What Does It Actually Take to Build the Next Ag-Tech Company?

from Growing the Future · host Dan Aberhart, Jordan McFarlen

Jordan McFarlen taught high school business before becoming the Business Incubator Manager at Cultivator, the accelerator behind a 60 million dollar, Canada-wide ag-tech venture capital fund. He's watched more than 80 companies go through the program, and he's learned exactly what separates the ones that make it from the ones that don't. It usually isn't the idea. It's timing, self-awareness about what the founder doesn't know yet, and whether they're willing to actually listen to the person who'd be paying for it. What's Inside - What actually separates a founder who succeeds from one who doesn't, after watching 80-plus companies go through the program - Why the most successful ag-tech founders tend to be in their 40s and 50s, not fresh out of school - Inside the 60 million dollar Emertech fund, and who is actually putting money behind Canadian ag-tech - The Million Acres Project: how producers get a direct seat at the table before a product ever reaches the market - Why timing can kill a good idea two years before it would have worked - What a "24 hour startup" event looks like when farmers, developers, and designers build something from scratch overnight Connect with Jordan: Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcfarljo Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-mcfarlen/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mcfarljo/ Find Cultivator at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cultivatorsk/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cultivatorsk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cultivatorsk Website: https://www.cultivator.ca Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 11, 2022

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What this episode covers

Jordan McFarlen went from teaching high school business to running Cultivator, the ag-tech accelerator behind a 60 million dollar Canadian venture capital fund. He explains what actually separates successful founders from the rest after watching more than 80 companies go through the program, why industry experience tends to matter more than youth, and how the accelerator's Million Acres Project puts real producers in the room before products reach the market. The conversation closes on the biggest gap he sees in the industry: not a lack of good ideas, but the barrier to actually starting.