18VC Podcast Ep # 3 Building the Robotic Workforce: Yondu AI's Michael Chen on Warehouse Robots, Teleoperation & Going from MIT to YC

Michael Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Yondu AI (YC W24), building the robotic workforce of the future starting with warehouse logistics. In this episode of the 18VC Podcast, Michael traces his path from building a robot waitress in his parents' Chinese takeout restaurant, to MIT CSAIL and autonomous drones, to founding Yondu with his classmate Tahmid Jamal.We dig into the bets behind the company: why Yondu deliberately doesn't build its own hardware, how "brownfield" deployment automates warehouses without halting operations, why teleoperation is their highest-quality data source, and how their world-model VLA does more with less data. Michael also explains how a focused, deployment-first startup positions itself against far better-funded players like Figure, Galbot, TARs, Amazon, and Symbotic — plus honest advice for student founders on co-founder fit, YC, and the worst mistake he made as a CEO.A tactical, wide-ranging conversation on robotics, embodied AI, and building hard tech young.(00:00) Welcome to 18VC: what this episode is about(00:42) Intro & Michael's background(03:01) Building since childhood(09:15) Resilience from the family restaurant(11:53) Drones, MIT CSAIL & ChatGPT-controlled robots(15:40) Founding Yondu & getting into YC(18:32) Why warehouses & bin-picking(22:12) Brownfield deployment as the moat(26:42) How intelligent the robots are today(27:50) Why Yondu is hardware-agnostic(33:47) Data strategy: teleop vs. mocap vs. synthetic(39:33) What teleoperation looks like(45:26) Model architecture & the "Waymo for humanoids" analogy(50:23) Competing in a crowded logistics race(55:05) Hiring, culture & staying a learner(58:22) YC tips & advice for student founders(1:05:22) Wrap-upGuest: Michael Chen — https://www.linkedin.com/in/themichaelchen/Yondu AI — https://www.yondu.ai/Yondu is hiring robotics researchers & engineers — see https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobsMore 18VC & 18VC Podcast:18VC Website: https://www.18-vc.com/18VC Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6b3YoAMLjZLziwqHWy3EXb18VC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/18venturecapital/18VC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eighteenvc/18VC X: https://x.com/Official18VCJoin 18VC Slack Channel: https://join.slack.com/t/18-vc/shared_invite/zt-3ugj1lmxu-WG6kULWaF95rp4UOnCY~kw