# Rob Richardson

> Product leader and builder who writes code. Ships AI systems that run in production. Now Product Builder at Owner.com.

## About

Rob Richardson is a product leader and builder based in Paso Robles, CA. He talks to users, finds the real friction, designs it, writes the code, and ships it. He still writes production code most days. TypeScript across the stack: React, Next.js, React Native, Node.

## Current Role

**Product Builder at Owner.com** (2026 - Present)
- Owner is the AI-native operating system for independent restaurants. Website, online ordering, marketing, CRM, POS, all in one, replacing the stitched-together stack a small operator would otherwise run.
- Product Builder is an end-to-end IC seat: talk to restaurant operators, find the real friction, design it, write the code, ship it.
- TypeScript across the stack (React, Next.js, React Native, Node).

## Previously

**VP of Product at Freedom Forever** (2019 - 2026)
- America's #1 residential solar installer. Joined as the first PM, grew into VP of Product over six years.
- Built the product org from scratch. Software team went from ~10 to 50+. Company grew from ~$250M to $1.5B+.
- Wrote production code most days. The VP title didn't change how he worked.

Built the AI agent platform in-house: Claude Agent SDK as the runner, plus observability, evals, tool configs, an agent builder, and a playground on top. Sort of like Braintrust or Langfuse plus an agent-builder layer. Powered 70+ production agents and 630K+ sessions, gave back tens of thousands of manual hours a year. Also built the MCP server those agents called and shipped 67 of its 89 tools himself.

Two agents he's proud of: a web automation framework that hit 97.5% on the internal benchmark (39 of 40 runs), and a permit email processor that handled ~19,000 emails its first month live (71% end-to-end). Anthropic featured this in a customer story.

Shipped RAYA, the voice AI platform, a year earlier. ElevenLabs featured it: 90% reduction in cost per call, zero hold times, ~50% fewer human agents.

Earlier at Freedom: shipped VOLT (React Native sales app, 10K+ DAU on iPad in the field), the commission platform that processes nine figures a year, and Lightspeed (internal CRM and operational engine).

**Featured in:**
- Anthropic, Claude customer story: 97.5% on the internal benchmark, ~19,000 permit emails in the first month. https://claude.com/customers/freedom-forever
- ElevenLabs: 90% reduction in cost per call, zero hold times, ~50% fewer human agents. https://elevenlabs.io/blog/freedom-forever
- PR Newswire: Freedom Forever launches RAYA, built on the Lightspeed platform. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/freedom-forever-launches-raya-ai-powered-tool-supercharged-by-lightspeed-302489884.html

## Earlier Experience

**Co-Founder & CEO at Pocket Points** (2014 - 2020)
- College rewards app that got 2.5M users across 10K+ campuses.
- Built the iOS app himself. Ran it as CEO from founding through exit.
- Raised $3.5M, hired 30 people.
- Press: TIME, TechCrunch, Forbes, Business Insider, The Verge, The Orion.

## Side Projects

**QueryLab** - SQL-to-LLM tool. Live. https://querylab.dev

**Tether** - Open-source MCP server connecting Claude to your Obsidian vault via GitHub sync. https://github.com/robrichardson13/tether-mcp

**Poppy HEP** - Web app for pediatric OTs to build home exercise programs. Tackling the 50-65% non-adherence rate. MVP.

**PhoneStack** - Gamified put-your-phone-down app for groups. Spiritual successor to Pocket Points. Live. https://phonestack.app

**Atlas** - His personal AI operator and agent infrastructure. Private, no public link.

## Skills & Expertise

- AI agents and production agent systems
- MCP server development
- Product strategy and execution at scale
- Founder experience (0 to 1 and growth)
- Full-stack development (TypeScript, React, Next.js, React Native, Node)
- Workflow automation and internal tools
- Technical product leadership

## Contact

- Email: rob.richardson@hey.com
- Twitter: https://x.com/robrichardson_
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-richardson-io/
- GitHub: https://github.com/robrichardson13

## Links

- Homepage: /
- Twitter: https://x.com/robrichardson_
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-richardson-io/
- GitHub: https://github.com/robrichardson13