Divya Thakur, founder of Yardbot, joins host Jim Belosic to discuss how he’s building a next-gen landscaping company powered by robotics. Instead of chasing full automation, Yardbot combines human crews with custom-built mowing robots to deliver better results at a lower cost.
Divya shares his journey from software engineering and finance to self-driving cars at Cruise, and how a failed Bitcoin startup taught him one of his biggest lessons: build for customers, not just cool tech. We get into the gritty reality of developing hardware, five generations of robot iterations, and what it takes to run a tech-driven business in a traditional industry.
In this episode of Just Gonna Send It, Jim Belosic sits down with Divya Thakur, founder of Yardbot, to talk about building a robotics-powered landscaping company from the ground up. What started as an attempt to create the perfect autonomous mower evolved into a hybrid business where humans and robots work together to deliver better results at lower cost.
Divya’s background spans finance, software engineering, and self-driving cars at Cruise. But transitioning from digital systems to real-world hardware came with a steep learning curve. Early prototypes broke quickly, forcing him to rethink how to design, build, and iterate in a physical environment where failure is unavoidable.
Before Yardbot, Divya built a Bitcoin startup that ultimately failed. That experience shaped one of his core philosophies: building something technically impressive is not enough. If customers do not need it or cannot use it easily, it will not succeed. That lesson became foundational to how Yardbot operates today**.**
Instead of replacing labor entirely, Yardbot focuses on combining human crews with robotic systems. The result is a more practical approach to automation, where robots handle repetitive work while people handle the details that machines still struggle with. This balance has proven far more effective than trying to remove humans completely.
The current Yardbot platform is the result of multiple failed designs and constant iteration. From drivetrain issues to durability challenges, each version revealed new problems that could only be solved by getting into the field and testing in real conditions. That process of building, breaking, and improving is what led to a reliable system.
Running a robotics company inside a blue collar industry introduced a different set of challenges. Hiring, training, and managing teams required a shift in mindset, especially compared to leading software engineering teams. Success came from building systems, training processes, and understanding what actually motivates people in the field.
With robots capturing constant data, Yardbot is able to improve both operations and customer experience. From training systems to identifying issues across jobs, leveraging data and modern tools allows a small team to operate with the efficiency of a much larger one.
Huntsville serves as the proving ground, but the long-term goal is expansion into new markets. The challenge is not just the technology, but replicating operations, maintaining quality, and building strong teams in each new location. Growth will depend on getting that balance right.
In this episode of Just Gonna Send It, Jim Belosic talks with Divya Thakur, founder of Yardbot, about building a robotics-powered landscaping company that combines human crews with autonomous mowing robots. Divya shares his journey from finance and software engineering to self-driving cars at Cruise, and how lessons from a failed Bitcoin startup shaped his approach to building real products for real customers. The conversation dives into hardware iteration, operating in a traditional industry, scaling a service business with robotics, and why the best ideas come from learning through failure and constant adaptation.
