a16z investor: scaling robotics requires re-engineering the middle supply tier
jaimalik · x · 2026-10-31
a16z investor Connor Love lays out his thesis on manufacturing as an asset class. He argues that not everything will be vertically integrated: producing systems at scales of thousands to hundreds of thousands requires redefining the middle supply tier.
Silicon Valley has focused on top-tier systems companies, but the real opportunity—and a prerequisite for those companies to scale—is a layer of companies re-engineering everything from raw materials to actuators, switches, parts, subassemblies, and final systems.
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