Making Money Making Robots

Just how cool is it to really love making robots and then become a multi-millionaire doing it? Well that's what Helen Greiner and Colin Angle did. They recently took their MIT A.I. lab spin-out company, iRobot, public.

Here is a picture of my old grad school buddies (found in Forbes) posing in front of a few of their progeny ranging from the ubiquitous Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner to the Packbot military robot in widespread use across Iraq.

I remember the early nineties when the two of them first started the company, then named Artificial Creatures, and all the hard work and long hours they endured. Those were tough times, and they persevered though many around them harbored serious doubts. I must have had at least 20 different people tell me at the time that they would never succeed in building a financially successful company "just building robots."

Well, I must say they are looking pretty darn pleased with their successes now, so their lock-up must have expired recently. To all you robot doubters, here's mud in your eye. And kudos to Helen and Colin, as they inspire future generations of robot builders.