By Dan O’Toole, CEO of Arrive AI
FISHERS, Ind., Feb. 5, 2026 — When I learned that I’d beaten Amazon to my first patent for a smart mailbox capable of securely receiving packages via drone delivery, I was sure huge and global success was around the corner.
I didn’t beat just the world’s biggest online retailer to this patent. I beat the United States Postal Service and a few others in the delivery space. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who saw automated delivery and the need to make package delivery more secure. Finally, after having been beaten to the patent office for other, unrelated ideas, I was first.
That was 2014.
On Thursday, May 15, 2025, my company, Arrive AI (NASDAQ: ARAI), debuted on the Nasdaq. While it seemed like it took a long time, greatness doesn’t happen by accident, nor does it happen overnight. Along the way, on our journey, we secured additional patents and implemented a ton of great ideas that make our Arrive Points, so much more than just a mailbox. And so much more than I originally envisioned.
What took so long? That’s a long story. But one worth telling because I’m far from the only guy with a great idea. I’m also one of the few stubborn enough – or confident enough in my idea – to endure the whiplash that comes with creating something people don’t yet know they need.
For us, it has seemed like a two-steps-forward and three-steps-back kind of dance for the past 11 years. I’d fall back on the old adage that it’s better to be lucky than good, but in this case, we’ve been lucky at times, unlucky at times, but always had a good idea.
We had great ideas, had earned positive national and local press, but we had a lot of evolution to go through. Financing that seemed promising didn’t work out. We had an earlier go-public plan that fell through. It’s a long list.
We survived in part because we were confident in the core idea and had an exceptional team. We made ways to meet people we thought could help us. We talked to investors. We listened. We kept abreast of technological changes and jumped on every potential opportunity we found.
There’s a reason there are only 38 publicly traded companies headquartered in Indiana. It’s hard to get there. We were fortunate in that we always operated as if we were publicly traded, so we were more prepared than some others.
For those of you with great ideas and a plan to be publicly traded, the list of things you’ll need is long. Some of these items you will have already as a legitimate business. Some you may not even know about. My best advice is to realize you can’t know or be good at everything and you need to find those who fill in your gaps.
It can be a long and expensive road. But if you’re confident in your idea, I say go for it. And if you want a sounding board, I’m happy to listen. Let’s skip that “better lucky than good adage” and lean into “a rising tide lifts all boats.” But even bigger is God!
When I learned that I’d beaten Amazon to my first patent for a smart mailbox capable of securely receiving packages via drone delivery, I was sure huge and global success was around the corner. I didn’t beat just the world’s biggest online retailer to this patent. I beat the United States Postal Service and a few others in the delivery space.
About Dan O’Toole
Dan O’Toole, the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Founder of Arrive AI Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAI), is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 37 years of experience building and scaling successful businesses, positioning him as the strategic leader behind Arrive AI’s entrance onto the public stage.
