On this week's StrictlyVC Download, Connie Loizos speaks with iRobot founder and former CEO Colin Angle. Mr. Angle spent 30 years building iRobot from his living room to a household name and one of the most pioneering companies in the robotics industry, stepping down as CEO following the failed Amazon acquisition. In this conversation, he reveals why he considers iRobot's bankruptcy “an avoidable tragedy,” why regulators made a fatal mistake in blocking a $1.7 billion Amazon deal, and why the FTC's office walls are covered in “blocked deals” as trophies, revealing a deeply flawed approach to protecting innovation.
Angle also talked about what he's building next for his stealth startup, including the harsh realities of battling regulators for 18 months while producing more than 100,000 documents, why the nascent American tech industry continues to be handed over to foreign competitors, his contrarian views on humanoid robots, and why Rodney Brooks is “never wrong factually, but he doesn't necessarily answer the questions he thinks he's answering.”