In this episode of Spilled Salt, host Maureen Ballatori welcomed Walt Duflock, Sachi Desai, and Rhishi Pethe. These three industry veterans co-founded AgTech Alchemy, a community-driven initiative that brings people together around agricultural technology.
The Rise of AgTech Alchemy and a Different Kind of Event
AgTech Alchemy started informally with a single LinkedIn post inviting local ag tech professionals to meet at a restaurant. To the surprise of its founders, fifty people showed up. Since then, the group has grown into a network that hosts real-world meetups, maintains an active Slack community, and publishes long-form thought leadership under a quarterly publication.
AgTech Alchemy events are designed to foster connection and shared learning without a traditional conference agenda. “AgTech Alchemy is a community-driven meetup group, essentially an organization we are establishing to help people reconnect in real life around the intersection of agricultural technology,” said Desai. “It is a niche space, so we thought, why not bring people together?”
How AgTech Alchemy Events Are Redefining Agriculture Industry Networking
Duflock described it as a modern version of the old Macintosh user groups from the 1980s, a space where people solving similar problems could gather in person. “Instead of computers, you are hauling tractors and small robots,” he said.
What makes these meetups distinct, according to Pethe, is their informality and openness. “We do not have an agenda. We are not trying to sell you a product. We are not trying to get you to do something for us. All we want is for people to get together, talk about issues, and help each other.”
The Value of In-Person Collaboration in AgTech Innovation
While AgTech Alchemy maintains a Slack space, its founders repeatedly emphasized the power of physical gatherings. “There is something about the agriculture community that the AgTech community has embraced where being in person is just better,” said Duflock.
Desai added that even in large companies like Bayer, ag tech professionals often work in isolation. “You feel lonely, I guess that is the best way to say it. Being able to connect with others who are going through the same experience is really powerful.”
Challenging Traditional Ag Conferences with a New Format for AgTech Events
The team has mostly hosted their events as add-ons to larger ag industry conferences. But now they’re considering launching a standalone AgTech Alchemy event. “We believe we have something, though we do not yet know how to articulate it perfectly,” said Pethe.
Desai explained that they want to “create a collegial kind of event where you are treated like an adult,” with flexible formats that support real conversations over rigid schedules.
One ongoing frustration shared by the group is the bias introduced by pay-to-play conference models. Ballatori noted that the absence of farmers from most large events stands in stark contrast to AgTech Alchemy’s efforts to be approachable for both startups and producers. “We are not trying to create a sales event,” said Desai. “We are trying to create something that moves the industry forward.”
Knowledge Sharing and Peer Learning in Agricultural Technology
Beyond events, AgTech Alchemy is also focused on content and education. One way they’re doing that is through a quarterly publication featuring curated essays and analysis from across the ag tech ecosystem and beyond.
“The first quarterly focused on how startups and ag tech investing have been operating, acknowledging that outcomes have not always been great,” Desai explained. “But the message was that there is still opportunity.”
The next issue will focus on artificial intelligence in agriculture, bringing in voices from journalism, academia, and other adjacent industries to offer broader insight.
Bridging the Gap Between AgTech Startups, Farmers, and Investors
According to Duflock, one of the group’s main goals is to help startups retool for a more capital-efficient era. “Today, that model no longer works,” he said, describing the shift from five-year, multi-million-dollar builds to leaner, faster approaches. “If your message works for an investor and helps you raise money, that is great. But can you take that same pitch and translate it into something meaningful for a farmer with economics they care about?”
Desai added that too often, ag tech solutions are not anchored in clearly defined problems. “First, tell me what you are solving for. Then figure out the steps needed to deliver that solution.”
Pethe emphasized the importance of collaboration: “We want to focus on creating collaboration that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Creating a Collaborative Ecosystem for Agriculture Technology Solutions
For all three founders, AgTech Alchemy is fueled not by business interest but by a deep enthusiasm for the space. “Even if we might be introverted or shy at times, we are willing to step up and be vocal in the right settings to get people excited about something we truly care about,” said Desai.
The initiative continues to grow, with events across the country, a Slack community, a quarterly publication, and regular thought leadership shared on LinkedIn.
To get involved, Desai recommends starting on LinkedIn: “Look up AgTech Alchemy, two words, on LinkedIn and share it with others.”
Transcript
This transcript has been edited from its original form to support readability.
Maureen Ballatori: I’m Maureen Ballatori and this is Spilled Salt, a podcast on the thrills and spills from the food, beverage and agriculture industries.
I have three guests today. They are Walt Duflock, Sachi Desai and Rhishi Pethe who make up AgTech Alchemy. AgTech Alchemy is a community for AgTech founders, investors, practitioners and students, which hosts events in real life.
They also share thought leadership in multiple channels, primarily on LinkedIn and in their Slack community.
I’ll give you a brief background on those three individuals because we don’t go through their backgrounds in the discussion today like we typically do in interviews.
And so just to give you a little bit of foundational understanding of these three powerhouses, Walt Duflock is a prominent figure in the agriculture and ag tech industries. He’s currently serving as the senior VP of innovation at Western Growers. Walt leads efforts to accelerate the adoption and scaling of ag tech solutions that address critical challenges faced by specialty crop growers, including labor shortages, food safety, and water scarcity.
Sachi Desai is a senior executive and expert in AI, machine learning, digital strategy, and partnerships in agriculture technology, currently serving as VP of AI go-to-market and partnerships at Bayer. Sachi has played a pivotal role in developing and executing strategies to deliver AI solutions to legacy industries with a focus on enhancing customer outcomes and productivity through advanced technologies such as generative AI.
Rhishi Pethe is a prominent agri-food tech consultant, product manager, author and podcaster based in the San Francisco Bay area. He’s the founder and managing partner of Metal Dog Labs, which is an independent consulting firm specializing in food tech, ag tech and climate tech strategy, product and data solutions. Rhishi has over 20 years experience in technology with a focus on agriculture and food industries.
Today’s conversation is focused on what AgTech Alchemy is, how that group can help a number of different channels and groups of people such as farmers, startups, agribusinesses, corporations, any sort of company that touches AgTech to have those audiences understand how the AgTech Alchemy group can be beneficial in helping them get better understanding and footing in the industry.
And also we talk about some of the challenges that are faced by AgTech across the board, both now and leading into the future. Enjoy the conversation.
Maureen: Thank you for joining me. I am excited to have all of you here today! We are going to begin by talking a little about AgTech Alchemy. Who would like to start us off with some background on the group?
Sachi Desai: I can start briefly. AgTech Alchemy is a community-driven meetup group, essentially an organization we are establishing to help people reconnect in real life around the intersection of agricultural technology. It is a niche space, so we thought, why not bring people together? There are many working in this field, and we want to foster community, connection, and collaboration.
Walt Duflock: It is an updated version of Macintosh user groups from the 1980s, for us old guys. We would get together, see others solving the same problems we were, problems no one else was tackling. It was a chance to catch up and break bread together, usually in person. Lugging those big, heavy Macintoshes made it worthwhile.
Now, instead of computers, you are hauling tractors and small robots, which might be even harder in some ways.
Maureen: And why do you think it’s important to do the in-person meetup? Because just as you mentioned with Microsoft user groups and you have a Slack community where people are, you know, some folks are staying in touch there as well. What’s the importance of in-person to you?
Walt: Think about this: I probably do 30 to 40 events a year, right? Some local, some not so local. There is something about the agriculture community that the AgTech community has embraced where being in person is just better.
You do not know how it is better. You do not know why it is better. But you know it is better. I get that reinforced every time I attend more events and we host these alchemy-style gatherings.
It is just so great to get folks together in person. You never know when someone is looking to make a move, looking to start something, or looking to find something. You just do not get as many people comfortable sharing that kind of thing in a Slack channel or an online chat.
But when you get a beer in them and start talking over maybe a couple of beers, guess what? Suddenly, someone says, “Oh, I was looking for a co-founder. I did not know.” We have had the pleasant experience of nudging some of our friends to say, “Why do you not announce your startup at one of our events?” They will announce it, and then things get going.
We think it stirs up energy in three ways. People looking to make a move can make a move. People looking to start something can start something. And people looking to connect with like-minded individuals can do that many times a year.
Rhishi Pethe: Yes, I think some of it is also lingering effects from the pandemic. I completely agree with Walt. A little bit of an origin story here. How did AgTech Alchemy get started? We had someone visiting from the East Coast to California, and they said they wanted to meet a few people. We just put up a LinkedIn post saying, “Hey, we will be at this restaurant at this time. If you work in this space, show up.”
And we were not paying for your food and drinks, just to be clear. You pay for your own food and drinks. Fifty people showed up. It was a big surprise to me, Walt, and all of us.
That is when I realized there is something real about this. Even though we are talking on a video call right now, there is something about meeting in person. You can look someone in the eye and really understand their body language and what they are going through.
AgTech is not a fun place to be right now. It is challenging. We need as much support as we can get from others. That is another goal of AgTech Alchemy. We do not have an agenda. We are not trying to sell you a product. We are not trying to get you to do something for us. All we want is for people to get together, talk about issues, and help each other. I think that is really helpful. That is the feedback we have heard again and again.
Maureen: Yes, I think that is an interesting point. Before you chime in, Sachi, I believe it adds an important angle to the idea that we do not have an agenda.
Typically, as you mentioned, while you attend 30 to 40 events a year, I know Rhishi and Sachi are traveling, and I am on the road a lot as well. The question becomes, where do we have the opportunity to overlap, and what is the ability to have some of those in-between conversations?
Sachi: Yes, that is exactly it. As Rhishi was saying, the pandemic accelerated and amplified it, but generally, a lot of people in AgTech are really working in isolation.
Even if you work at a big company like Bayer, Corteva, or Syngenta, you are still operating in a smaller group compared to the rest of the organization. So you feel lonely, I guess that is the best way to say it. Being able to connect with others who are going through the same experience is really powerful.
You mentioned this earlier. There are virtual spaces, but it is exhausting and tiring to be on a Zoom call. I do not know about the rest of you, but for me, I am on six to eight hours of video calls a day. I do not want to get on another call with people I do not know, to be honest.
Another point is that many people in AgTech, or at least from what I have seen, tend to be more introverted. Even if we need help or know others are doing similar work, we are not going on Slack saying, “Hey, come talk to me.” But in person, maybe it is the drinks, the food, or just boredom and the hope of conversation, but you get people to open up. They start having conversations they normally would not have, either because they are not in the position to do so or they are not comfortable doing it.
Rhishi’s point about having no agenda seems to foster that openness even more. At a conference, you feel obligated to follow an agenda and check boxes. You do not have to do that here.
Maureen: Right. I received a survey from the three of you earlier this week about the idea of hosting your own convening, an event intentionally designed to bring people together and fly them in. Typically, you have attached your meetups to other gatherings that are already happening, correct? For example, the AgTech Alchemy meetup aligns with other events. Sachi, I met you in person in Fargo during AgTech Week. I know you organized something around World Agri-Tech as well.
So it has usually been an add-on to another event. Now you are thinking about hosting your own standalone convening. Is the main goal to organize it on your own terms, without the complications of someone else’s agenda?
Rhishi: No, I mean it is less about the mess. I think those collaborations have been very helpful, like what we did in Fargo or at World Agri-Tech. People are already attending, so it is much easier for them to go to another event for a couple of hours, which they are excited about. And we like the excitement people have.
At the same time, we have heard that many events have become stale for attendees. They continue going simply because they have done so for many years. If you think about World Agri-Tech, and I hope it is okay to bring them up, I have been going to that event for five or six years. In the last three years, I have not attended a single session other than the one I was in. And honestly, if I had the choice, I would not even attend my own session. Hopefully artificial intelligence can solve that problem. I can just send my bot.
We feel there is a demand for a different type of gathering. We believe we have something, though we do not yet know how to articulate it perfectly. Through the events we have done with AgTech Alchemy, and from how Walt, Sachi, and others present themselves, I think we have something that people are drawn to. We want to experiment. That is why we have not finalized the decision to host our own event. We want to be very thoughtful.
If there is demand for a certain type of event, then we are ready to meet that demand. It is more about providing a different kind of experience for people. One that encourages open, honest discussions. As mentioned earlier, this is about how we can help each other solve these problems. That is the goal.
Sachi: Building on what Rhishi is saying, the goal is to create a collegial kind of event where you are treated like an adult. That is the key. I do not want to be forced to move from one session to another or have to choose between things while also trying to squeeze in a conversation with someone I might only see for a few minutes. It is about creating a theme of conversation and discussion, rather than being presented to or talked at with a list of talking points. We want meaningful discussion.
In two ways, both the audience and the potential panelists are part of that design. We focus on a topic or a theme of topics. For example, Walt is passionate about maintaining innovation and keeping it alive in agriculture, especially figuring out ways to fund that. Rhishi is passionate about eliminating inefficiencies in the industry and pushing us forward with technology.
So the idea is to bring together a curated group of people who do not normally interact. We want them to talk more openly, treat each other as equals, and act like adults. You can have a real conversation. You can eat when you are hungry, not wait for a scheduled meal. You do not have to rush through a 15-minute interaction. You can have an hour-long conversation, take time to reflect on it, and decompress your thoughts. The goal is to create a collegial environment for a full day or a day and a half.
Walt: And Maureen, I would just jump in real quick. I think the interesting model, again, and of course you know I love them, is the Macintosh user groups. They had regional events, and then, once they reached critical mass, there was a twice-a-year gathering of all of them. We have been lucky to receive support from regions beyond just the Bay Area. As that audience grows, there is opportunity to do events in Fargo, in Sunnyvale, in Los Angeles soon, in Chicago, and potentially in other areas.
What that creates is an opportunity for some local leadership to support each region. Then there is that annual get-together where everyone rallies and it becomes worth making the trip. We are not yet sure how that will be structured, but I have seen parallels in past experiences that suggest there is a lot we can learn from that model for this AgTech Alchemy day.
We still have a lot to figure out, but thinking about it in the big picture, that is exciting to me. Having regional leaders with regular meetings and then some kind of national presence. I can tell you that both ag tech companies and agricultural companies have come to our events and truly enjoyed the discussions. They appreciate hearing directly from the folks who are doing the work.
At the end of the day, the stars of AgTech Alchemy are the startups themselves. I have been an operator for the better part of 30 years at startups. Now I am in ag tech. I have been an ag operator raising cattle with my family, as part of a fifth generation effort. The only thing harder than agriculture these days is ag tech, because of the capital constraints and all the associated challenges.
Anything we can do to get these teams in front of the people they want to talk to, whether that means potential acquirers, investors, or customers, is absolutely mission one for us.
Maureen: One of the challenges I have found with World Agri-Tech in particular is the structure. I am sure they are well-intentioned, though I do not know if they are going to love what I am about to say. That is the beauty of being neutral in all of this—we can speak freely.
What I do not like about major events like World Agri-Tech is that it tends to be pay to play. They are probably going to love the amount of attention they are getting in this podcast. I love it. I really do.
But it creates a situation where the folks who are on stage, like Rhishi, are typically there because they or someone else paid for that opportunity to present to the room. That introduces a level of bias in terms of who holds the microphone. I cannot wait to hear what you all have to say about this.
There is also the noticeable absence of the farmer in the room. That is important. What stands out about your approach to these events is the emphasis on making them approachable for startups, agribusiness companies, and farmers alike. That kind of access is fantastic.
It also opens the door for a different type of discussion, thanks to the lack of agenda and the neutrality you mentioned.
Sachi: I think, given our age ranges, from 45 to 59 or so, we are mostly centered around Generation X. I am not exactly proud of being 45.
So we carry a certain kind of bias. I was referring to the three of us, not including the host. I just wanted to clarify that. I am sorry.
Rhishi: Did you just call Maureen 45? She looks much younger than that. Come on.
Maureen: I am younger than 45, thank you!
Sachi: What I am trying to say is that, growing up around the Generation X era, there was a strong sentiment of not bowing down to authority. That mindset is at the core of what we are trying to do. This idea of having no agenda is not just about flexibility. It is about eliminating bias, avoiding any perception of pay to play, and creating space for frank, open, and blunt discussion with everyone at the table, not just a select few.
When those voices are missing, you lose a lot. Farmers, for example, are often absent at events like World Agri-Tech, while they are very present at events like Farm Progress. But at those, you end up missing many of the startups. And investors, who are usually the most vocal about what is lacking, often refuse to travel. They complain about places like San Francisco but still never leave it. So the question becomes, how do you bring all these groups together?
This concept of no agenda, having adult, discussion-oriented formats, using Chatham House Rules to encourage honest and blunt conversations, and being intentional about who is invited, that is the kind of event we want. We are not trying to create a sales event. We are trying to create something that moves the industry forward.
To Walt’s point, funding is challenging. But at the same time, ag tech has not always given people a compelling reason to fund it. I think Walt and Rhishi have written thoughtful posts and articles on this in the last six to twelve months.
So why is that? Maybe we are just stuck in the same bubble, repeating the same ideas and not sharing the broader conversation. That was one of the biggest motivations behind AgTech Alchemy, to break out of that bubble for each of us.
Maureen: I think that is so important, especially since I write content on LinkedIn often. One of the things I have noticed is that it has become a big echo chamber. There is a lot of the same content being regurgitated again and again, just from different voices, but they are all saying the same thing.
What I loved about the Fargo AgTech Alchemy event was not only the opportunity to meet new people in the room, but also, as you mentioned, the freedom to float around. At a conference with a structured agenda, you do not have that opportunity.
You have been talking a lot about the importance of bringing people together, and I agree with you completely. But why you? Why take this on? What made the three of you want to come together and lead this effort?
Sachi: I have a quip, though someone else might have a more serious answer. I think it was Walt. Since Rhishi and Walter are both married, I believe their wives got tired of constantly hearing about agtech at home. So they were told to take it outside. That is my version of how this started, at least in my opinion. But I am sure they have a much more pleasant and thoughtful answer.
Walt: There is probably a shred of truth to that, Sachi. I will tell you, my wife listens to some of the calls while I am walking around the home office. She can repeat some of this stuff better than I can. It is impressive. I say to her, “You are not even in the business,” and she replies, “I could fake my way through this stuff if I had to.”
No doubt about it, I am the downgrade and a half. But seriously, when you think about why us, for me, I really enjoy working with these guys because we bring three different backgrounds, three different perspectives, and three different areas of subject matter expertise. That is important. You do not want complete overlap.
I try to stay true to that fifth generation farmer identity. I am still talking to people farming on our ranch who are living every day with the challenges of California agriculture. They know ag tech is needed, and they want to help. But who has six hours a day to talk to startups? There is just no way.
I try to stay true to the grower background I have, and to the startup operator background I have, knowing firsthand how hard it is. For me, if we can bring AgTech Alchemy together, and every startup can walk away from an event with three to five learnings or new introductions, that is a huge win.
If you start bringing in fifty to seventy people per event, and you do the math on how many new synapses are firing, that is just awesome. It is the overlapping but not identical backgrounds we bring, and the constant goal of combining our three sets of alchemy at every event. If we can do that, good things are going to happen.
Maureen: What do you have to add to that, Rhishi?
Rhishi: I agree with both Walt and Sachi here. I think the variety of experiences we have, which as Walt rightly put it, are overlapping but still bring different perspectives, is very important.
Even though it is called agtech, people often focus heavily on the technology and startup side. But we also bring other perspectives. For example, if you have read anything that Walt has written, he is very passionate about what policy and regulation do to different industries. I think that is a very important point, and one I often forget as someone who is focused mostly on technology. It is a great, refreshing reminder to me and to others who attend these events that there are other forces at play that matter.
Also, living in California, you might get the impression that agriculture is only about fruits and vegetables because that is what dominates here. But as Sachi said, part of our mission is to pierce through those bubbles. Sachi works with many commodity row crop growers around the world, so we bring that broader perspective too.
Basically, what we are trying to do is offer value regardless of which part of ag tech you work in. We hope to provide something meaningful and help you connect with the right people through these events. That is very important to us.
As for the name AgTech Alchemy, maybe Walt, you can talk about that. It was specifically chosen because there is some fun and meaning behind it. If that is relevant, we can definitely talk about it.
Walt: No, that is true. There is an interesting backstory here. I was doing a newsletter for a little while before realizing that people like Shane Thomas and Rhishi are truly intense. I do not know how they manage to do this every week. Granted, I put out content most weeks and it can be a lot, but the idea of doing a newsletter felt overwhelming and daunting to me.
Still, I published about fifteen or seventeen issues of something called Agri Food Tech Out. The purpose of that newsletter was to serve as a resource, a kind of alchemist tool, trying to make things happen.
When we were thinking about how to brand this initiative between the three of us, we tossed around different names. I said I did not particularly like the term agri food tech. My view on agri food, including the contrast between alternative proteins and conventional farm gate agriculture, is pretty well known. So while agri food tech is its own space, it did not feel like the right label for what we wanted.
I liked the word alchemy. We chose ag tech because it refers to work that happens before the food stage, the behind the farm gate work and everything leading to the consumer. We do not focus on delivery services or food distribution. We focus on the people doing the real work on the farm. The ones growing the crops, conducting soil analysis, and working in agronomy.
Agtech reflects that scope. Alchemy represents the magic that happens when someone in the field talks to a farmer, listens, and sparks innovation from that moment. That is where the magic begins.
Sachi: I think this highlights something deeper, something critical. Why us? It is the combination of unfettered enthusiasm and an unnatural amount of passion for this space. I would argue that ag tech as an investable asset class is probably quite small and narrow. But there is so much passion for it that it still makes sense.
The three of us bring a high level of enthusiasm. Even if we might be introverted or shy at times, we are willing to step up and be vocal in the right settings to get people excited about something we truly care about. That is the key. There are plenty of people with expertise equal to or greater than ours. There are many who have spoken about these topics.
But to truly catalyze movement and momentum, you need passion, energy, and enthusiasm. Those are essential ingredients. I know we might not sound the most passionate in the moment, but believe me, we are very passionate about this business.
Maureen: No, I think that passion comes through. Your point about not being naturally outgoing, yet still pushing yourselves to organize and host these events because it matters so much to you, is an interesting angle. It really shows how important it is to bring these people together.
Walt: As we joke, Maureen, Dave Friedberg could probably do this and do it better than we can. But he is busy with All In and Ohalo, so we will step in and do it in a pinch.
Sachi: He seems more focused on podcasting than anything else at this point, now that I am watching him work.
Walt: That is probably true, actually. All In is doing incredibly well. Good for you, Dave.
Maureen: Love it. If we switch gears a bit, we have been talking a lot about the industry, which is interwoven into why you created AgTech Alchemy and why these convenings are so important. But thinking more about the outcomes these events can lead to, what do you believe are some of the biggest challenges in the industry that need to be solved, and how could gatherings like these help address them?
Sachi: I will start with one basic example. It is about level setting on a shared understanding of what has already been done and what has been investigated. A lot of the time, knowledge and education are asymmetric. Just having a clear understanding, for example, that if you are looking at a business model based on subscriptions or application programming interfaces, others have already explored that. We know why it works or does not work.
We do not need to keep reinventing the wheel or starting from scratch. It is about being able to transfer knowledge from those who have done the work to others who are learning and exploring new areas.
Maureen: I think one of the things I heard at the AgTech Alchemy event in Fargo was the importance of shared issues. I was talking to a farmer and also to some startups, and there was a lot of overlap. The startups were saying, yes, this is a problem that has not been solved in ag tech solutions, and the farmer was saying, yes, this is a critical issue for us as well.
Sachi: No, I think that is fair. When I am wearing my investor hat, I sometimes hear more about down-funnel funding. It is generally a slightly different gap, but I think Rhishi and Walt hear a lot of that too. We also see people starting to connect, which is what excites me most. They are collaborating and partnering.
From the conversations we have seen, one team received funding at one of our events. Another team found a place to run tests and trials. Another group started partnering with a different group on a potential opportunity in the digital space.
This points to the value of fostering a better understanding of the industry and promoting good knowledge sharing. That is important. As you mentioned earlier, echo chambers can amplify hot takes that are not actually helpful.
I sometimes compare it to how ESPN has declined in quality. These days it often feels like people are just yelling at each other. We want to move away from that. The second part of our goal is about fostering real collaboration.
Rhishi: Yes, I think a lot of it comes down to education. For example, you have startups and you have funders, including venture capital firms, corporate venture capital firms, and even the corporates themselves. Often, we see a misunderstanding between what the person with the money is looking for and what the person with the idea and execution is aiming to accomplish.
That mismatch, or lack of understanding, can cause a lot of issues. We have seen this happen many times in ag tech. That is why, at some events, we let startups present what they want to talk about. At other events, we have venture capitalists explain what they are looking for.
When you look at the audience, you see them nodding as if to say, “Okay, I did not realize this is how they are thinking about this issue.” We believe that by bridging that knowledge gap, as Sachi mentioned, we can hopefully reduce some of the friction in the process. This should lead to better and more efficient innovation.
This is something Walt has been speaking about often. It is about bringing together these different groups and making sure they share a common understanding of how to approach a problem, so they can work together more effectively.
Walt: Yes. The other thing I will add, Maureen, is that it has been really interesting to hold these events in different places like Salinas, Fargo, and Sunnyvale. The Bay Area events are especially interesting because we in ag tech need to do a better job of connecting the Salinas Valley with Silicon Valley.
Believe it or not, our events have actually helped create a good mix of that. We have seen people bring friends, we have seen meaningful connections form, and from a recruiting standpoint, it matters. If you are a stealth startup, how do you recruit? You have to do it in person.
It turns out I have a couple of examples I cannot share publicly right now. But I have spoken to some founders over the past couple of months who said that event from last summer sparked conversations that are still ongoing. They have not made hires yet, but they definitely opened up a new set of conversations that would not have happened without that event. That has been great to see, because it is hard to get Silicon Valley folks plugged into ag tech. If we can help make that happen, we would love to.
Maureen: I think what you are all talking about, and Rhishi mentioned this just now, is the disconnect in understanding between what the investor needs, what the startup needs, and what the farmer needs. These events and the opportunity for casual conversation can help bridge those gaps and make innovation possible.
But the ability to do that often depends on the happenstance of what comes up in those discussions. That is why you have started offering ways for people to sign up and give a quick two-minute pitch to explain their company.
I am curious if you have thought about other ways to facilitate that kind of understanding, approaches that still allow you to stay unstructured but help prompt some of that information sharing.
Sachi: When we started, we tried a few different things to see what would resonate and what would work well. Rhishi came up with the idea at the first event and said, “Hey, it would be cool if we had a few startups talk.” Startups always want to talk, but they often do not have an audience.
At our first big event, our first real event in September, we had people literally standing on concrete dividers, shouting out what their company does for two minutes. It turned out to be a high-energy moment. A lot of people were excited, and it felt like a way to celebrate these startups. They do not always get visibility.
At the next event, we thought it would be interesting to have the investors explain what they do, what they look for, and how startups should approach them. The energy was not quite the same. The investors were a bit more hesitant to speak openly, but the startups at least got a sense of who was in the room.
We also did smaller events where Walt tried something a little different, which was having everyone go around and introduce themselves, like in a powwow circle. That worked when there were only thirty people. But once we got to seventy or eighty attendees, it was no longer practical.
We also experimented with a panel format, where we would offer topics and let people have open discussion around them. What we have found so far is that the pitching format seems to work best. The other formats have not resonated as much with people. So we try to shift those other efforts offline or turn them into content that can serve as thought starters or conversation icebreakers.
It is a bit like water, where things naturally flow and find their own path. At least for now, that is what we have seen. Rhishi or Walt, let me know if you feel differently or have anything to add.
Rhishi: Yes, maybe this is a good time to talk about the quarterly as well. That is something we published, and the next one is coming out in a couple of weeks. Sachi, maybe you can talk about that. You were the driving force behind the first one. What was the thought process behind it?
Sachi: One of the things we heard through feedback was a desire for deeper content and more structured thought. We hosted an event in December at a small theater owned by one of our community members. We thought it would be fun to do a kind of fireside day where we could speak freely and invite the audience to join the conversation as well.
We picked about five to eight topics and encouraged audience participation. We served bourbon and wine to help people loosen up and speak openly. What ended up happening was that people just listened to Walt, Rhishi, and me talk for three or four hours. No one left. I was shocked. I did not know what to make of it. Walt is probably more used to that kind of audience than I am. But it felt like sitting at a diner with farmers, just listening to them talk and think out loud.
That experience sparked the idea for the quarterly. We realized that a lot of the content we were sharing was being regurgitated, even though the original ideas came from great writers. We thought, what if we put that quality writing together in one place? Some contributors are well known, like Rhishi. Others are lesser known but are publishing really good work in specific areas.
We decided to organize this writing around a common theme. The idea was to place content in a logical sequence so readers could go from a piece by Shane to a piece by Rhishi and see how they build on each other. Then they could move on to other contributors, getting a broader, more complete worldview of what is happening in ag tech.
The first quarterly focused on how startups and ag tech investing have been operating, acknowledging that outcomes have not always been great. But the message was that there is still opportunity.
We aimed to reframe the situation and show how to better position for success. It ended up being a useful way to highlight lesser-known thought leaders and package their work in a new format. Organizing ideas like that is not always intuitive, but the response was very positive. The downloads and feedback were strong. Rhishi received much of the feedback, so he can speak more to that.
From there, we decided to continue producing themed quarterlies. The main bottleneck now is Sachi’s editing capacity. But Rhishi and Walt continue to generate strong content. As Rhishi mentioned earlier, the next issue will focus on artificial intelligence in agriculture.
We are also bringing in voices from outside the ag tech space. For example, Dylan Patel, who writes a popular newsletter on semiconductors called Semi Analysis, is contributing. Isabella Bouquette, a journalist at The Wall Street Journal, is also writing a piece. The goal is to offer multiple perspectives on how AI will affect agriculture.
Walt: Yes. The quarterly is like a Second City to whatever Saturday Night Live is, right? We’re the warm-up act.
Rhishi: Yes. I think bringing in outside voices is such an important topic, and I am glad you brought it up. Sachi does a great job with this, and I think Walt adds even more value given his experience with companies like eBay and others. He brings mental models and perspectives from industries completely unrelated to agriculture, and the way those experiences translate is incredibly insightful.
That is something I personally feel is often missing. We get so caught up in the ag tech bubble that we do not pay enough attention to what is happening outside it. That is one of the main reasons we made a conscious decision to bring in outside perspectives for the quarterly.
Sachi mentioned a few contributors earlier, but there is also Professor Holly Robbins. She works in higher education and is writing about artificial intelligence in that context. When we first approached her, she said, “You know this is an ag tech quarterly, right? What am I going to contribute?” Once we explained our vision, it made sense to her. Her piece ended up having real relevance for agriculture, especially around concerns like job displacement due to artificial intelligence.
You will definitely see us continue to bring in perspectives from outside agriculture, both from our own backgrounds and from others. We believe that cross-industry insight is incredibly valuable.
If we go ahead with the event that you received the survey about, one of the things Walt and I have been discussing is the idea of inviting a few speakers with no direct connection to ag. Not celebrity motivational speakers, but people who can share relevant, applicable experiences from other sectors that help shed light on how agriculture can evolve.
Maureen: Yes, absolutely.
Walt: Who doesn’t love meeting a former Super Bowl winner and 49er? Come on.
Rhishi: They are too expensive.
Maureen: Yes, right. Find a farmer who is a former NFL player, and maybe you can get him there. You are referring to it as “the quarterly,” but just to clarify, it is a newsletter. It is a quarterly newsletter of information that you are sharing when you say “the quarterly,” correct?
Sachi: No, there is an actual quarterly. It is published in the same style as a McKinsey Quarterly. The first one was about 120 pages, and that is the format we are aiming for. We include contributions from anywhere between eight to twelve independent authors, and we also provide some thematic elements.
If you have ever seen a McKinsey Quarterly or something like Monocle magazine, that is the overall vibe and direction we are trying to pursue.
Maureen: Very cool. I love that angle. I think another important point, and Rhishi and I have talked about this before, is that you do not have to do everything. It does not have to be the meetups, the quarterly, the LinkedIn content, a podcast that gets syndicated everywhere, and so on.
You can simply do what you are able to do, and that still adds value to the community. In fact, the fact that you are not trying to do it all may be what allows you to be more effective in the efforts you are focused on.
Walt: Yes, I totally agree. No, we are not going to do it all. In some cases, it is too late and simply too much work to take everything on. Rhishi has the newsletter covered. We have joked about starting a podcast, but we know how much effort that would take.
For now, it is the quarterly and the events. As for an annual event, we will see. Then there is the Slack group. To your point, that is about all we can realistically manage. LinkedIn and social media, including Twitter and others, mainly serve as distribution channels for us.
Sachi: Now that’s well said.
Maureen: Right, exactly. It is about amplifying the stories that people need to hear. One of the things that is often discussed in the agriculture industry is how difficult it is to get in unless you are already part of it. There is a lot of nuance to understand, and that can make the space feel inaccessible to newcomers.
What I appreciate about the AgTech Alchemy platform is the way you syndicate information and elevate both internal and external voices. You are helping highlight the critical knowledge people need to understand the industry. This makes it possible for new entrants, whether that is a new startup developing something and trying to apply it to agriculture, or a farmer who has created something and is trying to navigate the startup world, to find what they need.
AgTech Alchemy, through its various channels, becomes a helpful and accessible starting point.
Sachi: I will push back a little on this point. I think it goes both ways. What I have learned is that my background is not in agriculture. I grew up next to a farm, and if I wanted to, I could say I am from the thirtieth generation of mango farmers in India. We still have our small plot of land, but that is not really my story. I worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense and in other roles.
The advantage for me was coming in naive and fresh. I brought in a lot of concepts because I did not know better. That helped me try things without bias. But agriculture can sometimes feel like a closed club, where people are not eager to let outsiders in unless they have proven themselves.
AgTech Alchemy has served as a valuable bridge to let those outside voices into the room. By participating in our events, those newcomers gain some validation. That, in turn, helps people on the other side of the fence, farmers, retailers, developers, and innovators, feel more open to engaging with them. They recognize that these people have shown up and contributed.
Walt’s example of the old Macintosh meetup groups comes to mind. Back then, many of those individuals might have seemed standoffish on their own. But once you put them in a room together, all they wanted was to geek out about the things they cared about. Even if the person listening did not fully understand, as long as they were passionate about the topic, there was mutual respect.
I think that is what happens at an AgTech Alchemy event. The one thing everyone has in common is a passion for the topic. It does not matter how much they know or do not know. They are willing to give each other space to speak, listen, contribute, and learn.
Maureen: Yes, great point. So thinking ahead to some final questions about the industry at large, what are some of the other things you believe the ag tech industry needs in order to be successful that are not currently happening?
Walt: Well, I would say part of the challenge is that we need to help startups adjust to the new reality. We are now operating in a capital-constrained environment. At the same time, we have tools, especially with artificial intelligence and other technologies, that allow us to develop faster than ever before.
I have been telling this story a lot lately. It used to be that a startup pitch involved three to five years of work, a team of three to five people, and five to ten million dollars in capital. Today, that model no longer works. The new expectation is one to two people, eighteen to twenty-four months, and maybe one million in capital. That is a completely different equation.
So I think our opportunity, broadly speaking, is twofold. First, we need to help startups become more capital efficient by showing them what they can build faster and how to pitch more effectively. Second, we need to educate investors and the media to avoid repeating past mistakes. We have already seen them go all in on vertical farming and alternative proteins. Let us not repeat that cycle with the next wave of hype.
We are already seeing signals around environmental, social, and governance initiatives, sustainability, and climate-smart solutions. If startups cannot connect those themes to a clear farmer value proposition with solid economics, they will fail.
My job is to help the next wave of startups make that connection. If your message works for an investor and helps you raise money, that is great. But can you take that same pitch and translate it into something meaningful for a farmer with economics they care about? That is the real test.
Most people have the first part figured out, but they struggle with the second. Our role in the ecosystem is to help everyone focus on the right segments, with the right messages, and with a current awareness of how quickly products can be built today.
Because if you are still operating on that old five-year, capital-heavy model, and your competitor is delivering results in two years with far less capital, you are going to lose every time. Let us help you retool so that does not happen.
Sachi:I will expand on what Walt is saying, but from a slightly different angle. What we often see in the industry is a focus on either a specific capability or a narrow point solution. What we do not do enough is step back and ask, what are we actually solving for?
Through conversations with Walt and Rhishi, I keep coming back to the question: what was vertical farming really trying to solve? Depending on who you ask, you might hear sustainability, energy, access, distribution, and so on. But it cannot be all of those at once. It needs clarity.
We need to get better at starting with the actual problem. First, tell me what you are solving for. Then figure out the steps needed to deliver that solution. Do not start by pitching me an artificial intelligence tool. Start by saying, for example, “I want to improve agronomic knowledge at the advisor’s fingertips so they can better support the farm.” Or, “I want to make it easier to connect cables in a tractor because it will improve field efficiency.”
Begin with the problem and work backwards. As an industry, we need to do a better job of identifying the big macro challenges that actually need solving, and then letting innovators apply their tools in ways that clearly align with those challenges.
Maureen: Rhishi, what do you have to add?
Rhishi: I think both of them brought up really valid points. This idea of zero sum thinking is something we see often in agriculture. Even if it is not widespread, it exists enough to create problems. Building on what Walt and Sachi said, I think we need to ask ourselves how we can increase the size of the pie. That can be difficult, but it is necessary.
If we want more collaboration between companies and organizations, we need to think differently. The problems we are trying to solve are incredibly complex, and it is unlikely that any one person or company can tackle all of them alone. We need to work together, and that only happens when all sides feel they are getting value.
That is something we want to promote through AgTech Alchemy. We want to focus on creating collaboration that is greater than the sum of its parts. When that is the mindset, people are more likely to work together, and then we actually have a chance at solving these difficult problems.
Maureen: Yes, I love it. The importance of being nimble from the startup perspective and using capital efficiently is so important. We had an episode with Adam Bergman on the podcast recently where he spoke in detail about that. It was a great discussion. The idea of making sure we are solving the right problems in meaningful ways is very well said.
Fantastic. I appreciate you all taking the time to share more about AgTech Alchemy and helping people understand how they can get value from the group. What is the best way for people to stay informed about what is happening and find out where the next meetups are taking place? How can they keep up with the ongoing conversation?
Sachi: Right now, the best place is still LinkedIn. Look up AgTech Alchemy, two words, on LinkedIn and share it with others. There is also a Slack community where you can have deeper discussions with people who are really passionate about this space. It continues to grow, and it is always amazing to see how many conversations are happening there. It is exciting to watch people engage with it.
Maureen: Yes, fantastic. Thank you all so much. I hope to see you again soon at another AgTech Alchemy event. Thank you for joining me.