From NASA to Innovation: Dr. Alex Mehr's Journey in AI Entrepreneurship

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball. If you believe, you can achieve.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome to the Live in the Dream with Curveball Podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today I am joined by Dr. Alex Mayer. He is a former NASA scientist, successful entrepreneur, and inventor with more than 20 patterns. Dr. Mayer helped create Zeus, which was sold for more than $250 million. He is now backbuilding businesses in the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence. He is the co-founder and CEO of Cool Labs, which is the creator of Super Cool. And from his journey from NASA to entrepreneurship, his focus is to help people with ideas create real products. So he is going to be talking about innovation, risk taking, and the future of entrepreneurship. So Dr. Mayer, welcome to the show. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Hey man, I'm a scientist turned tech entrepreneur. I've been a serial entrepreneur for almost 20 years now. I build um consumer products or uh B2B products, anything that helps people um build a business, grow a business, or otherwise catapult themselves forward in life.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Well, I know you went from the NASA laboratory to building technology companies. So talk about what was the turning point that made you decide you wanted to go from scientist to entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Honestly, it was more of a let me try it, see how it goes type of thing. Um I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time, and everybody was an entrepreneur, so I said, hey, you know, even though I really like science and um research, but I was like gonna I'm I I just wanted to try my hand at it. And it's one of those things, once you go become an entrepreneur, there's no turning back. So that's sort of what happened.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Well, let's talk about Zeus, the online dating company that sold for more than 250 million. Tell listeners about that and tell us uh what was the biggest challenge in building that business and what did you feel like made it successful?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Um we were so so we were one of the first movers in online in dating apps in general. Um, apps were really new, so we were you know a first mover in that market. And one thing I've learned is when a new technology wave happens, you want to be first in the market and you want to move fast and rapidly, and that's what I did at the time. Um, App Store, uh iPhone App Store wasn't even around until 2008. I started 2007, and um we were one of the first movers and first mover advantage, so we grew that business quite a bit. The challenge was uh, like any new category, you're pioneering trailblazing, um, which is good and bad. It's good in the sense that you're solving problems other people have not solved, so it's exciting, and um, it's bad in the sense that there's no blueprint. So uh the same is happening now with AI, and that's what I've been doing for the past three years, building AI applications. And I always tell people who want to be an entrepreneur um look at the latest technology, especially tech entrepreneurs, look at the latest trend, and uh try to find a corner, a think, a niche, a you know, a pocket of opportunity that a new technology trend had uh trend has unlocked and try to move into it fast. So yeah, that's high level.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Well, after a major business exit, you had already achieved success that most entrepreneurs dream about. So talk about what this taught you about money, happiness, and what life has to offer.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

You know, my perspective on it has changed so much. I'm in my 40s now. When I started entrepreneurship, I was in my 20s. Um I didn't grow up in a family that cared about money, they were more about academia, and um and when I started entrepreneurship, it wasn't really about money either. Um, it was about the challenge of building something new. But when you go into the competitive world of business, the world around you makes you focus on money, and I'm not saying money is not important, a business obviously needs to make money to survive, but it's easy to get drawn in and confuse necessity with goal. Okay, so revenue and money and income for people and businesses is a necessity, but it cannot be a goal. Like if you are an if you're thinking about becoming an entrepreneur just to make money, I think your life the likelihood of your success actually goes down. I think the right way to think about it is um, I always tell people, look, I've I'm I'm in my 40s, I've done a lot of things, I've lived many lives. Um, and I've come to the conclusion that the thing that gives me pleasure more than anything else is creation. I think the purpose of life is to create things, um, and uh hopefully create things that outlast you, they remain after you're gone. So when I think about business, I don't think about oh, what should I do to make money? I think that's a bad question to ask yourself. I think the question you have to ask yourself is that given what I'm good at and my unique talent and gifts, what is something I can create that other people will appreciate? And as a side product, byproduct of that, it will generate revenue and income for you. That's I think the right framework to think about these things, versus oh, what is the next thing I should be doing to make money? Every time I fell into that trap because of the atmosphere that entrepreneurs are in, um, I failed. Every time I went back to my roots, which is what is a cool thing I can create that helps people, it succeeded a lot more often when I went into that mode. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Yep, it actually does. And um, let's talk about uh business ideas. Talk about what separates a truly great business idea from one that will never succeed.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah. So in this day and age, it used to be, I used to actually myself, I've given talks on this topic, that and it's also a saying that people say idea is one percent of the whole thing and 99% is execution. You've probably heard that before. Um that has changed significantly with AI, significantly executing on ideas have become a lot easier, not even like twice easier, not even 10 times, probably hundred times easier. So that has tilted the balance towards what is a good idea, what is something I can do, and AI can help you do the do part, but what is it that is truly new that you as the entrepreneur founder uh are uniquely positioned to create, and um and that idea is matters. Now, I give you a few things about how to actually suss out the idea. Um number one, um I think at least part of that idea needs to be unique to your core expertise. To give you an example, um, if you're an accountant and then you look at the AI wave, okay, and you're like, oh, you know, AI is becoming smarter and smarter, there are better and better, you know, agents are being created to do accounting for people. Um how can I jump on that? Okay, and if your idea is, oh, I'm gonna create an AI agent that helps people find the best restaurants to eat at, it is a mistake. And I see, believe it or not, that's actually what I see most entrepreneurs do. They ignore their own unique talent and profession, and you know, because they're sort of tired of what they do on a day-to-day basis and try to jump into something in which they have zero experience. Versus, if you're an accountant, you should be thinking, hmm, I have um right now, let's say 20, 30 clients. Can I build an AI agent that helps my clients with accounting? And I implement them into their solutions, and that frees up my time to take on 100 clients. And then once I have done that, can I package my AI agent and sell it to other accountants to enable to help them do the same thing? Doesn't make sense. That is the way to think about ideas. You need to look inward, you need to be realistic about what you're good at and what's your unique gift is, then combine it with the latest technology that just unlocked a thing that was not possible yesterday, and then start building in that corner of the universe, start creating in that corner of the universe. That's it's like one of the main things. I'm like, you know, I have a friend who's one of the best IP attorneys um that I've ever met, like a patent lawyer. And um he um started with like a travel AI agent. I'm like, why? You're the best IP attorney I know. Why shouldn't the idea AI uh app application idea that you want to try, why don't you build that around your own core competence? And that's sort of like a common mistake that I see. And I think that that understanding that is probably gives people like a huge leg up well.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Kind of walk us through uh what you guys do as a company.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Yeah, so famous labs is um essentially uh we are an AI agent builder. Um our most well-known product is Supercool, and um which is on supercool.com. And what we have built are humanoids, and um and these are essentially AI agents that have, if you look at if you think sci-fi movies like Iron Man, Jarvis, or any movie that you can think of, so the agent is kind of human-like. They have we as humans are programmed to work to work with and communicate with other humans, and I think building AI products that are either chat boxes or you know, the current way most AI agents are is a mistake. The correct AI agent is a humanoid, it is like it looks like a human, acts like a human, uh, has a memory, and has all the power and tool calling and all the abilities of uh normal agents, but it essentially wraps everything into a human collaborator. An AI agent, human-like AI agent collaborator. And that's what we build at supercool.com. It's essentially an agent that can do everything. It can collaborate with you to build your website, it can collaborate with you to write a book for you, it can collaborate with you to make a video promo, a five-minute video promo for your product launch. It can collaborate with you to build slides, build a webinar, build a landing page and CRM to capture your users, write emails to your users. It's think of it as a human-like collaborator that has a lot of tools at its disposal and can do a lot to make your life as an entrepreneur or creator a lot easier. That's what supercool.com is. That's our bigger, biggest prop uh product. Uh, we have other products like famous AI that are also agents. All of our products, we just focus on AI agents. Um, but those are like specialized products. Um, famous AI specializes at building apps. Um, and uh we have another project which is also a specialized agent, but this one is a uh chemist, so it looks for um essentially drug discovery for different for uh biotech uh companies. So it's like our core expertise again, it goes back to being true to yourself. Our core expertise, my core expertise is agent building, and everything I do is around how can I take my core expertise and productize it in a way that helps people in a variety of ways?

SPEAKER_02 17:31

Well, I know that AI has made it easier for people to build products and companies. So talk about how you see the job market evolving. Is AI gonna make it easier for everyday people or is it gonna make it harder to compete?

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Oh, it's gonna make it a lot easier, and that's also part of what I'm doing is trying to help with that. I'm trying to a lot of our tools, not all of them, but like super cool specifically, the humanoid is designed to help you execute your idea. Essentially, the way I see the future is a lot of mundane tasks uh and repetitive tasks are no longer going to be there. But there is a huge opportunity, huge opportunity in unlocking human talent to be able to turn their to enable them to turn their ideas into even you know solopreneur companies, one man, one woman companies. You just turn your ideas into uh you know a company really easily, and AI will play a huge role in that. And I think that is gonna be really good for uh humanity in the sense that end of the day, if you look at the trajectory of humans, all the economic value is built by entrepreneurs. So, you know, it's like anything your iPhone, your laptop, this Zoom product we are talking over, everything that we use, even like when we go to doctors, the medication, you know, people have different views on that, but the um uh farm pharmaceutical companies that uh help us cure diseases, transportation, cars, everything is created by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship benefits humanity in a very massive way. Now, if you make entrepreneurship a lot easier using AI, which is our core mission, well, we're gonna have a lot more entrepreneurs, and those entrepreneurs like could be like you know, very little capital to start, like you know, bootstrapped one person companies. We're gonna see an explosion of that. We are already seeing an explosion of that, and um, I think it's gonna be very exciting, and the world is gonna be a better place because of it.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Well, I know you hold more than 20 patterns, so talk about what you have learned about creativity and innovation throughout your career and how do you handle it when a business idea doesn't work out as you expected it.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Yeah, so yeah, I have a lot of patents. I've lived a very complex life. Um by the way, just a side note about patents since you brought it up. Um a lot of people think their ideas are unique, but the truth is to find a you truly unique idea that, for example, can be patented is not easy. And um more importantly, it's not imp it's not important. In other words, unless you're trying to build a really, really big company, um it's okay to take it take a good existing idea and put your own twist and flavor on it. Okay, so it's like that's one thing that I'm telling entrepreneurs, is like you don't have to have like a truly unique idea unless you're you really want to make a big company, but to start you if you're trying to build a business to provide for yourself and your family, sometimes it's okay to take a simple, straightforward idea and just put your own flavor and you know your own spice to it and make it your own, and that's that's perfectly fine. I'm I I think I lived in Silicon Valley, so a lot of people in Silicon Valley want like that one idea that can dominate the world. And I'm like, no, not really. It's like most entrepreneurs it's like okay, if you want to dominate the world and build the biggest company, sure, do that later. But start with a small, you know, trivial, even trivial idea to cut your teeth. So that's kind of like I went on a tangent on that. But to answer your other question, what happens when uh ideas fail? Um, this is the hierarchy. Um think of uh you and your team as the top. The most important thing is if you're working alone, then it's it's just you. But if you have a small group of people, like two or three friends that you're working together, think of that as a most important thing at the top of the group. I have people in my team I work with for decades over multiple companies. Okay, so it's like I think of people first. Top people. The next layer is again not the idea. It is what I call the lab environment, the experimentation infrastructure. It's like the thing you built the social media page, or in your case, the podcast platform, the things that you have built that you. You can run multiple products through that thing. Think of it as a platform. Like, you know, if you have a big podcast, you have social media, you have anything, email list or anything like that. That is kind of like think of it as distribution, front store, platform, whatever you want to call it. Below that, at the most disposable level, are the ideas. And you come up with ideas, you test them, and you move on, knowing what you're protecting are the top two layers. It's your uh people and then your platform. And then ideas come and go. Richard Branson has this thing that ideas are like buses, they come and go, and there's always another one. So um that's I think at the high level, how I think about it. So build build your tribe, build your platform, and ideas come and go.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

Well, I know uh speaking of ideas, you know, people uh have great ideas, but they don't pursue them, you know, because they don't have uh maybe the money or they have fear or don't feel like they have the experience. So uh what what is the first practical steps you would uh advise a person to take if they want to become an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Frankly, that's one reason I created these humanoids as super cool. I think it makes it easier for people to brainstorm uh when you have a creator humanoid as part of your team because it can entrepreneurship can feel lonely, and um that is um one of the reasons I created it, but at a very high level, I tell people this it's never been cheaper to execute on an idea than today, and um, it's never been faster to execute an idea than today, and given that combo, most people have jobs, they have a source of income. My thing is, I'm not also like one of those people that tell people burn all the boats and all that. I'm actually not in that camp, I'm more conservative. I'm like, look, it's easier and cheaper to start. So the downside is limited, and you can experiment on the side. If you have an idea, could be hey, I want to, you know, start a coaching business, talk, teach people how to do what I do. I want to write a book, I want to write a science fiction book, I want to write a fantasy novel, I want to start an e-commerce store that sells this particular thing. All these are the it's just like there's never been a time in history you could execute on these kind of ideas faster and cheaper than today. So to me, that should on its own, just knowing that, should help people like start. I really want to see an explosion of entrepreneurship. Um, and like I said, like I built humanoids for this exact reason. I'm like, okay, how about I give a very powerful humanoid AI agent that actually people can chat with, like voice and face, face-to-face, and um, and brainstorm and the humanoid can execute on ideas and can run things in the process and make this life a lot easier for uh entrepreneurs. So it's it's a but it, but even but that's not, I mean, people can use whatever they want. You can do this with chat GPT, you can just brainstorm with chat GPT and have it guide you um through the process. So my answer is I don't if you're fearful, I don't know really what to tell you. Fear has never been a factor for me, so I don't quite understand what is to be afraid of because failure if it's if it's cheap, um, and if it's fast, it's not even a failure, it's an experiment. Um there's a saying that a failure is an experiment run too long. So if if you're running an experiment, it's cheap, so run an experiment, and if it doesn't work, kill it. It's not a failure even.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

So well, I know you've had a very successful journey. So talk about what living the dream means to you today and what legacy you hope to leave behind.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

I enjoy the process of creating. I at least right now where I feel at my prime in terms of energy and wisdom. That one of the advantages of getting older, even though you lose IQ points as you get older, people don't want to admit it, but you always like in terms of raw IQ, you're um in your prime in 20s, you become slightly dumber as as you age, but you become wiser. So I've become wiser, and uh that has helped me focus on what matters to me. And to me, the only thing that matters is creation, and I'm planning to keep creating, and hopefully, I will continue to have energy to keep creating until the day I go. So, to me, that's a journey that that journey of continuously creating things and then seeing the most rewarding thing to me is uh seeing people use it and get value out of it. And to me, that is what my life is gonna be about. And I'm fine with it, I love it. I'm like, you know, I've touched so many people's lives in online dating. Um, I got so many marriage wedding invitations, you have no idea. Um, and then in my future journeys, same thing, you know, with our AI products, we help people all day. I see they're the fruit of our labor all day. Those are the kind of things that motivate me, and as long as I can do that, I plan to do that to my last breath. So, yeah, that's that's to me what it is. It's never about destination. I don't even care, I really don't care. Um, all I care about is what I'm doing today gonna help someone tomorrow. And and as long as I'm doing that, I'm gonna keep building. So it's it that's it's a very simple philosophy. It's what gets me up in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 30:47

What tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of?

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah, I um we're building hopefully if I can get it to a point where I can do that. Um, I'm building a low price point um robot if if we can pull it off with the goal of help helping people, either busy people or elderly people who need assistance, um, with basic things, like separating laundry and putting them in their uh washer dryer. Um you know, putting dirty dishes back in the sink from the table. Um that is that is one of the projects I'm excited about. Uh the technology is is and what I'm excited about, I get excited, is I'm a little different than other people. I get excited when something is barely possible, like it's possible, but just on the edge. This is where that project is. So the uh robotic real-world models, and it's not a full humanoid, it doesn't have legs and stuff, it's kind of like Roomba. It can roll around and it has two arms with two clamps, can do basic tasks around the house. And my thought is literally elderly help with helping elderly, uh, as the first use case. Um my thought is you know, it's it's almost the technology is almost possible. Uh, I feel like in the next six months we will be able to actually deliver it. Um, and um and we might be the first to market with that, not teleoperated, not another human from somewhere else controlling it, actually AI agent responding to the person's voice and command uh in the privacy of their homes, helping them with very basic things that you and I might take for granted, but an elderly person may not be able to do. So if I can bring that to life and I see it, you know, in people's homes, actually helping them, that would be I would be really happy. Let's say if I can deliver that in 2027, I'll be a happy man. So that's what I'm excited about.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

Well, so people can keep up with everything that you're up to, they'll add your contact info.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Uh, people can find me on Instagram at dr Alex. Doctor is spelled out, D-O-C-T-O-R Alex. That's where I'm the most active on. And uh to check out our humanoids, supercool.com is where to go.

SPEAKER_02 33:50

Close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yeah, one thing I want I already said it, but I want to repeat it. Um learn, bring in, learn how to bring that inner playful child that you had when you were a kid. Learn how to resuscitate it because the society, the education system, the realities of lives suppress our playful inner child and bring it back. This is the time to bring it back. Bring it back and let it play. Let it come up with ideas and start. Let that playful child inside you play and then create and enjoy the creation process.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

All right, ladies and gentlemen, keep up with Alex on Instagram to check out his humanoids, visit supercool.com. Dr. Mare definitely has some super cool creations and sounds like he's gonna be coming up with more. So keep up with everything that he's up to. Follow rate review, share this episode to as many people as possible. And anybody out there that has uh any ideas that they want to try, and Alice Humanoids can help them, please get this to him. Check out supercool.com. Also, to keep up with all things living the dream, visit www.curveball337.com. Make sure you share the website and the show to everybody that you know. Thank you for listening to the show and thank you for all your support. And Alex, thank you for all that you do, and thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.curveball337.com. Until next time, keep living the dream.