Summary
James Steinberg is a hands-on technology leader and serial founder with 13 years building startups, hardware robots, and AI products from ideation to acquisition. Currently CTO at Cool Thing and previously Co-Founder/CTO of OpenShelf, he has shipped low-cost, open-source inventory robots and led secure mobile product efforts at Efani. His background spans logistics and e-commerce exits (Trusu → ZipX), YC-backed startups, and engineering roles that cut iteration and reporting times by orders of magnitude. James builds AI and robots in public—often leveraging viral content and community-driven experiments to accelerate adoption and feedback. Fluent in Mandarin studies and experienced across the US and Asia, he combines operator grit with product marketing savvy. Expect a leader who blends robotics, applied AI, and growth-focused storytelling to turn ambitious hardware-software ideas into commercially viable products.
13 years of coding experience
13 years of employment as a software developer
William Fremd High School
Mandarin, Mandarin at Nanjing University
Bachelor's degree Computer Science and Business Administration, Bachelor's degree Computer Science and Business Administration at Northeastern University
Mandarin, Mandarin at Huangshan University
Y Combinator