Dear End Effectors,

If you have been reading Telemetry and ever wondered what our sign-off, “No One Builds Alone”, represents to me, the statement at n1ba.com is a response. Read it when you have a few quiet minutes. Or 🎧 listen to it, because I thought it’d be a fun piece to voice-over. It is not long.

Our “/N1BA” shorthand is intended to be a reassuring reminder for all the people who work in the science-advantaged startup ecosystem: the founders, the investors, the operators, the program managers, the tech transfer officers, the limited partners who quietly fund long-horizon hold periods, the sensemakers who turn dense technical progress into language that lets people act. Tough technology has always been built this way. The myth of the solo genius makes for a better magazine cover. The truth of the ecosystem makes for a better civilization.

I have been holding onto the piece for a while, waiting for the right moment. The right moment, it turns out, is today.

In the spirit of /N1BA, I’ve been quietly building The End Effector and everything underneath it. Today is when it stops being a side project and strives to be something more.

I love interacting with so many of you, whether through my courses, programs, Tap events, or one-to-ones. Most of you know firsthand how passionate I am about investing energy into helping startup teams in finding and facing their missions. Our world and the universe beyond has a lot of big challenges to address, and I am an advocate for the ‘tough tech champion’ within each of us.

So I am building the bones for the next phase of The End Effector to be an exciting content-rich hub for us all. By improving the understanding of and spotlight on those building science-advantaged startups and emerging critical capabilities spanning many domains and disciplines, I know we can grow the pie so, so much bigger.

An anchoring step in this direction is our new membership program.

We are focus on actionable insights and intuition-building content delivered via bespoke interactive journeys, handcrafted multimedia, substantive reference-quality evergreen research, and a lot more. I’m excited to share more in the coming editions of Telemetry. (Telemetry is staying free for all, by the way.)

Cores: These are big and there will be many. You can start by getting a feel with Core Robotics Module 1, which releases publicly today, for free. If you recall the prior Telemetry edition, “Robots Eat Cars”, then the Core is the foundational layer underneath that analysis—all the structured technical instruction that makes editorial coverage of robotics durable, as well as the dynamics of sociology, economics, ethics, and other important areas. Module 1 stands on its own; the rest of the Core unlocks for members. (P.S. Thanks so much to our early reviewers of Core Robotics!)

Cores are pretty huge, looking at fundamental topics. I hand-draw lots of figures, synthesize lots of useful stories and research, and connect it all to other resources beyond what we write here. Our next edition will feature more on that, including a special Interactive built just for you!

Thrusts: These are deep dives into emerging companies, topics, and issues. For example, Beyond Hydraulics has over two hours of private video interviews I conducted with the RISE Robotics team (thanks, y’all!) and have not previously published. A Space for Earthlings 2026 Reassessment is in production, as well as additional investigations to be shared when ready.

The other stuff: Downrange is an operational calendar that’s proving handy for tracking a multitude of events and deadlines throughout “frontier tech” areas, including recommendations for key events, policy windows, funding cliffs, and launches that move things. Our Scramble service is for when something hits your desk and you need actionable analysis applied fast (not, like, maybe next quarter after the hot lead ran cold). And there’s more tooling, content drops, and useful things in the hopper. Oh, and we have a store, Cross & Check! Members get discounts.

For founders bringing critical tech ‘from lab to launch’ in energy, robotics, space, defense, or advanced manufacturing (or anything you think I’d consider a mission-oriented, science-advantaged challenge area): Operator access is on the house. Email me at [email protected] from your company domain, tell me about what you’re working on, and I will set you up. This is a standing policy, not a program with an application form. The Principals and Operators who pay for access are the reason this path exists.

A lower-priced tier for students and independent readers is on the roadmap for later. If that tier matters to you, reply to this email and I will make sure you hear when it opens.

So, thank you. To the readers who have been here from early editions, to the friends who have told other people about the work, to the founders who let me interview them, to the allies who invited me to their events: The End Effector is possible because of you.

Welcome, if you wish to join us as a member. And to everyone else: stay tuned for our upcoming editions and announcements, as I’m thrilled about what we will be covering and I trust you will be, too.

Our world has a ton of Challenges Worth Solving, so go get ‘em, champ.

–JMill

No One Builds Alone.

/N1BA

Telemetry is written by JMill of The End Effector.