The Reality of Working with Corporate AgTech
Feb 2nd, 2023 - My 28th Edition of Easy Observations in AgTech
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Opening Thoughts:
So I was thinking about my post from last week around unraveling the corporate veil per say around AgTech and a thought occurred to me. I actually have some experience on the both sides and I should talk about that.
To give some background, their are two corporates I worked with in relation to AgTech. ProAg, which is an Approved Insurance Provider (AIP) in crop insurance in the states and Telus Ag which started as a smorgasbord of different AgTech based companies they bought and combined.
As most know I think, I’ve also been part of smaller AgTech based groups from my family’s own company in Satshot to others like MyAgData and AgIntegrated. All in all, I’ve experienced both sides of the equation. With that, I wanted to shine the light somewhat on the reality and challenges that both face when communicating and trying to work with each other.
While it is a newer experience for me, I’ve talked to others in this same regard before and I also know Agriculture is not the only industry that has these struggles. It’s pretty systemic everywhere. I just mainly want to showcase the AgTech perspective on it. It should seem obvious, but I can tell you it also isn’t.
Who is really at the other end?
As I stated, I’ve sort of been on both sides of this. I’m far from the best representative to likely explain all the subtile issues that happen especially on the corporate end, but I’ve dealt with enough of the leaders of some of these to better understand where they are thinking and what they can and can’t do.
I’ve found a corporate contact!
This is always the excitement when you are either new to the Ag space or just started a new company and found someone that sort of likes what you are doing. Naturally, this happens all the time and it always should. From random social media connections to conferences there are plenty of people that want to connect and learn more on both sides. That is called business pretty much.
What is always tough to decipher is who is the other person on the other end? There are two problems to this:
Small Company: You usually don’t have a lot of employees so everyones title sounds awesome and to others that can be tough to tell or understand who is what and what they can share or talk towards.
Corporate Contact: You also can have a pretty legit title which can mean a lot of things and the other end may not understand where you actually fit as there is like probably a 100 people minimum that are at the same power level as you.
I think many understand this problem and issue, but what can be really tough is finding the right person on the other end of the corporate side that can:
Actually help your group and wants to
Believe in your group while being a trusted champion for you
Getting the connection through them to the real leadership
Convincing leadership to listen and follow through
Those 4 things are really hard to do. Why they are hard is because it is very likely that the person you connected to as a small AgTech company is also connected to a bunch of other just like you. This was more or less my conundrum while at Telus Ag. I knew a lot of people and my title and what I knew made people gravitate towards me.
I wasn’t necessarily the best person to contact in that situation and I also wasn’t the only one internally dealing with this process, but I was reached out to a lot. It became very interesting as I really didn’t deal with it a lot before, but I did have some experience from the crop insurance corporate end.
What I learned and saw was very interesting. For one, seeing others trying to sell me on something just for the chance to get to the next person was fun and also sad. I basically knew plenty on what the other group was, but what I also saw and could feel was the desperation and almost blind sales pitch I also did many times myself. I felt empowered, but also depressed as I’ve been on the other end. That was weird for me.
Overall, this made me sort of an easy target because I put pity on some and others I just wanted to do something to help in some fashion since that is what keeps smaller groups going…hope. Giving another small AgTech company hope is huge and one that can actually help them develop something that is better than what they have and what the corps want.
The basics to all of this was that many want to help and connect while working with your group as it can help everyone. The problem though is to make it actually happen and help everyone it takes a really dedicated person on the corporate end to make it all really happen while being very lucky with leadership pretty much. That is my next section…
What actually happens on the Corporate end:
Now my experience will definitely be different compared towards others. The thing is I’ve seen it play out very similarly on both ends. More or less it takes quite a few things to happen positively for both. I’ll start there.
There needs to be trust on both ends, so basically a good relationship.
The corporate person needs to actually be semi positioned well with leadership
The solution has to be something that can actually do something to help
The corporate person needs to want to spend a lot of time to convince basically 10 or more people above him on how this is a good thing.
The corporate person needs to have the ability and time to actually help your smaller group. Not always a thing.
Somehow, the corporate person needs to almost put themselves on the line for you while at the same time not sacrifice their job.
The corporate person also has to deal with 10 or more others smaller groups just like you if even positioned right to do all the same things I just mentioned above.
Leadership and the business needs actually have to line up and this usually is not understood right away and can take months to a year to fully understand.
The right leadership has to stay in place in their role long enough to actually be able to make a decision and their leadership also has to agree as well, so they all also have to be a champion for it.
Finally, the main person at the top has to decide your small companies fate in likely a 10-15 minute 3-5 slide presentation which you have no understanding or influence of and they need to allocate resources which will take another 6 months to a year to fully fulfill what is needed if all is agreed.
(Side note: If your small company gets through this corporate stuff above at all and you will get to the point of getting paid, it’ll take 3-6 months to get paid actually via the slowest moving wire or check transfer you’ve ever seen)
Closing thoughts:
Look, I want to say this one thing. While I do give some crap to all the AgTech involved corporates out there, I also have incredible sympathy for all the employees that work at these groups and even the leaders themselves.
There can be so much going on and so many that want to work with you that it can all become over encompassing. It’s much easier for Ag Corporates to just deep dive into what they already have and need to concentrate on. Sure, there are some internally who’s job is to literally connect and find the next big thing or opportunity via sometimes a smaller industry group. The thing is, it’s really hard still for that person(s) to do that and move it up the latter. You become easily controversial.
It can feel almost awful to be on either end as for the startup or small AgTech group you want to push to show positive growth or potential. It almost becomes uncomfortable and trust me it is. For the corporate person, they want to help and in essence so do their bosses. There are limits and rules, timeframes and processes. They all get in the way.
Overall, I’ll say this from my perspective. AgTech corporate needs to be better at showing the reality of how their process to bring in small groups to collaborate actually work. They are not all the same. At the same time, small/startup AgTech needs to understand better the process of corporates and not overpromise or exaggerate the opportunity to help either raise more money or enhance moral internally. Both are dangerous if not dealt with properly.
All in all, communication and understanding is key and both AgTech corps and small companies need to be better at it. While hard, it’s not too hard and is simpler than most think. A goal to work toward I guess…
Thanks for reading Easy Observations! Please Share, Subscribe, and Comment if you would be so kind. I’d also be happy to get together and meet if you’d like to talk more in-depth about AgTech or Earth Observation in Ag. Feel free to contact me at my website. All the best!
I would only add two more items to your A+ list. Look for "skin in the game", as in, when your Ag Corporate starts spending actual time with you, introduces you to leadership and goes so far as to start using/piloting your tech with R&D for example. If you get that, you are on the right path. If not, hedge your bets.
The other thing is Bigger is not always better as it related to the size of your Ag Corporate. Look for ambition, hunger and direction of the medium or even small "Ag Corporates". Often, they will be the ones that can expedite all/most of the hurdles mentioned above and get you to market to establish your beachhead sooner. Alignment is key.
Thoughts from the peanut gallery (with experience at both ends as well).