His robotics startup raised $400M, his VC fund over $4B—& he ran both at the same time. Here's how he did it.| Lior Susan, Bright Machines & Eclipse Ventures
Nov 4, 2024
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Lior Susan, CEO of Bright Machines and Managing Director of Eclipse Ventures, has an impressive track record, raising over $400M for his startup and managing a $4B venture fund. He shares insights on the unique challenges of simultaneously building a startup and a venture fund. Lior discusses the innovative automation in manufacturing, transforming traditional processes with robotics, and the necessity of achieving product-market fit. He also reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on startups and the importance of adapting to market changes.
Lior's experience illustrates the critical role of timing and market trends in securing success for both startups and venture capital.
The emphasis on customer feedback and adaptability is essential for achieving and maintaining product-market fit in innovative industries.
Deep dives
The Journey from Startup to Venture Capitalist
The speaker reflects on an unexpected leap from running startups to managing a venture capital fund, revealing that they now oversee approximately $4.5 billion. They discuss their initial encounters with notable figures like Elon Musk and the challenges faced by Tesla in its early days, highlighting the role of luck in achieving success in the tech industry. The importance of timing and market trends played a crucial role, as their investment thesis aligned with the shift towards full-stack companies, including major players like Microsoft and Apple. This transition illustrates how embracing new responsibilities and opportunities can reshape one’s career trajectory dramatically.
Building Bright Machines: A Unique Manufacturing Vision
The journey of creating Bright Machines stemmed from the speaker's experience at Flextronics, where they recognized a significant gap in automation within the manufacturing process. They established an internal team to develop solutions that streamline production through advanced technologies like AI and robotics. This led to the conception of a fully operational company designed to tackle the inefficiencies of human labor in manufacturing, particularly in flexible tasks that robots could adapt to. By securing flexibility and scalability from the outset, they aimed to revolutionize not just production methods, but also data collection and insights for future product designs.
Challenges of Growth and Market Fit
Navigating the complexity of managing resources proved challenging, particularly as Bright Machines sought to establish a clear product-market fit. The speaker shared their experiences of overcoming obstacles during startup phases, especially when scaling operations while ensuring quality and performance met or exceeded human capabilities. They emphasized the necessity of securing strong partnerships with major companies, which allowed them to align their technology with real-world manufacturing challenges. These collaborations not only provided essential feedback but also laid the groundwork for the company’s evolution as a market leader.
Continuous Iteration and Customer Feedback
A commitment to evolving products based on customer input emerged as a core principle for success in both startup and venture capital roles. The speaker underscored the paradox of having high-caliber engineers while establishing a culture that values customer insights, as feedback is instrumental in refining technologies. They reiterated the importance of listening to major clients and using their suggestions to inform product development, emphasizing that even the most knowledgeable teams must remain adaptable to customer needs. This ongoing iteration process is vital for not only achieving but maintaining product-market fit in rapidly changing industries.
Lior is the Elon Musk of VC. In just 8 years, his venture fund went from 0 to $4B under management. And while doing that, he founded Bright Machines, which to date has raised over $400M. He's both the CEO of Bright Machines and the Managing Director of Eclipse Ventures.
And he's not building "easy" software startups either. Bright Machines is looking to automate the entire manufacturing process with robots. He launched it with a $179M round and a 100-person team.
Lior is not normal. His story isn't either. You won't want to miss this one.
Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:08:31) Starting Eclipse & Becoming a VC (00:13:58) How he started Bright Machines (00:18:43) The First enterprise deal with Flextonics (00:24:49) The Process of Automation and Assembly (00:30:25) Making a Machine as Reliable as a Human (00:34:44) Bright Machine's Struggles (00:36:56) The Business Model of Robotics (00:39:49) Finding Product Market Fit (00:40:37) One Piece of Advice