My name is Gui Cavalcanti.
I’m a mechanical engineer and a roboticist by training, and a serial entrepreneur by necessity - because the future I want to live in doesn’t exist yet. I’ve built dozens of robots of all shapes and sizes, founded six wildly different companies, and helped form communities for tens of thousands of people over my career.
I am always on the lookout for new opportunities to move the state of the art forward, to solve real-world problems with better technology, to dream big and build bigger, and to make a better and brighter future together.
Imagination Fabrication is the name of my personal consulting practice, and this website is a portfolio of my personal work, projects, and businesses I’ve founded.
I design and build things.
My first love is solving real-world problems with mechanical design, engineering, and fabrication across a wide range of materials, processes, power sources, and scales. While most roboticists focus on software development, I focus on pushing the envelope of what mechanical systems can do with that software, so that robots can safely and robustly interact with humans and environments outside of factories.
I believe today’s robots are too expensive, too dangerous, too fragile and too limited to be a part of the real world. I want to change that.
I bring people together.
Big dreams don’t come to life in a vacuum. They take the shared vision, dedication, and labor of entire communities working hand-in-hand on hard problems for a long time. I’ve brought groups together around dancing, making, adventures, projects, disaster response, and more. I’ve produced 300-person events, organized multiple in-person communities of thousands of folks, and brought together online communities of up to 70,000 people.
I believe that communities need a kernel of shared interest, an approachable framework people can buy in to, and a regulating system of leadership, feedback and moderation to keep them positive and productive.
I assemble and lead teams.
Every project and company needs the right team. I believe good teams need to be able to communicate as a group, get on and stay on the same page, remain agile as issues arise, and work together smoothly to achieve their goals. I believe great team members can work hard while not burning out, can share and receive feedback productively, can teach and learn from other teammates, and can both specialize in their field while remaining approachable to others. I believe excellent team leaders need to listen more than they speak, put people first, and get buy-in - in addition to developing and holding inspiring, world-changing vision - as a fundamental requirement.
I’ve been blessed to assemble, work with, and lead dozens of productive, inspiring, and fun teams across a number of disciplines, and look forward to participating in and leading many more.
I educate and entertain.
Knowledge and stories are just words on a page without an audience. A fundamental part of bringing big dreams to life is being able to communicate those visions to others, and education and entertainment are crucial elements of that. Brands I’ve built have reached 40 billion impressions globally, videos I’ve produced have received over 27 million views, and I’ve taught dozens of classes whose topics have ranged from dance styles to mechanical engineering.
I believe storytelling is a necessary business and leadership skill, and it has been crucial to the success of many of my efforts.
I gather the resources needed.
Over the course of my career I’ve raised approximately $650k in crowdfunding campaigns, $1M in non-profit grants, $2.5M in federal and commercial R&D funding, $6.5M in venture capital, and millions more in sales and earned revenue. I’m comfortable raising funds, gathering resources, and building partnerships in ways that make the most sense for the mission of the project, community or company.
I believe different types of efforts require different types of partners and funding sources in order to be successful in the long run, and I’m comfortable crossing domains to make the right connections.
I help others build their dreams.
I’ve been blessed to work on a wide variety of technologies, projects, and businesses that cross disciplines. I’ve launched crowdfunding campaigns, been talent on TV shows, served as an executive producer, started brick and mortar businesses ranging from dance venues to makerspaces, run a number of events, built a variety of robots, responded to disasters and crises, run marketing and press campaigns, and have spoken to the press and large audiences on many occasions. I’ve picked up knowledge and skills that I’m happy to pass on, and I often have time and space for advising, consulting, and taking projects on contract.
I believe in not reinventing the wheel as much as possible, and I’m happy to help others make their dreams a reality with the know-how I’ve picked up.
Want to know more?
Reach out to talk about how Imagination Fabrication can help bring your dreams to life.