Born in New Jersey, Michael Brown grew up with a view of Manhattan’s iconic skyline. But it would be decades before he considered those towering skyscrapers as part of his business future.
After graduating from Syracuse University, Michael began his career at Allied Office Products. Starting in bids and contracts, he rose through the ranks to become chief procurement officer and eventually president. Under his leadership, Allied became the largest privately held office products company in the US before being acquired by Office Depot in 2006.
Michael went on to join HiTouch Business Services, a one-stop shop for office needs—from supplies and furniture to breakroom essentials and promotional products. He served as CEO and later vice chairman until the company was acquired by Staples in 2018.
It was a routine drive along the Hudson River that sent him in a new direction. Looking up at the skyscrapers, he realized that every window needed cleaning—and that there had to be a better way.
That search led him to Israel, where he discovered Skyline Robotics. Today, he leads the company on its mission to revolutionize the industry and become the premier robotic window-cleaning company in the world.
-Menashe Abrams
Thank you very much for speaking with us. I see you have a New Jersey area code. Is that where you are right now?
That’s just my cell number. I’m actually in New York City.
Ah, where all the skyscrapers are.
Exactly.
Did you grow up in New York?
I grew up in Northern New Jersey—Bergen County, in the Alpine–Englewood area. But I’ve been living in New York City since 1994—so just over 30 years now.
Living in the city, you’re surrounded by skyscrapers. Is that what led you into this business?
Not quite. I used to be in the distribution and office supplies business. I had a company that was sort of like Staples, but without the retail stores. We operated distribution centers around the US. I sold it to Office Depot in 2006.
Later, I reentered the industry with another company, which we ended up selling to Staples in 2018.
What was it about your businesses that attracted interest from those major players?
It really came down to density. We had acquired a large number of smaller companies—around 60—and put them all together on a single platform. So instead of Office Depot or Staples buying a bunch of $5 million companies, we gave them the opportunity to buy one $300 or $400 million operation.
Also, we were involved in a lot of other service businesses that interested them.
Such as?
We had a coffee service division, managed print services, forms management, promotional products, office supplies, furniture—you name it. Basically, anything that went into an office, we handled and serviced. After selling the company, I signed a seven-year non-compete agreement.
So you had to find something else to keep yourself occupied.
Exactly. During that time, I became really interested in robotics. Initially, I looked into assisted living applications for that. Then, one day, I was driving down the West Side Highway, taking my son to hockey practice, and I looked up at Hudson Yards. I thought to myself, “I can’t believe people are still cleaning skyscrapers by hand.”
That thought really stuck with me. I began researching technologies around the world that might solve that problem. That search eventually led me to Skyline Robotics in Israel. In late 2019, while I was on a Friends of the IDF mission with a New York real estate group, I connected with them. I convinced the board I could bring in fresh capital and help the company succeed, and we put together a deal in December 2020.
Since then, we’ve commercialized the product, secured patents and built out global distribution. Now we’re focused on getting orders.
Where was the Israeli company based?
It was originally based in Tel Aviv, on Hasharon Street. Eventually, we moved to Yakum, which is a kibbutz that functions as a tech hub. That’s where we focus on R&D and operations.
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