The character arc of Simone Giertz
Born 1 June 1990 in Sweden. Between then and now sit a physics programme she left, a workshop full of robots built to fail in funny ways, a name earned as the queen of useless machines, a TED talk on why pointless things are worth making, a brain tumour told about openly in April 2018, surgery, a return of the tumour, radiation and recovery, and a real design company, Yetch, grown out of the making. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Simone Giertz?
The useless robots that taught her to build.
She was born in Sweden in 1990 and enrolled to study physics at a Stockholm university, then left the programme before finishing it. What she did instead started as a hobby in a small workshop: building robots on purpose to do simple jobs badly. A helmet that brushed her teeth for her, a machine to serve breakfast, an arm to apply lipstick, all of them failing in ways that were funny and honest. She filmed them, and people who had been told all their lives that things must work found something freeing in watching things that did not.
The videos made her name. She became known online as the queen of useless robots, and in April 2018 she took that idea to a TED stage, arguing that making pointless things quiets the voice that insists you already know the best answer. The same month brought news that was not funny at all: she was told she had a brain tumour. She chose to speak about it openly, had surgery in May 2018, and when the tumour came back she went through radiation and a long recovery, filming and writing about it so that others facing the same thing would feel less alone.
Her line does not run straight up, and it does not stop at the joke either. She turned the making into a real design company, Yetch, and its products are the opposite of useless: an Every Day Calendar you press once a day to keep a habit visible, a coat hanger that folds flat, small honest objects made well. Her line is worth reading because the failures were never the failure. They were the practice, and the person who built the toothbrush helmet is the same one who now ships things that work.
The moments
Simone Giertz's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in Sweden
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Born on 1 June 1990 in Sweden, where she grew up.
The 2010s
Left a physics degree
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She enrolled to study physics at a Stockholm university and left the programme before finishing, choosing to make things instead.
Finish physics, or make things
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave to make things, taken, or stay and finish the degree. She left the programme to make things, and the workshop she chose over the degree is what made her name.
Queen of useless robots
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her robots built to fail in funny ways, from a toothbrush helmet to a breakfast machine, made her name online as the queen of useless robots.
Making things for a living
Everyday. The workshop became the work, and she built a living from inventing, filming and sharing the honest failures.
A TED talk on failure
Milestone. She argued from the TED stage that making pointless things quiets the voice insisting you already know the best answer.
Keep it private, or share
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: speak about it openly, taken, or keep it private. She chose to speak about it openly, and her honesty about surgery and recovery helped many people facing the same diagnosis.
Told about a brain tumour
Setback, and it changed everything. She was told she had a brain tumour and chose to speak about it openly rather than keep it private.
Surgery to remove it
Milestone, and it changed everything. Surgeons removed much of the tumour in May 2018, and she documented the days around the operation.
The Every Day Calendar
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She designed a wall calendar you press once a day to keep a habit visible, her first widely made product.
The tumour came back
Setback, and it changed everything. The tumour returned within months of the first surgery, and she faced a second round of treatment.
Radiation and recovery
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She went through weeks of radiation and a long recovery, filming and writing so others facing it would feel less alone.
The 2020s
Founded the Yetch brand
Milestone, and it changed everything. She turned her making into a real design company, Yetch, shipping useful, honest objects made well.
An honorary doctorate
Milestone. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Skovde for her work in making and engineering.
Still making at Yetch
Everyday. She continues as founder of Yetch, designing new products and still building things by hand.
The line reaches today still making, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. The useless robots are still out there teaching people it is fine to fail, the calendar is on people's walls, and the physics dropout who filmed a toothbrush helmet is only the first climb on a line that kept rising.
In her words
Quotes by Simone Giertz
Maybe a toothbrush helmet isn't the answer, but at least you're asking the question.
The true beauty of making useless things is this acknowledgment that you don't always know what the best answer is.
It turns off that voice in your head that tells you that you know exactly how the world works.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is three decades in and still being drawn. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Simone Giertz, verified 16 September 2026.
- TED, Simone Giertz, Why you should make useless things, 2018.
- Variety, YouTube robotics creator Simone Giertz reveals she has a brain tumour, 25 April 2018.
- Newsweek, on the return of her brain tumour and her recovery, 2019.
- Yetch Studio company pages and news, 2026.
- Simone Giertz, TED talk, Why you should make useless things, 2018.