Jose and his father ran a hydraulics repair company in Baja California in 2010. His father is old-school hydraulics. He’s been repairing and maintaining trash trucks, cranes and forklifts since childhood, and he raised Jose with deeply embedded values, not the least of which were “You will go to college” and “Hydraulics are cool.” At 12 years of age Jose was tearing apart hydraulic pumps and by age 16 he could assemble anything that used hydraulic fluid.

Jose went to college and got his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Berkeley. Afterward, he went right back to hydraulics, opening a business in Baja California with his father, and within a few years, they had 20 employees and served companies throughout the peninsula. That’s when he made his trans-Mexico trek to resurrect a molding machine. In hydraulics, customers maintain their own equipment, and downtime can cost a fortune for a 400-ton mining loader or a 1,600 ton molding machine. Few AI programmers and telematics engineers understand that like Jose.
 

There’s understanding, and there’s understanding. A person can read a book and understand that “no plan survives contact with the enemy,” but a person who’s been hit in the mouth by Mike Tyson understands it in a much more visceral way. Jose Gomez understands the people who repair and maintain hydraulics. He’s been in their shoes. He sold them parts out of his Dad’s garage when he was 14. He drove across Mexico to fix their machines in his 20’s. He’s climbed all over their cranes and under their trucks in the dark. He understands what downtime means to them, and why they are their own last line of defense.
 

He also knew that he needed to apply more technology to hydraulics if he was going to scale the family repair shop. During college, he developed hydraulic systems for cars (Ford Motor Co.) and for human exoskeletons (Berkeley Bionics which was later sold to Lockheed). After a few years with his dad, he went to work for some modern equipment companies. With UTC Hamilton Sundstrand and CYMER ASML Jose deployed automated test equipment for development and production use that integrated artificial intelligence and embedded system technology.
 

Then he met his current business partner and co-founder Francis Toglia, with whom he is “quantum coupled,” which is apparently engineer-speak for “close friends who finish each other’s sentences.” In 2019 they decided to leverage all the combined AI, IOT and embedded systems experience they have to solve problems in hydraulic systems. They saw a market that was old-school, unsexy, blue collar and being ignored by everyone else. And, in Francis, Jose found a business partner with complimentary skills that fit like a puzzle piece, a guy who can own the vision with him and who will stand side-by-side.

They developed a black box that can bolt right on to any hydraulic system - truly plug and play - and allow the operator to know everything he needs to know - how the system is performing, when it will need maintenance, and what parts will be needed. They applied for and were granted a patent. Last year they built the full stack of the product they call the “Heart Beat” and showed it to an old customer and colleague: Ramona Disposal. They bought one. Earlier this year EDCO bought 10. Now EDCO wants 58, and Fluid Power AI is in the process of providing them.
 

All that progress required capital, which is where Pasadena Angels came in. PA was crucial to the last two rounds of funding. Pasadena Angels’ due diligence process was thoughtful and thorough, and once it was completed, it enabled Fluid Power AI to complete everyone else’s due diligence with ease. And, Larry Uhl’s participation in the prior round made it easy for investors to check on Fluid Power AI’s ability to meet its commitments. Larry knew what Fluid Power AI’s milestones were and how they planned to use their funds. He was invaluable as an independent validation that the startup was hitting its marks.

Becoming a CEO has been a learning experience for Jose, but it wasn’t as big a stretch as it might have been for some engineers. His deep understanding of his customers is a powerful asset. But, he’s still had to open himself up to learning lots of new skills. He has a long list of mentors who have been helping him develop those skills, including Marco Thompson at EvoNexus and, I’m sure he would say, his father. After all, it is indisputable that hydraulics are cool.