18VC Podcast Ep # 6 Building the AI Operating System for Apparel Manufacturing with ThreadLabs Co-Founders Rylan Jimenez & Diora Juraboeva

70% of US apparel manufacturers still collect production data manually. Only 16% have real-time visibility across the floor. Most shops still run on WhatsApp threads, Gmail, and the foreman’s memory.Rylan Jimenez and Diora Juraboeva, the co-founders of ThreadLabs, are building the AI intelligence layer for the apparel production industry — not another ERP, but a layer that sits on top of whatever tools a shop already uses, so it works for both a 40-year-old LA cut-and-sew factory with no software and a Chinese factory with an ERP from 20 years ago.In this episode, the hosts Philip and David sit down with Rylan and Diora to unpack how a USC Marshall finance student and a Formula-SAE composites engineer ended up building a manufacturing OS together. We get into how they actually met (month two of college, on Formula SAE), the early ThreadLabs idea that came out of a Google hackathon in 2024, Rylan’s years as a freelance fashion designer, hundreds of hours Rylan spent on factory floors in DTLA, the pivot from a brand-facing AI design tool to a manufacturer-facing ops layer, the macro reshoring tailwind, how the Smart Timelines / Risk Flags / Update Autopilot features actually work, what the Techstars Catalyst program forced them to figure out, and Rylan’s closing advice for student founders — that genuine value doesn’t come from AI, it comes from solving the problem, and that the right first step is to do it without any tech at all.A conversation about staying close to the floor, picking the right wedge, and building in an unsexy, deeply offline industry.— Chapters —(00:00) Highlight reel(00:43) Welcome & how we met Rylan and Diora(02:54) Rylan's path: mech engineering → VC at USC(06:30) What working in VC actually teaches you about building(12:57) Why building beats investing (for now)(15:14) Diora's building journey: F1, USC Racing, Honda, Fisher-Price(17:43) Founding VC Academy together at USC(19:53) How Rylan and Diora actually met (Formula SAE, month two)(23:08) The original ThreadLabs idea: an AI tool for fashion designers(25:48) Rylan's freelance fashion-design years (16–19)(28:07) Where the name "ThreadLabs" came from — and the rebrand coming(29:16) Why now: tariffs, reshoring, and the manufacturing tech gap(32:43) The pivot: from "better ERP" to an intelligence layer on top(35:39) Hundreds of hours on DTLA factory floors — what manufacturers actually want(39:31) What the product does today vs. six months ago(44:21) Onboarding, ERPs, and going white-glove on day one(45:34) Smart Timelines, Risk Flags, and Update Autopilot — how they work(48:23) DTG, screen print, embroidery, cut-and-sew — printing types, not products(50:41) Traction: 5 pilot shops, $50K generated, and where the new product stands(53:27) Scaling beyond LA — international manufacturers and other verticals(56:35) The 3-person founding team (with CTO Dennis Pavlov(01:00:22) What the Techstars Catalyst program actually taught them(01:02:20) One word other than "founder": boring vs. people-orientated(01:05:18) The hardest part of being a founder: scope creep and narrowing down(01:08:47) How being a founder changes the way you live with uncertainty(01:11:26) Mentors, advisors, and Rylan's closing advice for student founders(01:16:08) Outro— Connect with ThreadLabs —Rylan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rylan-jimenez/?skipRedirect=trueDiora on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dioraj/?skipRedirect=trueThreadLabs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thread-labs-sc/ThreadLabs Website: https://threadlbs.com/landing— Connect with 18VC —18VC Website: https://www.18-vc.com/18VC Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6b3YoAMLjZLziwqHWy3EXb18VC Podcast on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@18vcpodcast?si=l69vI6hHwLgIvw4N18VC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/18venturecapital/18VC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eighteenvc/18VC X: https://x.com/Official18VC