In this fireside chat with Parna Sarkar-Basu, Helen Greiner shared her journey from loving robots at age 10 to founding iRobot with Colin Angle and Rod Brooks. Initially, they bootstrapped for eight years before raising capital, emphasizing the importance of product-market fit. iRobot’s growth was slow, taking four years to reach $1 million and eight years to reach $5 million. Helen highlighted the challenges of government contracts and the necessity of understanding market needs. Post-iRobot, she founded drone and gardening robot companies, learning from VC challenges and military acquisition processes. She stressed the critical importance of product-market fit for startup success.
Key Takeaways:
Passion-Driven Founding
Helen’s obsession with robotics started at age 10 after watching Star Wars. That passion led her to MIT and eventually to co-founding iRobot—before “robotics” was even an industry.
Bootstrapped Beginnings
iRobot didn’t raise external capital for the first eight years. Instead, the founders bootstrapped through government contracts and corporate partnerships, allowing them to experiment and refine their approach without burning investor cash too early.
The Slow Climb to $5M
It took iRobot four years to hit $1M in revenue and eight years to reach $5M. This “slow but steady” growth was critical for discovering what the market actually wanted—especially in an emerging tech sector like robotics.
Product-Market Fit Is Everything
Helen emphasized that most startup failures stem from the lack of product-market fit—not execution. “Everything else is fixable,” she says. “But not PMF.”
Ignore the Shiny Objects
Early on, iRobot pursued “any robot for money,” building everything from oil well robots to museum guides. But real growth came only when they focused on two core markets: consumer (Roomba) and military (PackBot) robotics.
Government Contracts: High Potential, High Maintenance
Helen views government funding as a viable alternative to early VC—but cautions that it’s not as simple as replying to solicitations. Relationships, site visits, and demonstrating trustworthiness are key.
Raising Venture Capital—At the Right Time
When iRobot finally raised money, it allowed the team to build the robots they believed in, not just what would win the next contract. She warns founders not to take capital too early or from the wrong investors.
Leadership Lessons from Scaling
As products matured, Helen knew when to bring in experts—whether it was for scaling production, entering new markets, or working with the military. Founders must know when to step back and let specialists lead.
AI, Robotics & the Future of Work
While robotics is undoubtedly the future, Helen warns against overcomplicating things too soon. She predicts humanoid robots will eventually become common—but only after more accessible use cases are refined and costs decrease.
On AI Replacing Jobs
Helen sees robotics and AI as tools to take on the dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks—not replacements for humans. However, she candidly notes that some entry-level programming roles may be at risk with today’s AI capabilities.
Bio: Helen Greiner is known for both innovation and business strategy in the field of robotics. She most recently served as the CEO of Tertill. Prior to that she serves as the Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) in Robotics, Autonomy and AI for the US Army. Co-founding iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) in 1990, Ms. Greiner served as President until 2004, and Chairman until 2008. During her tenure, Greiner guided iRobot into its position as a global leader with the release of the Roomba, the PackBot, and SUGV Military Robots. She helped build a culture of practical innovation and delivery that led to the deployment of over 6,000 tactical robots with our troops and over 20M home robots worldwide. In addition, Greiner led iRobot’s financing efforts, raising $35M in venture capital and a $75M Initial Public Offering (IPO). Greiner founded CyPhy Works, a drone company that delivered aerial platforms to the defense markets.