What is “TOOL OR DIE”?
America's manufacturing muscle didn't skip leg day - it skipped the country. Decades of offshore dependency left us innovative but hollow, advancing technology we could no longer build. Now our security and industrial autonomy hang in the balance.
TOOL, OR DIE goes inside the race to reshore critical industries, one factory at a time. Join us for deeply technical conversations with the innovators, large-scale operators, defense investors and engineering grognards rebuilding American manufacturing from the shop floor up.
Who are we?
We are Joel Johnson and Alex Roy, the principals of Johnson & Roy, a strategic management advisory firm to those who work to improve the safety, experience, and sustainability of technology, manufacturing and mobility in service of humanity.
💽 Former network engineer, technology journalist, and media executive, Joel Johnson has spent the last decade as an advisor to the leadership of both Fortune 50 companies and growth-stage startups.
Joel founded or expanded such media brands as WIRED.com, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Jalopnik, Wirecutter, Popular Mechanics, and Roadtrippers. His reporting about Foxconn and Apple was a cover story for WIRED magazine.
🚓 Former self-driving technology executive, automotive journalist and race driver, Alex Roy is best known for leading the first team in 23 years to break the Cannonball Run driving record, crossing the USA in 31 hours and 4 minutes. He has also broken the EV record 3 times, and still holds the Tesla Autopilot and 3-wheeled ICE records, the latter in a Morgan 3-Wheeler.
Roy is a General Partner and Co-Founder of New Industry Venture Capital, where he birthed the concept and methodology behind Narrative Command. He is a co-host of the leading autonomy podcast, Autonocast.
What are our core theses?
Reindustrialization strengthens America's economic, technological, and cultural foundations—and rebuilds the middle class that made this country great.
The divide between manufacturing capability and military power is unsustainable. China controls global production; America maintains military supremacy. This gap isn't just a vulnerability—it's an existential threat to American autonomy.
Domestic manufacturing capability isn't just about wartime resilience—it's about preventing conflicts through industrial strength and supply chain sovereignty.
The next industrial revolution will be built on American soil, combining our innovation edge with renewed production capability.
What you’ll hear on “TOOL OR DIE”
Detailed technical discussions on manufacturing processes, automation, and tooling strategies
Inside perspectives from facility operators managing 100,000+ sq ft operations
Engineering insights from leaders reimagining domestic production
Real talk about reshoring challenges, from workforce development to supply chain optimization
Deep analysis of successful domestic manufacturing case studies
Hard numbers on costs, timelines, and ROI for bringing production back to the US
Machine-level deep dives into CNC, robotics, and advanced manufacturing tech
Shop floor to top floor: Complete operational breakdowns of modern American factories
Expert insight on regulatory navigation and compliance frameworks
Data-backed understanding of environmental and energy constraints
Practical strategies for scaling from prototype to full production
Industry-specific analysis across aerospace, medical, automotive, and defense
Next-gen manufacturing approaches: Lights-out facilities, integrated metrology, robotics and AI, predictive maintenance
Raw truth about retooling challenges: Investment costs, downtime management, and risk mitigation
Success metrics that matter: OEE, MTBF, cycle time optimization, and quality control
