Hassan Shahzad

At 12, I was digging through bins for plastic scraps, spray-painting them, and hot-gluing together my first robots. What started as an obsession with 150-gram antweight combat robots (those tiny warriors that had to fit in a 10cm cube) has become my life’s work. I loved everything about them: the design precision, the competitive edge, the perfect blend of engineering and strategy.

Over the next 8 years, I built everything from robot dogs to SLAM-navigational robots that could map and navigate unknown environments. I developed RoboPipe and other robotic software to enhance human-robot interaction, created LLM agents that enable speech-to-action in simulated robots, and worked extensively with robot teleoperation. By the time I reached UCL for my Robotics and AI degree, I already had nearly a decade of hands-on experience building, programming, and perfecting autonomous systems.

But here’s the thing: I realized that even the most brilliant robot is useless if you can’t get it to market. So at 20, I made a deliberate pivot into entrepreneurship—not abandoning robotics, but learning the business skills I’d need to eventually bring my robotic visions to life. I’ve spent the last two years learning something they don’t teach in engineering labs: how to fail fast, learn faster, and build businesses that actually solve real problems.

I founded Silkun Innovations on New Year’s Day 2025, treating the business world as my training ground before combining my decade of robotics expertise with entrepreneurial skills. My ultimate goal? Conversational commercial robots walking our streets so naturally that getting into a heated argument with one becomes just another Tuesday. That’s literally on my bucket list.

The difference is, when I finally launch that robotics startup, I won’t just be another engineer with a cool prototype. I’ll be someone who understands market validation, customer development, sales funnels, and how to build businesses that don’t just work technically—but actually make money.

Learning Through Failure

Since starting Silkun, I’ve launched three businesses in the food industry, each teaching me invaluable lessons:

• AR Dining died because I built a novelty, not a necessity. Turns out people don’t want 3D digital menus accessed via NFC chips. They just want good food, fast.

• ProduDex failed because I tried to solve a complex supply chain problem with just me and my partner (a software engineer at BlackRock). Even with 50,000 scraped ingredients and AI-powered supplier matching, we learned that B2B solutions need more than good code. They need teams, funding, and the right market timing.

• Foodio is my current venture, solving “Consumer Generated Content” in the takeaway industry. Customers scan QR codes on packaging, record quick food reviews, and our AI turns them into TikTok-ready content. It’s teaching me that you only make money in B2B when your clients make money, and that speaking to one right person beats speaking to 100 wrong ones.

Building Beyond Software

Alongside the digital ventures, I’m running MeSnap: a 3D printed MagSafe card holder with NFC chips that let students and professionals share their social identities instantly. It’s not just running, it’s making actual sales through @mesnap.app on TikTok and teaching me the difference between selling software vs. physical products.

The Bigger Picture

I’m balancing full-time studies with full-time entrepreneurship because I believe the best way to learn business is by doing it badly first, then doing it better. My 2-3 year plan is simple:

• Master entrepreneurship, sales, and marketing • Build capital and experience • Gradually transition into robotics and AI startups that don’t fail easily

What drives me isn’t the idea of “changing the world.” It’s seeing someone actually use something I built. There’s nothing quite like watching your solution become part of someone’s daily routine.

I’m genuinely terrible at personal branding and social media content (even bought Ray-Ban Meta glasses to force myself to record more), but I push through because it’s crucial for modern business. I’m always looking to connect with social media collaborators and marketers who can help amplify the solutions I’m building.

Whether it’s soldering circuits at 12 or cold-emailing potential clients at 20, I’ve learned that throwing yourself into the unknown is the fastest way to discover what’s possible. Ready to build something together?