#52 Jonathan Collazo: From Drone Obsession to Life-Saving Robotics—The Story Behind Ostrich Air & FireBot Labs

Jonathan Collazo is an inventor, relentless builder, and the mission-driven founder and CEO of Ostrich Air and FireBot Labs—two pioneering deep-tech companies redefining the role of autonomous robotics in public safety, defense, and critical infrastructure. In this episode of the PreVetted Podcast, host Federico Ramallo dives deep into Jonathan’s fascinating and unorthodox path—from a teenage computer repair business in Florida to building battle-tested robots in Silicon Valley.Jonathan shares how picking up a drone for the first time sparked an obsession that led to founding Ostrich Air, originally an R&D lab for custom drone and robotic systems. His approach was simple: no fancy credentials, just trial, error, and a lot of explosions in the garage. That passion evolved into creating everything from ground and underwater robots to autonomous aerial systems—with zero reliance on venture capital and full reliance on grit, curiosity, and team collaboration.Later, faced with the growing threat of wildfires in California, Jonathan and his team pivoted their attention to real-world impact. Without waiting for funding or permission, they started building autonomous drones to detect and eventually suppress fires. This work became the foundation of FireBot Labs, now a fully independent venture focused on saving lives through AI-powered autonomous systems.The conversation covers: • Jonathan’s early passion for tearing things apart to learn how they work • Why Ostrich Air’s name is a metaphor for doing the “impossible” • How trial-and-error—and honesty—shape the team’s fast-paced innovation culture • The origin story behind Double Tap, their undefeated BattleBot featured on Discovery Channel • Why he believes theory is only half the equation, and “building messy” is where real innovation lives • How FireBot Labs is creating autonomous drones that can respond to wildfires with just a few clicks—no training required • Why he measures success not in profit but in impact, and his dream of providing life-saving tools to underfunded fire departments • The power of finding your “3AM buddies”—people who’ll show up for you when it really countsWhether you’re a robotics enthusiast, founder, engineer, or someone chasing purpose-driven work, Jonathan’s story will remind you that building the future doesn’t require a pedigree—just a little obsession, a lot of learning, and an unstoppable team.Learn more about Jonathan Collazo:- https://www.ostrichair.com/- https://www.firebotlabs.com/- https://www.linkedin.com/in/robotics-think-tank/About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.ai🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast00:00 Introduction to Jonathan Colazo and His Journey06:53 The Birth of Ostrik Air and Firebot Labs11:46 Innovative Solutions for Fire Safety19:42 The Importance of Practical Knowledge in Innovation25:44 Finding Purpose in Work and Team Dynamics31:12 The Power of Ideas and Team Dynamics33:52 Learning from Mistakes and Building Trust37:21 Integrity and Team Cohesion38:44 The 3 A.M. Buddy Concept40:20 The BattleBots Experience53:36 Future Aspirations and Innovations