Solving Problems at the Root
During my time at Instacart, underscored by the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for reliable and affordable access to food was boldly highlighted as an ongoing problem to solve. The logistics of virtual shopping and real-world delivery are the final tip of the iceberg for a supply chain that starts all the way back at the farm.
The agriculture industry is age-old and the market size measures in the hundreds of billions. Ag-tech however, is currently in its infancy. Helping farmers run more efficient and sustainable businesses will help produce a reliable and affordable food supply for generations to come. To help solve problems closer to the root, I am joining Farmers Business Network (FBN) to lead their financial and insurance engineering efforts.
While many granular attributes went into my decision making process, they all roll up to three main areas.
People
This is the number one attribute when deciding to professionally align myself with an organization. Not being on the same wavelength as colleagues and leadership leads to frustrating and fruitless results.
Impact & market size
Understanding the impact of the problem being tackled is key in determining if it’s the most critical issue to solve for the industry. Sizing the market is directly aligned with defining business impact.
Product market fit
While many success stories have come from dreamers tackling problems with seemingly impossible solutions, it’s important to be able to evaluate and understand what the path to success and failure looks like. This includes risk assessment and how it overlaps with your personal risk tolerance.
