tolerated. 3 things to do today: 1. Write down the 3 behaviors you most want to see from your hardware team then ask yourself if you're modeling them 2. Identify one process that everyone knows is broken but nobody has fixed. Fix it this week. 3. Do one team retrospective focused on process, not just outcomes; ask what slowed you down in the last 30 days Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/ef5FpkGa If you're building hardware, you can get insights like this and more The Builder Circle™ for Hardware Startups. Until Season 4 cooks up, I'll be posting hardware lessons and hardware horror stories from the episodes of past seasons. Follow along to get micro-doses of #hardware #strategy!

In case you haven't found the time to read our 57-page report on manufacturing and AI, we've got you covered. Join us on April 23rd for an interactive session hosted by Tyler Mincey and Toby Shorin, where we'll explore how AI is reshaping manufacturing and industrial creation. RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/griRbvJt

What happens when AI hits logistics, one of the most essential layers of the manufacturing supply chain? In our latest report, we spoke with Francesco Paduano, co-founder of Dobby, about where AI will have the largest impact across manufacturing and supply chains. Dobby builds tools for freight forwarders, radically simplifying the circuitous email-based workflows that move goods across the world every day. You can read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gNz-zsmd