Brett Adcock | My First Million Summary

Guest: Brett Adcock (Founder of Vetteri, Archer, Figure, Cover, Hark) Hosts: Sam Parr, Shaan Puri

1. Key Themes

AI Is 100x Bigger Than the Internet — and It's Happening Faster

Brett Adcock frames AI not as an incremental tech shift but as a generational civilizational leap, moving faster than any prior trend he's observed.

"I think the AI work that we're seeing here now is going to be so much. It's going to be like 100 times bigger than the internet. It's just like everything is just so, it's just working so well. Like the system is working well. Like deep learning works. And everything's happening faster than I would think. And my, like, you know, having done like 15 years of like software and internet, like it was just like nothing was happening faster on a trend line. But here is happening like that in AI." 00:03:02

The Physical-Digital AI Split: Humanoids vs. Personal AI Companions

Brett articulates a crisp thesis that AI will bifurcate into two dominant paths — physical robots doing work in the world, and digital AI companions serving as personal Jarvis-like assistants.

"I strongly believe AI will head in two directions... The first is, we'll have AI out in the physical world that will do everything in the environment for you... The vessel for that is a humanoid robot... Step earlier than that, there's going to be this like really close, like digital, like AI to human symbiosis that forms. You're going to have like this very special thing that you can like talk to that's with you everywhere you go that will know all your stuff, have access to all your memories, have access to all your accounts and systems and be able to actually go do things for like a superhuman assistant." 00:07:59

General-Purpose Computer Use Is the Unlocking Primitive for AI Agents

Hark's core technical bet is that AI can only become truly useful when it navigates the open internet like a human — not through APIs or MCP — and that cracking this via reinforcement learning is a breakthrough most others haven't achieved.

"Only one in a thousand websites have APIs. So in most, you know, most computer use globally is on the internet and browser... It was in our post training, right? Like it was in our, we have a reinforcement learning process that we think is maybe nobody else in the world has done." 00:03:58 / 00:06:05

The Next Hardware Cycle: AI-Native Devices Will Replace Phones and Computers

Brett argues the iPhone/MacBook form factors are fundamentally mismatched for AI and that a new generation of devices — "mega devices" capable of a billion units per year — will replace them entirely. Glasses and wearables are explicitly dismissed.

"My phone doesn't have that... And then I go in there, like order DoorDash, like a monkey, like every day now I'm pushing things... The like the first version hardware we have now in our lab is like unlike anything I've ever seen in my whole life... The end state is BCI in the brain and we're going to have like AI language devices for the next 10 years before that." 00:16:08 / 00:13:51

Humanoid Robotics: The Intelligence Gap Is the Real Bottleneck, Not Manufacturing

Brett reframes the conventional wisdom that making robots at scale is the hard problem. He argues that a dumb robot at scale is worthless — intelligence is the constraint.

"The hard problem is not that... the most important constraint to really solve is like building a really intelligent robot system... There's a bunch of robots you can go buy now. You can buy some from China and you get them and they're complete crap. They can't do anything. You can joystick around. That's all you can do... It's like, it's like early when I bought a DJI drone like years ago and I was like playing around with it. And then like a day later, I was like, what do I do with this thing?" 00:18:48

Labor Shortages Are the Real Commercial Driver for Robots Today

Customers aren't coming to Figure because robots are futuristic — they're coming because they're drowning in labor problems. Figure is already hitting human-level throughput metrics on real customer tasks.

"We're dying with labor... We have like really high turnover. Some areas have over a hundred percent turnover per year... We did that 200 hours straight at 2.9 seconds a package. So we're already at human speeds. We're already doing this here. Now they're already having ROI." 00:22:41 / 00:23:40

The Teleop Fraud Problem in Robotics

Brett identifies a systemic credibility crisis: nearly every competitor is secretly using teleoperation in their demo videos, with almost no company demonstrating true autonomous operation.

"I don't know if there's any other company in the world that we've seen that you can watch do autonomous work with AI on board on useful work with a humanoid. I, we haven't really seen it. I don't, maybe there is. I don't, I haven't seen it." 00:28:13

Meta Is Buying Its Way Into AI With Mercenary Talent — and It's Working

Brett gives a nuanced, grudging respect for Meta's AI talent acquisition strategy, while questioning whether bought loyalty produces great products.

"There's probably like a rough back of the envelope is probably like 20 to 30 people in California know how to build really good AI models... I think it was really smart. And I would have done the same thing if I was Mark. I would have bought my way into the race." 00:33:09 / 00:34:06

Doing Hard Things Is Paradoxically Easier: The Risk-Reward Asymmetry

Brett makes a non-obvious case that hard problems attract better people, better investors, less competition, and deliver nonlinearly better outcomes — while being only marginally harder to execute.

"I think a lot of the hard things are not like 10 or a hundred times harder. I think the hard things sometimes are like two or three or four times harder, maybe five times harder, but they're not a hundred times harder. So you might have a hundred times better payoff, but it might be like three or four times harder." 00:52:20

General Robotics (Home Use) Is the Trillion-Dollar Prize Nobody Is Chasing Correctly

Brett reveals a strategic pivot: Figure is now targeting full general-purpose home robotics — any task, any environment, language-commanded — because he believes it's more solvable than assumed and the market is astronomical.

"We want to solve a robot that can go into any environment just through language and do work. We want to be the first to do that. You can probably do that with 100 robots and a 50-person team. So that company overnight would be a trillion dollar market cap." 00:38:58

2. Contrarian Perspectives

Glasses and Wearables Are Not the Future of AI Hardware — They're a Dead End

Most of the tech industry and media are treating Meta Ray-Bans, pendants, and earrings as likely bridges to the AI device future. Brett flatly disagrees.

"The Metaglasses are probably one of the worst products I've ever bought. They're horrible. I can't even like figure out how to use it. It doesn't have its own network. It piggybacks on the iPhone network... I can't think of any reason why I would need this thing strapped to my head for 14 hours a day... Glasses, I think, I don't even know if glasses will make our top like 10 list of devices." 00:13:22

The Home Robotics Problem Is Already Solvable — The Industry Just Isn't Trying

The conventional wisdom in robotics is that industrial/commercial deployment comes first, and home robotics is a long-term aspiration. Brett says the home is actually solvable now and that the industry is leaving a trillion-dollar prize on the table.

"What I've learned now is that the home is super solvable today. So like we can like not go work on that problem and just like sit here and work in a warehouse. But me or none of my guys want to solve that problem. We want to solve a robot that can go into any environment just through language and do work." 00:38:28

Only 20–30 People in California Actually Know How to Build Good AI Models

The market assumption is that AI talent is abundant and scaling through big hiring budgets. Brett argues the genuine expert pool is vanishingly small — which means Meta's billions in comp are largely buying the wrong people.

"I think there's probably my rough calculus now is probably like a rough back of the envelope is probably like 20 to 30 people in California know how to build really good AI models." 00:33:09

The Full Turing Test for Speech AI Will Be Passed in 2027 — Sooner Than Expected

Most industry timelines place convincing voice AI further out. Brett pins it precisely.

"I don't know if we'll hit it this year, but certainly in 2027, you will hit like a full human Turing test with speech. You'll be able to take a phone call from an AI system on your phone. And I'll be able to fool you guys. I'll be able to have like a human call you and a robot call you. And I don't think you guys will be able to tell the difference. That's a 2027 event. I feel pretty strong about it." 00:40:37

Working on Easy Things Is Actually Harder — Counterintuitively

The startup conventional wisdom prizes rapid iteration on tractable problems. Brett argues that easy problems are where competition is most brutal and outcomes are worst.

"When you work on harder things, you have like less generally, like overall, probably there's like first order, like less competition... hard thing probably means like it could be a potential, like really big TAM, really big exit if it works... I think a lot of the hard things are not like 10 or a hundred times harder." 00:51:52

3. Companies Identified

Figure Humanoid robotics company founded by Brett Adcock. Building AI-native humanoid robots for commercial and eventual home deployment. Already shipping to third customers, running at human-speed throughput (2.9 seconds/package, 200 hours continuous). BMW is a named customer. Valued in the tens of billions.

"We did that 200 hours straight at 2.9 seconds a package. So we're already at human speeds. We're already doing this here. Now they're already having ROI." 00:23:11

Hark Brett Adcock's new AI lab focused on general-purpose computer use agents and AI-native hardware. Claims top performance on browser/computer use benchmarks. Launching to consumers within a month of recording. Custom hardware in lab described as "sci-fi."

"It's really hard for us to find now something that we tell it to go do on the internet and it can't do." 00:04:53

Archer eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft company Brett took public via SPAC. Struggled post-IPO but stock has since recovered. Was Brett's bridge between Vetteri and Figure.

"I had to fund figure with stock from Archer cause I had no other cash. Stock was coming down. The stock was just like literally like a falling knife. Well, at that point, it was just like, you know, I think it went from like 10 bucks to like two." 00:51:19

Vetteri Workforce/staffing marketplace founded by Brett Adcock. Sold for $110 million. Started at NYU incubator with a $500,000 convertible note and near-zero runway.

"We launched the marketplace at Vetteri and it just like completely took off. And then a year later we sold for 110 million." 00:48:31

Cover Brett's company developing standoff weapons detection systems for schools. Uses custom-designed chips fabricated in Europe. Pivoted technology approach a year ago to reduce cost by 90%.

"I found a way to do everything very cheaply in silicon and chips. And reduce the price by like 90%, make it much more scalable, make it work better." 00:43:08

Meta Highlighted for its aggressive and effective AI talent acquisition strategy — paying $36 million over four years in guaranteed RSUs to individual senior hires, sustaining this for over a year.

"We gave an offer to somebody that was really senior... I gave him like a really good package... 15, $20 million of stock... And he got an offer for, to go to Meta for 36 million of four years... They've been buying talent. They've been buying their way into the AI race." 00:31:17

BMW Named as a commercial customer of Figure. Brett has visited BMW facilities and cited car manufacturing complexity as a contrast to humanoid robot manufacturing difficulty.

"BMW is a commercial customer of us." 00:20:16

NVIDIA Mentioned through Jensen Huang's close relationship with Brett. Jensen visits Figure regularly. Cited as a model for great operator-led company building over 30 years.

"Jensen in here last week again, like we are fairly close. And I think Jensen's just an unbelievable operator as well." 00:59:31

OpenAI Referenced indirectly for computer use limitations and the upcoming Johnny Ive hardware collab ("the puck"). Brett skeptical but watching.

"I don't know if you guys are seeing stuff in the market for these types of things, but like, I haven't like, you know, been like, man, this is like a crazy great product." 00:58:22

DoorDash Used as the canonical example of why API-first AI agents fail — DoorDash has no consumer API, so agents must navigate the browser like a human.

"DoorDash has no consumer API. So we tried to figure out how to use like a, how to look at a screen." 00:05:10

Outreach.io Mentioned as a company that became a billion-dollar business doing what Brett had built internally at Vetteri — a cautionary/inspiring example of missing a pivot.

"Like a year or two prior. And then like watching all this different stuff happen. And I was like, man, we like, we actually did some of this work internally. It's like value less than some other groups out there." 00:55:15

WhisperFlow Sam Parr's standout AI product of the past six months — voice-to-text tool that has meaningfully changed how he communicates.

"I like WhisperFlow has like pretty meaningfully changed how I communicate... that's been my big standout the last six months." 00:58:32

Tesla Referenced for teleoperation controversy — Tesla was caught with a teleoperation glove visible in a robot folding video.

"Tesla put a video out one time of like the robot folding. And then like in the bottom right was like a, like a teleoperation hand glove you can see in the video." 00:27:45

Mercury Business and personal banking product endorsed by Shaan Puri for all his businesses.

"I use Mercury for all of my businesses. I think I have like maybe seven or eight businesses." 00:41:12

HubSpot Podcast sponsor. Mentioned for the Breeze AI assistant that works inside HubSpot for content creation using customer data.

4. People Identified

Brett Adcock Serial deeptech founder. Built Vetteri (sold $110M), took Archer public, founded Figure (humanoid robots, ~$39B valuation), Cover (school weapons detection), and Hark (AI agents + AI-native hardware). Personally funds companies through equity and second mortgages.

"I had to take a second mortgage on my house to do even fund figure." 00:51:19

Jensen Huang CEO of NVIDIA. Has a close ongoing relationship with Brett, visits Figure regularly. Cited by Brett as a model operator.

"Jensen in here last week again, like we are fairly close. And I think Jensen's just an unbelievable operator as well. He's very hands-on has a very unique way of managing NVIDIA and his organization last 30 years." 00:59:31

Jeff Bass (Jeff Bezos) Investor in Figure. Visits regularly and serves as a strategic sounding board. Gave Brett pointed advice about the critical window he's now in.

"Jeff said, well, last time he was here, he's like, listen, you're at a really interesting period... you're on the big field now and your next big push is going to like make or break it." 00:59:56

Johnny Ive Designer (formerly Apple). Mentioned in context of his hardware firm being acquired by OpenAI and the speculated "puck" AI device design.

"Johnny Ive, you know, got his shop got acquired by OpenAI. And you've seen the videos of the puck." 00:11:44

Mark Zuckerberg CEO of Meta. Brett gives him strategic credit for aggressively buying AI talent even if the cultural fit is mercenary.

"I think it was really smart. And I would have done the same thing if I was Mark. I would have bought my way into the race." 00:34:06

Steve Jobs Referenced as a product-led founder and unbelievable operator. Brett's design lead for Hark hardware previously worked on multiple generations of iPhone and MacBook.

"First and foremost, like, you know, what I can read, I'd never met Steve Jobs, but like my Lord, like stories I've heard and everything else. The guy was just like an unbelievable operator and product led founder." 00:59:04

Tim Cook Apple CEO. Mentioned as being on his way out, with a major telecom CEO visiting both Apple (Tim Cook) and Hark's offices in the same trip.

"Tim Cook's on his way out as Apple, but he was over there at Apple and came over here and we, he saw our stuff. And he's just like, holy shit, man. This is the first time I've ever seen anybody that could possibly take out, like take out the big guys." 00:18:01

Michael Jordan Referenced as Brett's model for total dedication to craft.

"I really admire the folks that are like fully dedicated in their craft. You really watch the Michael Jordan documentary. He's just like, he's just like, I just want to be like the best in the world at this." 00:59:04

Hark's Hardware Design Lead (unnamed) Previously designed multiple generations of iPhone and MacBook Pro. Now leading hardware design for Hark's next-generation AI device.

"The guy that leads hardware design apps, previously designed for the last several generations of iPhone, MacBook, MacBook Pro. Like he's just like the, he's a stud. He's great." 00:10:25

Hark's Chief Engineer for Cover (unnamed) JPL and NASA background. Running Cover's weapons detection engineering effort.

"I have a chief engineer from JPL and NASA that's like really good." 00:42:15

5. Operating Insights

Technical Assessment as the Ultimate Hiring Filter

Brett describes a specific test for engineering candidates: the ability to speak in depth, fluently, and spontaneously about work they have personally done. This "scar tissue" test exposes people who observed versus people who built.

"If you've done the work, it's like, it's like, it's like a scar you carry with you. It's like, it's like dug into you. Like, you know, all the details. You can talk about it freely. You don't need to think. You'll understand how to like reverse engineer everything you've done and discuss it. But folks that haven't done it can't do that. They just like, they can't even go like, they get one layer and they just like constantly blow up." 00:29:36

The Three-Bucket Life Audit: Ruthlessly Eliminate the Third Bucket

Brett describes a deliberate framework for personal time allocation: he identified three buckets (work, family, everything else) and completely eliminated the third. He applies this with almost zero exceptions, even to a college roommate visiting for 10 days.

"If I want to do any of these well, I kind of like, I can't do all three. And what I wanted to do really well is like family. And I want to do like business stuff... I basically stopped the third bucket." 00:44:40

When Things Go Wrong, Compress Your Time Horizon to Daily

Brett's crisis management operating principle: stop planning weekly or monthly during hard periods. Build a punch list and go day-by-day until through it.

"When things get really bad like that, you got to build a punch list and you just got to get through it. Like there's only way out is through. So you need to build a punch list and you need to get to day to day. You got to go day to day. You can't go week to week, two days." 00:48:55

Use Your Own Product as Primary Productivity Infrastructure

Brett uses Hark for his entire personal operating stack — to-do lists, Slack summarization, email, recruiting tracking, engineering project tracking, and ordering coffee hands-free. This forces product-market feedback from a high-standards power user daily.

"I use Hark now for all my AI stuff end to end. Um, even like tracking, like stuff I'm doing on engineering projects, recruiting, all of it. I do a track. It's in my, it's in my email. It's in my Slack." 00:45:55

Sunday Replanning as a Weekly Operating Ritual

Before Hark, Brett maintained a Google Doc called "Replanning" that he updated every Sunday to set the week's priorities. Simple, consistent, and self-directed.

"My to-do list was done in a Google doc. I had like a doc called replanning and it would constantly keep updating every week. I would come in on Sundays usually and update my plans for the week." 00:46:16

6. Overlooked Insights

Cover's Custom Chip Strategy Is a Blueprint for Deep-Tech Cost Compression

This was mentioned in passing but contains a significant signal. Brett pivoted Cover's entire technology stack to custom silicon — achieving a claimed 90% cost reduction — rather than buying off-the-shelf components. This is a rare move for a small startup, involving a European fabricator and year-long lead times. The insight is that for any hardware company in a regulated or mission-critical space (defense, security, medical), designing your own chips can be a massive and durable moat if you can survive the lead-time gauntlet. Brett absorbed a full-year delay as a feature — it creates a barrier competitors can't quickly replicate.

"I found a way to do everything very cheaply in silicon and chips. And reduce the price by like 90%, make it much more scalable, make it work better... the fabrication times for designing our own chips and getting them out took about a year... We had a special fabricator in Europe that had to go make them. And it took about a year." 00:43:08

The "One Unnamed Telecom CEO Who Helped Steve Jobs on iPhone 1" Is a Kingmaker Signal

Buried in a single throwaway line is a remarkable validation data point: a major global telecom CEO who personally worked with Steve Jobs on the original iPhone visited Hark's lab and said it was the first time he'd seen anything that could actually displace the incumbents. This person is both a historically credible judge of hardware platform transitions and a potential commercial distribution partner (telcos sell phones). The fact that Brett mentioned it so casually — without naming the person — suggests this is a real relationship, not a PR drop. For any investor evaluating Hark's hardware credibility, finding and speaking with this person should be a priority.

"One of the biggest telecom CEOs in the world here that actually helped with the work with like Steve Jobs on iPhone one. And he was here two weeks ago and he'd just come from meeting Tim Cook... came over here and we, he saw our stuff. And he's just like, holy shit, man. This is the first time I've ever seen anybody that could possibly take out, like take out the big guys." 00:18:01