kolchinski

10 ms·

61.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yes! See the comment from an Eatsa veteran on this thread. Running a restaurant is no picnic, but we've actually found that it's preferable to have control over the whole operation so that the menu works well with our automation r
62.
by kolchinski 6y ago
You're spot on about a lot of things. Most of our customers right now pick up rather than ordering delivery, so the lag time is relatively short. But as we start adding concepts and doing delivery, we'll be thinking a lot about ex
63.
by kolchinski 6y ago
We'll add you to the QA volunteer list ;)
64.
by kolchinski 6y ago
We're working with a few different regulators to make sure we comply with health code – some of the most important things are keeping food at safe temperatures at all times and using food-safe materials for food handling. Vermin is als
65.
by kolchinski 6y ago
In short: -Refrigerated vans/trucks deliver ingredients -Leftovers get cycled out -We've designed the machines to be easy and efficient to clean. Some of this is still secret until our patents are issued, sorry I can't say mo
66.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Exactly! We're planning to have a similar cubby-style mechanism for pickup.
67.
by kolchinski 6y ago
We've also been super concerned about reliability because a lot of earlier companies in the space have struggled with it. A lot of our IP is actually around reliability so I can't share everything but the high level of it is that:
68.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yep agreed on all of those counts. We're designing the machine and operation to keep costs low and reliability high. E.g. ingredients are pre-prepped in the central kitchen and then transported refrigerated to the auto-kitchens. The me
69.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Sorry, we're not doing public tours yet! But shoot us a note if you're stopping by (info@mezli.com) and I'll pop out and say hi.
70.
by kolchinski 6y ago
It's hard to guess these things, but I suspect that even if we massively succeed we probably won't make much if any dent in sit-down and local/mom-and-pop restaurants (and the jobs that come with them) since we fill a very di
71.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Nothing public yet but we're setting up a video shoot for tentatively next month! Stay tuned.
72.
by kolchinski 6y ago
You can do a lot with bowl-style meals but they're also simple to assemble! That said, Spyce does a "stir fry" style approach while we do a more traditional "keep ingredients separate" serving style. We picked Medit
73.
by kolchinski 6y ago
We've taken a lot of inspiration from Eatsa, actually! We've chatted with probably of half-dozen ex-Eatsa folks. I'll shoot you a note if you're up for a conversation.
74.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yep Chowbotics : salads :: Mezli : all bowl-style food They've done a great job proving out that automatic meal prep works.
75.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Thanks, yeah we've been already getting a number of customers who are vegan, gluten-free, etc. – specific dietary needs weren't on our radar originally but I'm really glad we're solving those problems. 100% agreed on the
76.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yes we're planning to launch an Indian menu in the future!
77.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Capex per location is looking like it'll be 15-30% of a fast-casual restaurant; variable costs will be about 50% ($3ish of ingredients per meal instead of $3ish of ingredients plus $3ish of on-site labor) when compared to a fast-casual
78.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Thanks! Yeah for our broke selves the goal has been to basically get the price point down to the point where it's a no-brainer to skip cooking.
79.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yes we're very familiar with Spyce; I've actually eaten there myself. Our motivations are pretty similar but our approaches are different – they've been doing walk-in style partially-automated restaurants (although they'
80.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Yes pricing is still an open question: we're likely going to end up with a spectrum of brands, with some being more "budget" and some being more "upscale". We're excited about making good food more accessible b
81.
Launch HN: Mezli (YC W21) – Robotic restaurants that serve healthy fast food
201 points by kolchinski 6y ago|127 comments
82.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Little Red Schoolhouse was one of my favorite classes during undergrad at UChicago, and the one that I still use lessons from almost every single day. I also happened to live in the dorm where Larry was Resident Master, so I got to spend so
83.
The Case for White-Collar Apprenticeships(alexkolchinski.com)
2 points by kolchinski 6y ago|0 comments
84.
The Importance of India(alexkolchinski.com)
127 points by kolchinski 6y ago|162 comments
85.
by kolchinski 6y ago
Hi folks, author here! I've spent the last couple of years working on a combination of AI research and startups, and I've had quite a few conversations about what AI can really do. This is my attempt to summarize my thoughts and s
86.
What Can AI Really Do?(alexkolchinski.com)
4 points by kolchinski 6y ago|1 comments
87.
by kolchinski 7y ago
This is great, I've wanted something like this in the past! Thanks for building. I'll be giving it a try for a watch party I was planning with friends. Mind sharing how it works and what stack you used?
88.
A bird’s-eye view of modern AI from NeurIPS 2019(alexkolchinski.com)
13 points by kolchinski 7y ago|0 comments
89.
by kolchinski 8y ago
I'm working an an agricultural robotics startup and can confirm that if anything, it's challenging to find robotics use cases in specialty crops that have a large enough market to justify the R&D investment necessary to get th
90.
by kolchinski 9y ago
That's a fair point but seems like it's only part of the picture, I just did a bit more digging and it looks like the proportion of people who pick up has dropped by about 1/3 while the proportion of people who agree to parti

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