#17 - Bobby Healy - Cities in the Sky 2: How Last Mile Drone Deliveries will Transform Our World

The Innovation Civilization Podcast

On this episode, we're joined by serial entrepreneur and CEO of Manna Bobby Healy (@realBobbyHealy) who runs one of the Top 5 drone delivery companies in the world. We also welcomed back a friend of the pod Pamir Sevincel, Partner at Blackbird.

Join us as we talk about the ins and outs of a fundamental technology that'll terraform the way we live: last-mile drone delivery.

In this episode, we cover:

-Bobby's entrepreneurial journey and the lessons learned along the way

-The genesis of Manna and the vision for drone-powered deliveries

-The environmental impact of replacing traditional delivery vehicles with drones

- Business models and venture funding landscape: current, future and past.

- Advice to founders building hardware-heavy companies

-The challenges and opportunities in the emerging drone delivery industry

-The future of on-demand delivery and its potential to reshape urban living

Follow our host Waheed Rahman (@iwaheedo), for more updates on tech, civilizational growth, progress studies, and emerging markets.

Here are the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players, you should be able to click the timestamp for the episode.

(00:00) - Intro

(02:25) - Bobby's journey to leading several successful startups

(03:16) - What is Manna Aero?

(07:50) - Use case of drone delivery for E-commerce businesses

(15:04) - Replacing traditional delivery vehicles with drones?

(20:00) - How feasible is drone delivery in rural/suburban areas?

(22:21) - Economic impact on suburban drone delivery

(26:01) - Challenges in the delivery drone industry

(33:12) - What factors make places like Texas particularly appealing for startups and investors in the consumer business sector? What should be the focus of startups in the drone delivery space: profitability or scalability?

(40:02) - Can AI-generated models help optimize drone delivery services?

(52:56) - Future of on-demand delivery and the impending challenges

(65:12) - Competitive Advantage and Unique Value Proposition of Manna

(67:48) - Quick Fire Round