5YF Episode #2: Zipline CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

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What happens to our economy if goods transport 10x faster, for half the cost, and with zero emissions? Zipline has built the world’s most ambitious fully autonomous logistics network powered by drones. Regulatory approval will now see it go live at scale in the US in what will prove to the world that our robotic future has arrived. I sit down with their CEO to discuss the future of autonomous delivery in our second episode of 5 Year Frontier.

We move products as quickly and efficiently as the internet moves information.

What you’ll hear:‍

🕳️ Magical transportation portals on your wall

⛑️ Teleporting life saving medicine in the US and around the world

💸 Peer-to-peer commerce to displace eCommerce giants

🌪️ The distribution of power via a new platform shift

🍀 Economic case for going green

♾️ And plenty more!
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There will be 4 billion instant deliveries that happen in the US this year…on average these deliveries weigh less than 5 pounds

Our guest:

Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is co-founder and CEO of Zipline, a drone company that operates the world’s largest automated on-demand delivery service. A global leader, they are active in seven countries including the US, Japan and across Africa, where it has had huge humanitarian impact. Zipline has completed 10x the number of autonomous miles of the rest of the industry combined! Almost every minute Zipline makes a delivery ranging from vaccines (over 13M delivered), blood, and increasingly common goods. With over 1,000 employees Zipline is backed by leading investors including Sequoia, A16Z and Google. Keller is a software engineer, Harvard grad and professional rock climber.

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Making these logistics networks broadly available will distribute power

My takeaway:

Drone and robotic powered autonomous delivery is a giant platform shift. We have solved for the instant delivery of information, money, and connectivity. Zipline is pulling us into a future where goods and products can travel just as freely. Putting the world on a new productivity trajectory and disrupting how we buy and who we buy from. This under-appreciated shift has been battled tested in the developing world waiting on regulation to catch up, and now is set to take to the stage in the US at scale. The proliferation of economic opportunities and new startups will be an incredibly exciting new chapter as atoms begin to move like bits.

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