NextView Partner Lee Hower sits down with John and Max, Co-founders of Ultra, for an authentic conversation about building AI-powered warehouse robots. In this interview, the co-founding team shares their 13-year partnership across multiple companies, from their college startup to Voodoo Manufacturing, to now revolutionizing e-commerce fulfillment with flexible, intelligent robotics. What you’ll learn:
- How Ultra is automating order packaging with AI that adapts like never before
- Why transformer-based neural networks are creating a “Cambrian explosion” in robotics
- The labor crisis facing warehouses (one customer had only 5 of 28 temp workers return after lunch)
- Lessons learned from being repeat founders and deploying robots in just 6 months
- Why building great co-founder relationships and trusting your intuition are critical for success
Key highlights:
- Ultra went from concept to multiple deployed robots generating revenue in under a year
- Traditional robotics required PhD-level programming for rigid, constrained tasks
- Modern AI allows robots to generalize across varied environments and tasks
- The technology uses the same transformer architecture that powers ChatGPT, but for physical control
- Robots give warehouse teams “superpowers” by handling repetitive, physically demanding work
John and Max discuss the “why now” moment for general-purpose robotics, the importance of getting robots into the field quickly to build their data engine, and their vision for making physical labor more accessible and productive across industries. About the speakers: Lee Hower is a Partner at NextView Ventures, focusing on seed-stage investments. This is his second time backing John and Max. John and Max are co-founders of Ultra, building AI-powered warehouse robots for e-commerce fulfillment. Previously co-founded Voodoo Manufacturing. Learn more: Visit Ultra at https://www.ultra.tech/
