Drew Marquiss

Third Wave Automation just grabbed $27M, and trust me, they’re not out here slapping tech onto forklifts and calling it “revolutionary.” This round, led by Woven Capital, Toyota's Growth Fund with Innovation Endeavors, Norwest Venture Partners, and Qualcomm Ventures, is pouring serious fuel on a company that knows exactly what it’s doing. Big shoutout to Arshan Poursohi and his team for thinking beyond the hype and into the real world. Here’s what makes Third Wave different: they’re not trying to play the “full autonomy or bust” game. Nah, they went pragmatic—and brilliant—with a shared control setup. They’ve got forklifts that run autonomously but tap in human help when needed. Think of it like handing off to your best teammate when things get real, only the tech is smart enough to know when it needs a hand. No pretending a bot can handle everything in a warehouse; this is automation that actually respects the complexity of real-world work. And let’s talk hardware for a second, because they’re not cutting corners. 360-degree LiDAR, 3D cameras, 6 million data points per second—all fine-tuned to navigate tight warehouse aisles up to 366 inches high. This isn’t just about sensors; it’s about building a brain for the bot that can handle itself... until it can’t. That’s where the Shared Autonomy Platform kicks in, making sure the system works with people, not against them. Perfect timing for that $27M, too. Warehouse automation is blowing up, and Third Wave’s approach? Built for scale, with a Woven Capital connection that brings in Toyota Motor Corporation’s manufacturing muscle. So don’t be surprised when you see this tech rolling out across facilities sooner than later. And here’s the big picture: how does this change the game for warehouse labor? We could be looking at a future where one human manages a fleet of these semi-autonomous machines. Poursohi and crew aren’t just automating—they’re evolving. #WarehouseAutomation #LiDAR #3D #Technology #Innovation #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #Automation #TechEcosystem #StartupEcosystem

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I just got my invite to join Waymo for the LA area, I'm personally looking forward to giving it a go. What are your thoughts on the rise of autonomous driving? Are you excited about hopping into an autonomous taxi or owning a self-driving car? Have you tried it out, or are you still a bit skeptical? Seeing Waymo hit 50,000 weekly trips shows that adoption is on the rise and that others are just as eager as I am to embrace this technology. While Tesla has been in the spotlight for some not-so-great reasons, with the NHTSA closely monitoring their Full Self-Driving tech, Waymo and other companies are quietly making huge strides. They’re not just advancing the technology but also setting the bar high for safety. From everything I’ve read and heard, Waymo seems to be excelling both in the car and digital product experience. I'm sure that this next wave of change is both going to feel like it's coming quickly, but not at the same time. #AutonomousVehicles #Waymo #Tesla #TechTalk #Innovation #FutureOfTransportation

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I spent over half a decade working with driverless cars. I see massive potential for these vehicles to reshape NYC real estate. Waymo recently raised $5.6 billion in a Series C round led by Alphabet and supported by many other leading companies. Meaning the future of this technology feels closer than ever. These are the biggest Opportunities & Challenges Driverless cars present in the NYC market: 1. Reduced need for parking could free up valuable urban space, converting parking lots into housing, retail, or green areas. 2. Easier commutes may drive up outer borough property values, balancing Manhattan and other more densely populated areas of the City 3. NYC’s notorious traffic, pushback from unions on automation, unpredictable weather, and high foot traffic require advanced tech and regulatory adaptation. The next steps will be crucial as real estate, tech, and policy leaders navigate how driverless cars might reimagine our cities. How do you think driverless tech will impact real estate in NYC? P.S This is me in a driverless car back in 2017

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This week I rode in a Waymo for the first time and it immediately made me think of the parallels between autonomous vehicles and smart home technology. Both are about taking complex and inefficient systems, removing friction, and creating a seamless experience for the user. With Waymo there’s no driver to guide the car yet everything feels intuitive and effortless. In smart home tech it’s the same goal: to give people solutions that simplify their lives—whether it’s automating temperature control, streamlining access, energy efficiency or customization. What excites me most is how these technologies are evolving to not just meet expectations but exceed them. The common thread is efficiency and time—freeing people to focus on the things that matter most. It’s amazing to see how these innovations are redefining industries and how much potential there is ahead. Smart tech isn’t just about convenience—it’s about creating a better way to live.

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Imagine Rivian's AI Planning Your Perfect Adventure? "Northern lights at peak visibility in 45 minutes at Cascade Peak. Perfect conditions. Would you like me to: - Pick up the kids from soccer practice on the way? - Message Sarah and Michael's family? They're 15 minutes away - Alert your favorite café to stay open late? - All of the above?" This isn't the future of transportation. This is Tuesday night with a Rivian. While you're in your last meeting of the day, your vehicle isn't just sitting in the parking lot – it's orchestrating magic. It knows your kids' schedule, monitors aurora forecasts, tracks your friends' locations, and understands your family's love for spontaneous adventure. More importantly, it knows that despite your packed calendar, watching the northern lights with your children is on your bucket list. From "If Only" to "Let's Go" Remember the last time nature put on a show and you missed it? The meteor shower you heard about a day too late? The peak fall colors you drove right past? Your Rivian doesn't just notice these moments – it makes them possible: - "The kids have no homework tonight, and there's a meteor shower starting in two hours. I can adjust your home's smart thermostat and delay the sprinkler system." - "That secret waterfall you bookmarked? The recent rains have it flowing at peak levels. Want me to pack a picnic from Whole Foods on our way?" - "Three Rivian families with kids the same age as yours are heading to the tide pools this morning. The tide is perfect, and I've found parking for everyone." The Quiet Revolution This isn't about artificial intelligence. It's about saying yes to life's perfect moments. While others focus on horsepower and range, we're engineering serendipity. Think about last weekend. How many micro-decisions kept you from adventure? Finding parking. Checking weather. Coordinating schedules. Making reservations. Your Rivian handles these friction points before they become roadblocks. A mother in Oregon tells us: "Last week, my Rivian noticed my daughter's soccer game was cancelled. Instead of the usual drive home, it suggested a detour to a hidden beach where gray whales were breaching. My daughter said it was better than any game she's ever played." Your Time Has Come To the parent who whispers "we should do more of this"... To the adventurer who thinks "if only I had known"... To the professional who sighs "I don't have time to plan"... Your time has come. The future isn't about getting there faster. It's about making "there" worth the journey. Important Note: The experiences described represent the future. Advanced AI capabilities make these seamless adventures possible, transforming how families explore, connect, and create memories. @RJScaringe @CFOClaire @Rivian @KaraSwisher @BrianSolis @FredLambert @samabuelsamid @lorakolodny #RivianLife #FutureOfAdventure #TimeForWhatMatters

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🚗 Ready to Ride? WeRide Raises $440M in U.S. IPO as Self-Driving Taxis Go Mainstream 🛣️ In a huge win for autonomous tech, Chinese self-driving startup WeRide has just raised $440 million with a U.S. IPO and private placement – and it's not just techies who are excited about this trend anymore. I've had several friends visit San Francisco recently, and their #1 request? Take a self-driving taxi! When non-techies start to seek out autonomous experiences, you know the tech is on the brink of going mainstream. Why this IPO matters: +Consumer Curiosity: As more everyday folks jump in, self-driving cars could move from sci-fi to daily life faster than we think. It's a shift that signals broader acceptance. +Investor Caution in a Tough IPO Market: With high-interest rates dampening investor appetite for risk, IPOs have been slower. WeRide’s IPO is a bright spot, but not likely the trigger to reopen the IPO floodgates. +Looking Ahead to Market Conditions: If rates ease, will this lay the groundwork for riskier tech bets? If and when investor confidence returns, we might see a real IPO wave. It’s an exciting time for autonomous vehicles – the question is, will this be the spark that ignites a new era of IPOs? 👇 Link in the 1st comment with more on the WeRide IPO and the latest on self-driving tech.

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From Novel to Normal: I’ll never forget my first ride in a Waymo. The experience was surreal – no driver, just me trusting technology to take me to my destination. Sending the video to some friends across the world got some very strong reactions- it’s new, it’s exciting, even a little scary? By my third ride, however, it felt completely normal – just another taxi, except without a driver, I selected the music I wanted, but otherwise it was just the utility of being driven somewhere. This made me reflect on how quickly we adapt to new technology, and it’s exactly what I see happening with Salesforce’s AgentForce, which we announced at Dreamforce. Just as self-driving cars went from novelty to expected, soon businesses, including nonprofits, will be expected to have advanced AI agents supporting their customers and constituents. Right now, the idea of AI agents may seem cutting-edge. But soon, it’ll be what customers expect – a seamless, personalized experience powered by AI. Are we ready for this shift? I believe we are – and it’s going to change how we all do business. If you want to get hands on with the future- join us on October 15th in Sydney. https://lnkd.in/gzs7uuaZ

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I highly recommend SF local founders check out a free "Founder-Led Sales" lecture Peter Kazanjy is giving on Wednesday Dec 11th. The single biggest mistake I see founders make is abstracting themselves from sales prematurely. It hemorrhages cash, runway and founder and employee equity. They think the moment they leave their accelerator or raise capital that's the signal for others to take the reigns of sales sleigh. #error Pete demystifies much of what it takes get founder-led sales right. Book your place using the link in the comments. #sales #saas #startups #GTMdebt #venturecapital

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A decade ago, I was working on a group project related to a #Selfdrivingcar / #neuralnetworks online course. Met some amazing, talented people, and it was a great experience. At the time, I predicted that the "99.99999...% problem" would eventually be capped, and self driving cars would simply resort to a "Call Center" of humans on the backend to take over in particularly ambiguous situations, closing the gap and enabling a "fully autonomous" experience for the end user. 10 years later, this is what that looks like, for #Waymo: (full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/gs6432kT)

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🚀 **Unleashing the Future of Delivery: Nuro's Game-Changing Comeback!** 🚀 Nuro is back in the spotlight! 🌟 With fresh approval from the California DMV, they’re ready to test their advanced R3 autonomous delivery vehicle across four Bay Area cities. This pivotal moment is not just a victory; it’s an invitation to rethink the landscape of autonomous delivery! 🔍 **What does this mean for the industry?** Innovators can take inspiration from Nuro's resilience—facing setbacks and emerging stronger is part of the journey to success. How can YOU apply this tenacity in your own ventures? 🔑 **Key Takeaway:** Embrace challenges, innovate relentlessly, and explore untapped opportunities! 💬 **Thumbs up** if you see the future of delivery driven by autonomy! 👍 Or **thumbs down** if you think traditional methods still hold the edge! 👎 #AutonomousVehicles #Innovation #Nuro #Entrepreneurship #FutureOfWork #DeliverySystems #TechTrends #StartupSuccess #Resilience #GameChanger

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Let's talk for a minute about how Harbor compares to Nanit on pricing. Ultimately, Harbor comes with a 10" tablet and beats every other product on functionality many times over... but here are a few points on pricing. Nanit offers two tiers (as of spring 2024) at $120 or $300 per year PER CHILD. If you have two children in their premium tier you're looking at nearly TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS across two years! Harbor has one flat membership per household. For just one child, Harbor is just $33 more across two years than Nanit's camera, floor stand, and Memories plan. It comes with a dedicated 10" tablet and a level of reliability, security, and quality that no WiFi camera app based system can match.

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With the progress of Waymo and the Tesla event yesterday, something I wrote about in 2021 could become true as soon as 2027. In some industries (like ride sharing), marketplaces are just an intermediary step to aggregate independent suppliers. Ultimately, companies will figure out how to provide the service themselves at scale, and we'll have a few very large "super-suppliers". But in other industries (like e-commerce) where the consumer values creativity, consolidated suppliers won't be able to provide all of the new and interesting things that customers want, and we'll still need independent suppliers. Those industries will stay in marketplace mode much longer.

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I can’t remember the last time I was genuinely excited about a company’s product event. Think about it. Consistent, customer centric experiences wherever you go. At $30k, businesses would stay open longer, serve more people, and be able to focus on strategy instead of boring tasks. Straight out of the gates they’ll be able to loads of jobs: – Bartenders – Serve drinks at bars. – Waitstaff – Take orders and serve food. – Baristas – Make and serve coffee. – Room Service – Deliver food to hotel rooms. – Dishwashers – Clean dishes in restaurants. – Housekeepers – Clean homes and hotels. – Nannies – Basic childcare and supervision. – Elder Care Aides – Assist elderly with routine tasks. – Janitors – Clean public and office spaces. – Office Cleaners – Maintain office cleanliness. – Hospital Cleaners – Sanitize hospital areas. – Mall/Airport Custodians – Clean large public spaces. – Shelf Stockers – Restock shelves in retail. – Cashiers – Handle transactions. – Inventory Clerks – Manage stock and supplies. – Warehouse Workers – Pick, pack, and sort products. – Security Guards – Patrol and monitor premises. – Delivery Personnel – Local deliveries with robots. – Receptionists – Greet visitors, answer calls. – Data Entry Clerks – Input and manage data. – Farm Workers – Harvest crops and tend to animals. – Construction Laborers – Assist in building tasks. The future is now and I’m pumped. #Innovation #Automation #FutureOfWork #Robotics #AIRevolution #BusinessGrowth #TechForGood #Efficiency #CustomerExperience #TeslaRobots #HumanoidRobots #SmartTechnology #Disruption #ProductivityBoost #WorkplaceInnovation #FutureJobs #AIInBusiness #NextGenTech #RobotRevolution #FutureOfService

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Every quarter, California is home to more startup fundraising activity than any other state in the U.S. But in Q1 2024, the startup industry's traditional home was even more dominant than usual. Startups based in California raised 59.25% of all capital on Carta during Q1 among states where at least 10 deals took place. Compare that to a year ago: In Q1 2023, California startups raised 37.9% of all funding. Over the full course of 2023, the state's share of the fundraising pie was 40.41%. In total, startups from the Golden State raised $9 billion in Q1, up from $7 billion the prior quarter and the highest quarterly total since Q3 2022, when overall cash raised across the whole U.S. was significantly higher ($22.9 billion, compared to $16.3 billion in Q1 2024). This wasn't a matter of funding from other states receding while California held steady. The California funding scene seems to be surging, aided by the ongoing AI gold rush underway in and around the Bay Area. Some other highlights from the Q1 map of VC funding: -Massachusetts had the second highest share of capital raised in the quarter of any state, with 11.25%. New York was third, at 11.05%. -It was a tepid quarter in Texas: Startups in the state raised just 2.32% of all capital among states with at least 10 deals, down from 6.45% over the course of 2023. -The whole South region raised 12% of U.S. venture funding in Q1 2024, down from 23% compared to Q1 2023. -Colorado was another western state with a big Q1. The state's startups raised 3.64% of funding last quarter, up from about 2% last year and the fourth-highest Q1 share of any state. I'll drop a link in the comments below to my full story on how the Q1 map of funding shook out.

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Your Uber ride could soon be completely driverless. Uber and Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google's parent company Alphabet, are teaming up to bring the robotaxi service to riders in Austin and Atlanta in early 2025, right from the Uber app. Waymo is already offering its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to the public via the Waymo One app in Phoenix and San Francisco, and to select members of the public in Los Angeles (In Phoenix, you can also use Uber to summon a Waymo vehicle). It's currently conducting testing in Austin. Here's everything to know about Waymo's expansion and partnership with Uber, and how to hail a ride if you're in one of the cities in which the service operates. #Waymo #Alphabet #selfdriving #AI #autonomouscar https://lnkd.in/gRUEFB49

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Brad Hargreaves makes a really interesting point about a non-obvious impact of autonomous vehicles on real estate... People aren't taking fully autonomous vehicles seriously because the 2016 hype cycle was premature -- the technology wasn't ready, despite what leading CEOs might have wanted you to believe. But fast forward 8 years and companies like Waymo and Cruise are now offering driverless vehicle services in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, and San Francisco. While the current cost of these services is comparable to Uber, the technology is expected to mature and become more affordable... When this technology is fully realized, it will significantly impact the real estate market by eliminating the need for car ownership and parking spaces or garages. Cars instead become autonomous roving fleets, and Brad doesn't think (I agree) the real estate industry has internalized this yet. Down the line I could also see people willing to commute or take weekend trips much longer distances, if car travel anywhere (level 5 autonomy) becomes as mindless and hands-free as going by train. #realestate #autonomousvehicles

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Interesting article with a clear perspective on where we stand in robotics and transformer models today. Worth a read.

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🧢 I’m beyond proud to announce our $120M Series C funding, led by Sapphire Ventures, to accelerate our vision of becoming the definitive Industrial Copilot. While headlines are buzzy, there are no shortcuts in our path. Our efforts can be distilled down to four key characteristics: 1) a hard-driving, always-learning, zero-complacency culture 2) high speed ideation and development of new products 3) customer obsession coupled with speed of execution and 4) an insatiable drive and urgency to redefine the industrial category. Quoting Jim Vinoski, a manufacturing veteran, on his latest piece to Forbes: 'Tractian is on mission to deliver on the long-promised industrial nirvana of truly predictive and preventive maintenance.' Legacy tools have been around for decades, and they have long been the province of highly skilled and trained practitioners fighting with cumbersome tools and programs. We are democratizing those efforts, using technology to decrease the knowledge gap, and shifting the narrative from industrial assets being cost centers to being revenue generators. Thank you for doubling down on us: General Catalyst, Next47, and NGP Capital. And most importantly, thank you to all Tractian employees, customers and partners, to recommit to our mission.

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