Renan Devillieres is the founder and CEO of OSS Ventures, a venture studio dedicated to building startups that transform the manufacturing industry. With a background in economics, consulting, and factory leadership—and later scaling his first AI startup through Series B—Renan brings unique insights into the intersection of technology, operations, and entrepreneurship. In this episode, he shares how his journey from corporate life to startup building led him to launch OSS Ventures, and why he believes the future of factories lies in software-defined automation and bold founders willing to reshape industry.
In Today’s Episode We Discuss:
00:01 – Introduction and Name Pronunciation
01:08 – Math Background and OECD Economist
02:51 – Corporate Career and Entrepreneurial Realization
05:06 – First Startup and AI Job Matching
07:50 – GDPR Challenges and Exit
09:35 – Tesla Factory Visit and Inspiration
14:12 – Mapping Startups and Launching OSS Ventures
17:57 – Bootstrapping OSS and Early Experiments
20:02 – Founder Matching and Validation Process
22:33 – OSS Ventures Results and Portfolio Growth
23:15 – Traits of Successful Industrial Founders
25:24 – Founder Selection Process and “Hell Yes or No”
32:13 – AI, Automation, and Factory Transformation
36:18 – Dark Factories and Software-Defined Manufacturing
40:08 – Europe’s Role in Industrial Innovation
42:13 – Software Bottlenecks in Industry 4.0
44:52 – The Future of Supply Chains and Microfactories
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