6 ms·

You laugh, but the concept of this funny YouTube video was the actual business model of a SoftBank-backed startup that raised half a billion dollars [1]. The cr

by rafram 3y ago

You laugh, but the concept of this funny YouTube video was the actual business model of a SoftBank-backed startup that raised half a billion dollars [1]. The crucial flaw in their otherwise ironclad plan was that the pizza had a tendency to fly around and lose all its toppings when the truck went over a bump in the road. [1]: https://gizmodo.com/zume-softbank-ai-pizza-delivery-stellar-pizza-1850529465 https://gizmodo.com/zume-softbank-ai-pizza-delivery-stellar-...

heavenlyblue 3y ago
They didn't raise half a billion dollars, they were valued at half a billion.
- d3vmax 3y ago
  From the article: /// Most notably, the company enjoyed a generous infusion from Japanese investment firm SoftBank, which injected a whopping $375 million into the startup in 2018. By the end of its lifespan, Zume had raised as much as $445 million. /// They actually nearly raised half a bil.
  - rafram 3y ago
    Yeah, the headline’s wording implies valuation, but that’s actually the amount they raised. Who knows how they managed to spend it. That’s a lot of Bali offsites and kombucha on tap.
    - m-ee 3y ago
      My current company was somewhat involved with them as a supplier I think, before my time. They never had robotic pizza trucks, they were just regular pizza trucks with an app. They hired so many engineers they loaned some out to my company because they had no idea what to do with them.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
bipop5000 3y ago
Seems like it would have been a better option to do the final cooking which is around 7-8 min in the oven at the delivery doorstep.
- p1necone 3y ago
  Neapolitan pizza needs to cook for like 3 minutes tops, but getting an oven hot enough for that on the back of a truck would probably be a challenge.
  - CydeWeys 3y ago
    Why would it be a challenge? An Ooni oven can do it in a much smaller space.
siva7 3y ago
I'm pretty sure that was a money-laundering scheme disguised as some silicon valley-esque startup to not trigger alarm bells with institutions
- ParanoidShroom 3y ago
  I don't see how one would do that. Mind expanding? You won't turn out dividends and salary sounds highly taxed
- cultofmetatron 3y ago
  > I'm pretty sure that was a money-laundering scheme disguised as some silicon valley-esque startup considering some of the half baked shenanigans I've seen conducted in SF that actually raised funding back when I was there. this would explain a LOT...
- smabie 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure it was not: there's much more effective ways to launder money than a high profile startup
  - siva7 3y ago
    That would be a perfect cover up considering it’s not that unheard of with their investor: https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/c4d82a https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/c4d82a
  - notatoad 3y ago
    isn't all of softbank a money-laundering scheme? it's just kingdom of saud buying influence in the west.
    - sneak 3y ago
      Your second sentence contradicts your first.
    - thghtihadanacct 3y ago
kbutler 3y ago
Seems like you could install pretty good motion isolation systems in the trucks with that kind of money...
asimpleusecase 3y ago
Should have pivoted to calzones.
mortureb 3y ago
Should have had the oven on shock absorbers.
arlort 3y ago
That's fun, this was also the premise of a Donald Duck story in the italian mickey mouse weekly https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2629-3&search=paperino%20paperoga%20e%20la%20paperpizza%20express https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2629-3&search=paperino%...
lostlogin 3y ago
They need that tech tanks use to keep their gun level, that multi axis gyroscope thing. This is the sort of tech crossover that could make military spending more acceptable.
- HWR_14 3y ago
  His cellphone uses GPS and connects to other computers over the internet using TCP/IP, but I guess you're waiting on pizza gyroscopes to see any valuable tech crossover relative to this project.
  - gregoryl 3y ago
    Imagine the things achieved if the money being spent wasn't focused on military applications.
    - HWR_14 3y ago
      I imagine military applications for "know where something is in world" and "have network of computers communicate in a damage resistant way" are no more costly to develop than non-military applications.
    - science4sail 3y ago
      Hard to say. Would the research even have occurred if there weren't military applications? At the end of the day, there are only a few ways to get politicians to fund research: * War (physics, chemistry, computer science, psychology) * Fortune-telling (astronomy, economics, political science) * Immortality (medicine, fine art, humanities)
- mschuster91 3y ago
  To illustrate just how capable that tech was even back in 1986, look at 1:45 of this Bundeswehr video demonstrating a Leopard tank carry a keg of beer and not lose a drop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2mcO6l-0cY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2mcO6l-0cY
heavyset_go 3y ago
Here's the thread that debuted this on HN in 2016 titled "Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics"[1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980694

by rafram 3y ago

heavenlyblue 3y ago

They didn't raise half a billion dollars, they were valued at half a billion.

d3vmax 3y ago
From the article: /// Most notably, the company enjoyed a generous infusion from Japanese investment firm SoftBank, which injected a whopping $375 million into the startup in 2018. By the end of its lifespan, Zume had raised as much as $445 million. /// They actually nearly raised half a bil.
- rafram 3y ago
  Yeah, the headline’s wording implies valuation, but that’s actually the amount they raised. Who knows how they managed to spend it. That’s a lot of Bali offsites and kombucha on tap.
  - m-ee 3y ago
    My current company was somewhat involved with them as a supplier I think, before my time. They never had robotic pizza trucks, they were just regular pizza trucks with an app. They hired so many engineers they loaned some out to my company because they had no idea what to do with them.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

bipop5000 3y ago

Seems like it would have been a better option to do the final cooking which is around 7-8 min in the oven at the delivery doorstep.

p1necone 3y ago
Neapolitan pizza needs to cook for like 3 minutes tops, but getting an oven hot enough for that on the back of a truck would probably be a challenge.
- CydeWeys 3y ago
  Why would it be a challenge? An Ooni oven can do it in a much smaller space.

siva7 3y ago

I'm pretty sure that was a money-laundering scheme disguised as some silicon valley-esque startup to not trigger alarm bells with institutions

ParanoidShroom 3y ago
I don't see how one would do that. Mind expanding? You won't turn out dividends and salary sounds highly taxed
cultofmetatron 3y ago
> I'm pretty sure that was a money-laundering scheme disguised as some silicon valley-esque startup considering some of the half baked shenanigans I've seen conducted in SF that actually raised funding back when I was there. this would explain a LOT...
smabie 3y ago
I'm pretty sure it was not: there's much more effective ways to launder money than a high profile startup
- siva7 3y ago
  That would be a perfect cover up considering it’s not that unheard of with their investor: https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/c4d82a https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/c4d82a
- notatoad 3y ago
  isn't all of softbank a money-laundering scheme? it's just kingdom of saud buying influence in the west.
  - sneak 3y ago
    Your second sentence contradicts your first.
  - thghtihadanacct 3y ago

kbutler 3y ago

Seems like you could install pretty good motion isolation systems in the trucks with that kind of money...

asimpleusecase 3y ago

Should have pivoted to calzones.

mortureb 3y ago

Should have had the oven on shock absorbers.

arlort 3y ago

That's fun, this was also the premise of a Donald Duck story in the italian mickey mouse weekly https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2629-3&search=paperino%20paperoga%20e%20la%20paperpizza%20express https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2629-3&search=paperino%...

lostlogin 3y ago

They need that tech tanks use to keep their gun level, that multi axis gyroscope thing. This is the sort of tech crossover that could make military spending more acceptable.

HWR_14 3y ago
His cellphone uses GPS and connects to other computers over the internet using TCP/IP, but I guess you're waiting on pizza gyroscopes to see any valuable tech crossover relative to this project.
- gregoryl 3y ago
  Imagine the things achieved if the money being spent wasn't focused on military applications.
  - HWR_14 3y ago
    I imagine military applications for "know where something is in world" and "have network of computers communicate in a damage resistant way" are no more costly to develop than non-military applications.
  - science4sail 3y ago
    Hard to say. Would the research even have occurred if there weren't military applications? At the end of the day, there are only a few ways to get politicians to fund research: * War (physics, chemistry, computer science, psychology) * Fortune-telling (astronomy, economics, political science) * Immortality (medicine, fine art, humanities)
mschuster91 3y ago
To illustrate just how capable that tech was even back in 1986, look at 1:45 of this Bundeswehr video demonstrating a Leopard tank carry a keg of beer and not lose a drop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2mcO6l-0cY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2mcO6l-0cY

heavyset_go 3y ago

Here's the thread that debuted this on HN in 2016 titled "Zume, a new startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through robotics"[1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11980694