What I've Learned from Working in AgTech Startups

Earlier this month I had the chance to chat with Sarah Nolet to record an episode for the AgTech So What Podcast. It was a great opportunity to not only have the chance to share my journey working in agriculture but to also reflect on where I have been and where I hope to go.

There are many different avenues to create change in the agriculture and food space. As I continue my journey working and learning about different types of agricultural systems I am increasingly convinced that we cannot have a siloed approach to the question of how are we going to feed our world? We don’t have time for division and pointing fingers.

We need innovation to be happening in all corners of the food and ag space. And that innovation must be approached with a mindset placing the health of people and the earth at the highest level of importance.

Listen to the Podcast- What it’s Really Like to Work in an AgTech Startup

Podcast Excerpt

“I was employee number 60 when I joined Farmers Business Network (FBN). And I think when I left, four years later, they were at over 400 employees. I had just graduated college as they were just starting their office, so there was no company culture yet. We worked off of our standing desks that were stacked on Yeti coolers, one on top of the other. 

It was fun because nothing was figured out. And I actually loved that. We were just writing our job descriptions as we went because nobody knew what would actually work. 

Basically, FBN was building out an inside sales model while they were also questioning if inside sales could really work for agriculture. There was always this belief that to do sales and agriculture, you have to drive up the driveway and go shake the farmer's hand and, and they wanted to see if it was possible to do it differently. So I was cold calling farmers. There were some days I cold-called over a hundred farmers a day. I had zero desire to be in sales in the long run but knew that it was a really good place to start.

But, when something is growing that fast, there are infinite possibilities, but you also have to carve out a space for yourself that works because I feel like especially as a young person coming in, you become this person that wears a ton of different hats and it's very easy to get lost in the shuffle. And then all of a sudden you don't have any expertise in one specific thing.”

Originally published on AgTech So What? Website and Podcast.