John Frankel has been funding this stuff since before it was fundable.
He founded ffVC in 2008 after 21 years at Goldman, has backed more than 200 seed companies, and sits on over sixty boards. This year robotics pulled in $18.8 billion globally, already ahead of the $15 billion invested across all of 2025, and Frankel has a clear map of where that money actually landed, and where it hasn't. Value Add Pulse
His answer isn't the humanoid story most people assume. Only 12% of Tesla owners with the hardware use supervised self-driving, even after 380,000 autonomous miles logged. Home robots are stuck behind a comfort problem, not a capability one. Meanwhile, the practical stuff, farm carts, factory totes, drone delivery, is already deployed and already making money. The episode traces the actual path of the capital, what's working today versus what's still a bet, and what that split means for anyone building in physical AI right now.
Episode outline
- From Goldman's trading floor to founding ffVC in 2008, and why he stopped marking his angel bets to market.
- The $18.8B robotics headline, and a real map of where the money is going.
- Tesla's numbers: 380,000 autonomous miles logged, and only 12% of drivers who actually use it.
- Home robots versus factory robots, and why comfort sets the real timeline, not capability.
- The point solutions already working: Borough's farm and factory carts, Manna's drone deliveries at a dollar a drop.
- Reshoring the physical world: labor is now 15% of cost, not 70%, and what that changes for hardware founders.
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Andy Walsh: 2x exited founder and host of Startups Decoded (Top 2% globally). Andy helps founders sharpen judgment and integrate brand, product, and growth into a clear path to scale. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anwalsh/
John Frankel: John Frankel founded ff Venture Capital in 2008 and has backed more than 200 seed-stage companies, taking board seats at over sixty, after a long career at Goldman Sachs. He invests early and with a tight filter, funding less than 0.5% of the 3,000 deals ffVC sees a year, with a current focus on applied AI across drones, robotics, and financial services.
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Music Credit "Neptuno" – Phondupe (Album: Onykia) https://phondupe.bandcamp.com/album/air-conditioning-vol-2
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