Ep 92 | New Opportunities Grow From Every Failure (w/ Stephan van den Brink)

I talked with Stephan van den Brink, founder and CEO of MANUS™, the company behind some of the most advanced data gloves used in robotics:

Not only robotics: teleoperation, motion capture, and embodied AI. Manus started as a small student project and grew into a deep tech company trusted across the robotics world.

We talk about Stephan's path from studying law and economics to discovering he was meant to build things, not file documents. He explains how the first Manus glove was built in evenings and weekends, how an early Kickstarter failure opened better doors, and how an accelerator program became the turning point for the company.

Stephan shares how Manus shifted from VR gaming to B2B simulation, then to motion capture, and now to robotics. He explains why EMF tracking became their core technology and why precise hand data is suddenly in huge demand as humanoids and AI driven robots take off.

We also talk about building a company for ten years, staying alive through hype cycles, making hard calls, and focusing on what real customers need.