6 lessons I learned watching a robotics startup die from the inside

The K-Bot open-source humanoid robots. | Credit: K-Scale Labs

Editor’s Note: Rui Xu is the former chief operating officer of K-Scale Labs, a San Francisco-based startup that tried to build low-cost humanoid robots. The company shut down in late 2025 and recently open-sourced its intellectual property. Xu first published this article on LinkedIn. It was reprinted with his permission.

I spent a year as COO of a YC-backed robotics startup trying to build affordable humanoid robots.